Wine taste!

[Curly79]

Hi all , I'm new to this business but very keen to get into brewing. I've brewed and bottled two batches using the kit and one kilo of dex/malt and followed the brew shops instructions yet both seem to taste like wine/ cider . 1 st attempt I think I bottled to early yet 2 nd attempt was a australian bitter kit. Left in fermenter for about two weeks Hydrometer reading was steady for at least 4 days. Fermented at about 20 degrees. Ale yeast. Bottled and stored for 10 days at around 18 degrees. Still tastes like wine / port almost ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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[shacked]

I'm assuming all your kit was super clean etc... You may need to just leave it in the bottle for a month. The first few batches I made tasted pretty average for the first couple of weeks - sweet, flat.. sort of meh, but the advice I got on here was that the last bottle in the batch always tastes the best!

Did you use the kit yeast or upgrade to US05/US4 or something equvialent?

Post your recipes and method up mate.

Also, get a copy of this book (or read it online): http://www.howtobrew.com/ it's unreal.

Cheers!!

 

[Curly79]

Thank you for the advice. Yeah everything was cleaned and I just used the normal yeast. Coopers australian bitter kit. Brewed at 18 deg OG 1.048 ten days later 1.010 and steady for three days. I used 1 kg of beer improver. 1/2 dextrose 1/2 malt I think ? Bottled and stored for 9 days inside. Should I keep it stored inside at 19 ish degrees or move it under the house at about 9 degrees?


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[Curly79]

I've just tried a bottle of my first brew. It's been stored under the house at about 8/10 ish degrees C. Definitely tastes a bit better. It's a pale ale. Still has a hint of arse about it but on the improve . What is the white residue on the bottom of the bottle ?


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[shacked]

That's trub (yeast and other stuff). Don't drink it or mix it into your beer unless you like farting (or worse).

Put your bottles in the fridge upright for at least 24 hours before you drink 'em. Tip into a glass and leave the trub behind.

Beer gets a fair bit of flavour from yeast. Forget the tin stuff and spend an extra $4 on some US-05 for pale ales etc..

 

[Curly79]

Thanks again mate. I'll check out that book too. So I just ask my brew shop man for after market yeast ?


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[shacked]

Yeah. I use US05 for Amber, bitter and pale ales, WB for wheat beer, S04 for strong ales and T58 for Belgium style beers.

For example: http://www.esbrewing.com.au/safale-us-05-brewing-ale-yeast.html

 

[Cronessa]

I think your beer will improve by leaving it longer in the bottle (14 days absolute minimum) and upping the amount of malt extract.

Also, I avoid the lighter kits and go for the stronger ones such as dark ale, real ale, stout, English bitter etc IMO they are easier to get a better result with as they will, to a certain extent, mask undesirable flavors such as those you are describing.

 

[Curly79]

Thanks heaps for the tips . Also How long should bottles be stored at fermenting temp before moving under the house at a cooler temp for storage. Thanks again


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[Cronessa]

Yeast will still behave in the bottle like it does in the fermenter i.e. The yeast will take longer to do its thing at lower temps (although you don't have to worry so much about temp variation in the bottle as there is minimal sugar to cause off flavours).

I'd store them at room temp for a couple of weeks.

 

[Curly79]

Thanks again.


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[Curly79]

Thanks again.


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[NewtownClown]

That's trub (yeast and other stuff). Don't drink it or mix it into your beer unless you like farting (or worse).

Put your bottles in the fridge upright for at least 24 hours before you drink 'em. Tip into a glass and leave the trub behind.

Beer gets a fair bit of flavour from yeast. Forget the tin stuff and spend an extra $4 on some US-05 for pale ales etc..

What? It is a probiotic and nutritional.
28 grams of brewers yeast contains 11 g protein, 10.9 g carbohydrate, 1.1 g dietary fiber, 0.3 g fat, 537 mg potassium, 497 mg phosphorus, 60 mg calcium, 34 mg sodium, 10.7 mg niacin, 4.9 mg iron, 4.4 mg thiamine, 1.2 mg riboflavin and 110 mcg chromium.

Side affects may include mild gas and/or mild bloating. If gas or bloating is significant, it is suggested the complainants entire gut flora is out of whack.

If your statement was correct nobody would be rousing the yeast in Cooper's or drinking Hefeweizen. In Belgium I've had the barman decant beer into a glass, swirl the yeast cake up serve it into an aperitif-type glass to be consumed as a digestif.

 

[Curly79]

So you're saying mix it in before serving? Like a coopers pale ale?


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[jaypes]

Whatever your preference.

I know when I drink it, the amount of gas produced could power a small town in Alaska - and if accompanied by sultanas and or dried apricots enclosed goggles and or a sealed respiration mask is required for those in the near vicinity

 

[Curly79]

Ha ha. Nice. I'll give it a miss for the first few then


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[shacked]

What? It is a probiotic and nutritional.
28 grams of brewers yeast contains 11 g protein, 10.9 g carbohydrate, 1.1 g dietary fiber, 0.3 g fat, 537 mg potassium, 497 mg phosphorus, 60 mg calcium, 34 mg sodium, 10.7 mg niacin, 4.9 mg iron, 4.4 mg thiamine, 1.2 mg riboflavin and 110 mcg chromium.

Side affects may include mild gas and/or mild bloating. If gas or bloating is significant, it is suggested the complainants entire gut flora is out of whack.

If your statement was correct nobody would be rousing the yeast in Cooper's or drinking Hefeweizen. In Belgium I've had the barman decant beer into a glass, swirl the yeast cake up serve it into an aperitif-type glass to be consumed as a digestif.

Just going on what I read in How to Brew: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-9.html

I take your point on the Coopers and Hefeweizen though!

 

[Curly79]

Well ..,, I've just tried my second brew. Australian bitter. Been bottled for two weeks now and tastes pretty good. I reckon still a slight wine taste but I Spose it'll improve over the coming weeks? Am I being too impatient or am I expecting too much from kit brews?


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[Curly79]

And also, does anyone else think coopers pale ale long necks Taste and smell different to stubbies. Or am I crazy. ? Be honest


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[Cronessa]

Maybe next time try upping the malt extract and reducing the dextrose to give it a bit more omph. I just brewed a kit beer for my brother which is fermenting away - from memory it was Tooheys lager kit, 1 kg LDME, 400g dextrose 200g maltodextrine and about 10 - 20 grams of Amarillo hops at 10 mins made up to 23l. Will let you know how it goes.

Re the longnecks v stubbies, do you drink them both out of the bottle or glass or differently?