Well I opened my first solo brew!

[Nizmoose]

Hey guys just thought I'd share my first tasting experience of my own batch of homebrew! I have done a few kit brews with a friend and they turned out okay for kit brews but for my first brew I sort of wanted to skip the really basic stuff and try to create something I'd enjoy. I made a pale ale with a Pale Ale tin but added some steeped grain (250g light crystal) and also made a 5 minute 20g cascade addition to try and add some aroma. Also added some LDME and Dex. The brew day went reasonably well and it all went into fermenter and sat for three weeks. I got it bottled two weeks ago on Sunday and opened my first one on the weekend just gone. My last brews I had done with a friend were all okay but definitely tasted like they were made with a kit, sort of weird tastes here and there and it lacked any aroma or real flavour. I was nervous about opening my first decent batch because I really wanted it to be good. Here's a picture of it a little while after poured. You'll notice not much head but it did have a much thicker one when first poured, something the kit beers definitely lacked.



I had a taste and was over the moon! It was lightly carbonated (carbed enough but another week or so will do it some good) it was ultra easy to drink and the cascade really helped it out! Lovely aroma and the flavour is really nice too. The crystal has seemed to give it something a can just wouldnt have, a little bit more beeriness is the only way I can really describe it, more body. I was also happy with the colour and clarity. Another first for me this brew was a cold crash, wasn't at all difficult and really helped the beer out I think. Its definitely not the clearest beer ever but my main motivation was to get as little yeast in the bottom of the bottle as possible and I achieved that. I was drinking Stella's the night before and after having one of my own I can definitely say I'd prefer to drink a few of mine (although Stella seems to have gone a bit downhill for some reason).

The only thing I noticed in the taste and I'm not even sure if its bad or just my palate but I noticed a sort of soapy taste after I had finished the bottle, sort of left in my mouth, although when I think about it its sort of the same taste as if you accidentally spray a bit of aftershave or deodorant in your mouth except no where near as powerful or obvious. I was thinking perhaps it was just the cascade? I had a second bottle tonight and couldn't notice it as much and when I tasted my hydrometer samples the taste was definitely there and much stronger than in the bottle. The beer was only left in the primary for three weeks under good fermentation conditions (highest it got was 22 and the lowest about 14 but for the most part it sat at around 16) so I doubt its any lysis related soapy off-flavour? any ideas would be helpful but overall I'm really happy how it turned out and would definitely recommend spec grain and hop additions to anyone currently doing kits. For me this brew proved that reading and learning before doing can be a massive help in getting things right without having to make too many mistakes.

 

[slcmorro]

That soapy flavour you refer to, often came up when I was doing kits and bits. I haven't had it (had many other faults in my beer though along the learning journey!) since moving to AG, but the taste is one you can quite easily remember.

Make sure when you're pouring, you handle the bottle gently and pour slowly but smoothly. Some of that flavour could be attributed to getting yeast/trub in the glass.

Glad you were happy with your beer. You'll continue to make better and better beers the longer you stick with it and the more you read.

 

[wynnum1]

How long has it been in the bottle a couple of weeks in refrigeration can make a difference .

 

[maaark]

Good to see another happy home brewer. I know with basic tins & dextrose brews you often get a really dry aftertaste with the beer but since I started adding fresh hops & grain plus quality sugars this has disappeared. It isn't a soapy taste though.

I'm no expert but I would have 16 degrees would be a bit too cool for an ale?

 

[Nizmoose]

Good to see another happy home brewer. I know with basic tins & dextrose brews you often get a really dry aftertaste with the beer but since I started adding fresh hops & grain plus quality sugars this has disappeared. It isn't a soapy taste though.

I'm no expert but I would have 16 degrees would be a bit too cool for an ale?

Yeah 16 degrees was probably a bit on the cool side for US05, it was around 18 for the first few days then we had a really cold week in Adelaide and there wasn't much I could do

 

[jaypes]

Good on you mate for having a go, craft brewing is an art - sometimes you make good art and sometimes you make masterpieces. Its all a journey of learning and discovering what works and what doesn't

As for your soapy taste, would you describe it as buttery?

 

[Nizmoose]

Good on you mate for having a go, craft brewing is an art - sometimes you make good art and sometimes you make masterpieces. Its all a journey of learning and discovering what works and what doesn't

As for your soapy taste, would you describe it as buttery?

Thanks
Nah I wouldn't say buttery, it's not even really there whilst drinking, just sort of after I finished the bottle it was an after taste, when it was in the fermenter I'd have definitely called it soapy but now in the bottle it's either soapy or perfumey, perhaps some weird ester the yeast couldn't get at due to the low temperatures late in fermentation?

 

[jaypes]

Give it a chance to age (very hard thing to do!) and the taste may subside, leaving your brews in the fridge after carbonation can help.

It could very well be attributed to the yeast and the temp fluctuation, have a look at getting yourself a fermenting fridge and temp controller - both of which can be very inexpensive

 

[Nizmoose]

Give it a chance to age (very hard thing to do!) and the taste may subside, leaving your brews in the fridge after carbonation can help.

It could very well be attributed to the yeast and the temp fluctuation, have a look at getting yourself a fermenting fridge and temp controller - both of which can be very inexpensive

Yeah that seems like a reasonably possible cause, I would love to get a fridge with temp control especially for lagers but unfortunately I'm a 21 year old uni student still at home Haha and we already have a fridge in the kitchen and a fridge in the shed which I can take over for a few days of cold crashing but probably not a whole fermentation

 

[n87]

i just recently got an aquarium heater for winter.

put fermenter in laundry tub full with water, set aquarium heater and turn on.
keeps stable temp (above ambient) for as long as you want.

you need lots of ice packs for cooling... and i think crash chilling is out of the question....

 

[beercus]

Good on you mate for having a go, craft brewing is an art - sometimes you make good art and sometimes you make masterpieces. Its all a journey of learning and discovering what works and what doesn't

As for your soapy taste, would you describe it as buttery?

Jaypes,
I think that would be a good debate: "Is Craft Brewing an ART or SCIENCE?"
My opinion would be to learn the science and get arty after you can predict what may happen.
On topic: Where do these soapy flavours come from? Science is the answer and solution, not art

"Soapy
Soapy flavors can caused by not washing your glass very well, but they can also be produced by the fermentation conditions. If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html, How to brew, John Palmer

Beercus

 

[danestead]

Yeah that seems like a reasonably possible cause, I would love to get a fridge with temp control especially for lagers but unfortunately I'm a 21 year old uni student still at home Haha and we already have a fridge in the kitchen and a fridge in the shed which I can take over for a few days of cold crashing but probably not a whole fermentation

If you are able to twist your parents arms, you could use the shed fridge for the first 3days of fermentation and then take the fermenter out. The first part of the fermentation is the most critical in terms of keeping a correct and constant temperature as that is where off flavours are most likely to be created. If you can do this you should see a marked improvement in your beers. You would need to get yourself atemperature controller forthe fridge though. Stc-1000 is what most people use and you can get them on ebay and build it up into a box for about $50 or purchase them from your local home brew store for a little more $ already made up. Basically, your fridge plugs into the temp controller box and the stc-1000 turns yoir fridge on and off to keep it at your set temp (18deg is a good starting point for an ale yeast). Just do a google around and you could find plans on how to make a temp controller up.

 

[Nizmoose]

i just recently got an aquarium heater for winter.

put fermenter in laundry tub full with water, set aquarium heater and turn on.
keeps stable temp (above ambient) for as long as you want.

you need lots of ice packs for cooling... and i think crash chilling is out of the question....

This is a good idea thanks for this I did water bath it for the first 24 hours but that was to try and bring its temp down a few degrees, then I got ultrac nervous about the water bath somehow leaking into the beer through the tap due to pressure lol but the heaters a good idea for winter.

Jaypes,
I think that would be a good debate: "Is Craft Brewing an ART or SCIENCE?"
My opinion would be to learn the science and get arty after you can predict what may happen.
On topic: Where do these soapy flavours come from? Science is the answer and solution, not art

"Soapy
Soapy flavors can caused by not washing your glass very well, but they can also be produced by the fermentation conditions. If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html, How to brew, John Palmer

Beercus

Hi Beercus, Your paragraph I definitely agree with, being in my third year of environmental science both the scientific method and chemistry (including fermentation chem) are quite familiar to me. Its made reading and researching much less of a steep learning curve as all of the basic chem I already know. Before I started my first brew I read and read and read and read before I really knew a lot about each step and not just what I was doing but why. I should make the point that I don't normally take this approach, Im a doer, I learn by doing much more but for brewing I think researching and reading and learning a lot before you brew gives you a much better idea of what you're doing and it means you really don't have to make a few bad batches before you make a good one, you can just skip that and start making good ones!

Also in regards to your second paragraph, before I started my first batch I read Palmer's book from start to finish and then again in some parts and am familiar with the typical cause of soapy flavour however I really didn't leave my brew on the yeast cake long and after my boil I strained it in to the fermenter and hardly any trub was present in the empty fermenter, I left a massive portion of it in the boil pot. So I'm somewhat sceptical of it being a time thing. Temp variability I'm not so sure on.

If you are able to twist your parents arms, you could use the shed fridge for the first 3days of fermentation and then take the fermenter out. The first part of the fermentation is the most critical in terms of keeping a correct and constant temperature as that is where off flavours are most likely to be created. If you can do this you should see a marked improvement in your beers. You would need to get yourself atemperature controller forthe fridge though. Stc-1000 is what most people use and you can get them on ebay and build it up into a box for about $50 or purchase them from your local home brew store for a little more $ already made up. Basically, your fridge plugs into the temp controller box and the stc-1000 turns yoir fridge on and off to keep it at your set temp (18deg is a good starting point for an ale yeast). Just do a google around and you could find plans on how to make a temp controller up.

Thats a really good suggestion thanks I could definitely steal the fridge for a few days at the start and for that price temp control is definitely a possibility soon! My parents don't need much arm twisting either haha they're pretty good about my hobbies, when I was younger I was kicking soccer balls into everything now I have two cars I'm pulling apart so the shed is filled with all sorts of parts and more recently I've had brewing gear all over the place, they must be wondering how they ended up with some crazy soccer playing mechanic brewer environmental scientist but they're pretty good about me taking up space so the fridge shouldn't be too much trouble

 

[The Judge]

Could be a long shot Nizmoose - but is it possible your steriliser is contributing to the soapy flavour?

 

[Nizmoose]

Could be a long shot Nizmoose - but is it possible your steriliser is contributing to the soapy flavour?

Considered but I only use starsan and no soap :/ the other thing I'm thinking is possible is my water chemistry. I live in Adelaide so our water is far from brilliant, it is filtered but still I should get a copy of my water report, I'll do that soon and report back. My next batch which I was going to do today before uni got in the way is a small batch Pacific Ale and I'm going to see what some spring water (note not distilled) will do. I should stress the soapy flavour is very very minimal and isn't there every sip, my dad didn't even seem to pick up on it.

 

[jaypes]

Yeah that seems like a reasonably possible cause, I would love to get a fridge with temp control especially for lagers but unfortunately I'm a 21 year old uni student still at home Haha and we already have a fridge in the kitchen and a fridge in the shed which I can take over for a few days of cold crashing but probably not a whole fermentation

Get a bar fridge - I got my last one off ebay for $10, an STC-1000 controller will set you back another $20ish delivered

 

[Nizmoose]

Man for 30 bucks that's hard to argue with!

 

[n87]

This is a good idea thanks for this I did water bath it for the first 24 hours but that was to try and bring its temp down a few degrees, then I got ultrac nervous about the water bath somehow leaking into the beer through the tap due to pressure lol but the heaters a good idea for winter.

there is little chance of that.
given that the level of the beer has to be above the level of the bath otherwise it will float:
if there is a hole, beer will flow out. water will not flow in,

this is due to the fact that there will be more pressure from the inside of the fermenter from the volume of liquid above bath level.

 

[Nizmoose]

there is little chance of that.
given that the level of the beer has to be above the level of the bath otherwise it will float:
if there is a hole, beer will flow out. water will not flow in,

this is due to the fact that there will be more pressure from the inside of the fermenter from the volume of liquid above bath level.

Yeah true, I was just worrying about all sorts of irrational things by that stage haha!

 

[gsouth82]

Might be another silly question but are you mixing up your StarSan to the recommended dosage and letting your gear drip dry? (I don't mean dry but not wet...lets say damp)
Things like StartSan are only no rinse when made to the correct dosage as anything over the recommended ppm you might be able to taste.
Also, are you using anything to clean with before sanitisation that could be leaving a residue behind?