Homebrewing a robust porter beer

Hi:

This is the first time I try home brew my own beer. However, after fermentation period, my beer have some unpleasant but tolerable flavors. Now is day 6 and these flavors have decreased a little. I forgot to measure the original gravity. This is the info I can provide:

Alcohol content is 2%
Final gravity: 1.018





How many days I have to wait to bottle? these unpleasant (astringent) flavors are going to disappear?

Thank you

philosopher said:

Hi:

This is the first time I try home brew my own beer. However, after fermentation period, my beer have some unpleasant but tolerable flavors. Now is day 6 and these flavors have decreased a little.

How many days I have to wait to bottle? these unpleasant flavors are going to disappear?

Thank you

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Hard to give an exact answer. One of the harder parts of brewing is to develop a taste which lets one know what us a correct flavor and what is an off flavor. Can you give a better description than unpleasant?
A robust porter could take weeks, maybe months to age properly for all the flavors to blend. For a first brew, it will take a lot of time to get flavor feedback on this beer, I think.
To keep your enthusiasm up and to home your skills faster, pale ales or a bitter will be quicker and tastier. Just my opinion.

Thanks! the flavor is astringent.

philosopher said:

Thanks! the flavor is astringent.

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Can you tell me how you brewed it? Ingredients? etc. That can help us have a better idea.
Bottom line though, she'll be right. Six days is way too early to tell on a dark style. It'll probably come right. Most veterans look back fondly on the first attempt, even If it came out not as planned. It's yours. You made it! How cool is that?!

philosopher said:

This is the first time I try home brew my own beer. However, after fermentation period, my beer have some unpleasant but tolerable flavors. Now is day 6 and these flavors have decreased a little. I forgot to measure the original gravity. This is the info I can provide:

Alcohol content is 2%
Final gravity: 1.018

How many days I have to wait to bottle? these unpleasant (astringent) flavors are going to disappear?

Thank you

Click to expand...

Queretaro is a nice city. Was there several years ago for work. Stayed in a 500 year old hotel overlooking a square where there seemed to be something happening every evening. Very lively place.

Not sure about the water; I hope you boil it.

What was the recipe? 2% abv seems low, and if that is right, then 1.018 is high.

Day 6 seems to be very early to be tasting it, and what day did you take the sample that you are comparing it with.

Generally flavors will mellow over time, but if you post your recipe, maybe we can see something in it that might have caused it.

I used a kit of LME plus a small bag of grains. I steeped the grains as indicated but added the LME before the water and grains boiled. It lasted 15-20 minutes before boil.

The other steps were done as indicated. I think the problem started when I put the carboy inside a container(half of the carboy was inside the water) which had water and the aquarium heater. The heart indicated 25 degrees(Celcius) and I wrongly thought that temperature inside the carboy was lower than in the outside.

The fermentation started approximately eight hours after I transferred the wort into the carboy and was strong for one more day. At day 4 just 3-4 bubbles scaped from the carboy.

Again, thanks!

Calder: Thanks for your advice. I haved posted how I did it. Right before your comment.
It is good that you enjoyed your time in Queretaro. Whenever you want to visit the city, do not hesitate to contact me.

philosopher said:

I used a kit of LME plus a small bag of grains. I steeped the grains as indicated but added the LME before the water and grains boiled. It lasted 15-20 minutes before boil.

The other steps were done as indicated. I think the problem started when I put the carboy inside a container(half of the carboy was inside the water) which had water and the aquarium heater. The heart indicated 25 degrees(Celcius) and I wrongly thought that temperature inside the carboy was lower than in the outside.

The fermentation started approximately eight hours after I transferred the wort into the carboy and was strong for one more day. At day 4 just 3-4 bubbles scaped from the carboy.

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OK. Questions:

1) How much LME. Was it a 3.3 lb (1.5 KG) can?
2) What volume? 5 gallons with 3.3 lbs LME and 0.5 lbs (guess) grain would give you a beer with an OG about 1.025. I hope you had more fermentables, or did a smaller volume than 5 gallons.
3) Did you add the LME to the water before removing the grains. Not a problem, but not very efficient in maximizing the sugars.
4) Did you boil the grains? If so, for how long? This could cause tannins to be extracted into the beer. The tannins will drop with time.
5) When you use a water bath, you can assume the wort/beer is the same temperature as the water.
6) What was 25 C? That's high (77 F) for most yeasts, and will result in fusel alcohols and many esters.
7) What yeast?

Did you take out your grains before you started your boil? Leaving them in high temperatures will cause astringency.

Also, are you getting that 2% from the markings on your hydrometer once you reached fg? That measurement is meant to be used for projected abv when you're measuring your og. Post your recipe and we can help you find your actual abv

FERMENTABLES
6.6 lb. Porter LME
SPECIALTY GRAINS
4 oz. De-bittered Black
4 oz. Caramel 120L
4 oz. Chocolate
HOPS
.5 oz. Bittering
1 oz. Flavoring
.5 oz. Aroma
YEAST
1 Sachet

IBU’s: 25 - 29
ABV%: 5.0% - 5.5%
OG: 1.051 - 1.055
Diffi culty: Easy
FG: 1.012 - 1.016
Color: Deep Brown

2. Exactly 5 gallons.

3. The LME was added after I steeped the grains but before the grains boiled.

4. No. I only wait the indicated time and temperature (20 minutes at 150-165 ° F)

5. Yes. Sometimes I decreased it to 23,22,21, 20.

6.Nottingham Lallemand.

Thanks for your time!

Thanks!

Yes. I took out the grains before boiling. That´s right the 2% are after FG.


I have posted it.

The 2% alcohol is the potential alcohol left after fermentation is over and usually is long chain sugars that cannot be fermented by beer yeast. If you took the potential alcohol reading when you first put the wort in the fermenter and subtracted the 2% left at the end you would be close to the actual alcohol in the beer but that scale usually is meant for another use.

Your recipe shows that you used malt extract and that the original gravity should be 1.051 to 1.054 and you can be pretty sure it was in that range if you used the proper amount of water. The estimated final gravity was 1.012 to 1.016 and you are very close to that so the alcohol in your beer will be in the range of 5 to 5.5% just as the recipe predicted.

The recipe also shows that you used a porter LME which will have some dark malts in it and then you also added more dark malts (steeping grains) that will make it more bitter too. This recipe needs plenty of time in the fermenter and more yet in the bottle to smooth out. It will be pretty full flavored even then, what you might characterize as bitter or astringent. (chew on a little of the black or chocolate malt and you will get the same kind of flavor. It's pretty intense.)

As RM noted, your OG would have been in the low 50s (1.050s). Lets assume it was 1.052. Ending at 1.018 will give you 4.5%.

Flavors probably come from the dark malts in the grains and the LME. Also if you fermented high (over 70 F), that yeast can throw off a lot of flavors.

Leave it on the yeast for a while, and it should mellow out some. The roastyness should mellow out, and hopefully the yeast flavors will do too.

Also, at day 6 it might not be completely done, it might come down a couple more points over the next week.

Hi guys:

Thanks for all the advice you gave me! My first batch is going well. It is now on secondary fermenter but, I did bottle just one for a week, without going to secondary fermenter and it tasted so good.

philosopher said:

Hi guys:

Thanks for all the advice you gave me! My first batch is going well. It is now on secondary fermenter but, I did bottle just one for a week, without going to secondary fermenter and it tasted so good.

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A good rule of thumb for time needed to condition:

The bigger the beer, the more time needed.

The darker the beer, the more time needed.

Time is your friend.

Rico567:

Thanks for your advice. It seems that everything is going well with my beer.

philosopher said:

Rico567:

Thanks for your advice. It seems that everything is going well with my beer.

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I had the same problem with a blonde in the summer and a brown ale in the fall. Both with Nottingham yeast. Both fermented around 70 degrees. Both with the same off-flavors. I talked it over with a pro and he thinks it was too high fermentation temps for the yeast.