yes another Noob question.

Ok I just racked my first batch to the secondary after a few days in the primary. I'm making a Shiner Bock clone. I know I did several things wrong, like pitching my yeast at about 95 instead of 70's.. but when I racked to the secondary it actually tasted like shiner! Watery and a little funky but still tasted like shiner. Is that a good sign? Can I really quit worrying and start the next batch?

bobjohnson77 said:

Ok I just racked my first batch to the secondary after a few days in the primary. I'm making a Shiner Bock clone. I know I did several things wrong, like pitching my yeast at about 95 instead of 70's.. but when I racked to the secondary it actually tasted like shiner! Watery and a little funky but still tasted like shiner. Is that a good sign? Can I really quit worrying and start the next batch?

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Congrats on your first brew. The taste now is a good indication of how it will come out. Although it will change a bit during bottle conditioning. Tasting it at various stages will give you a feel for how it changes.

Don't worry and start your next batch right away. They never last long enough.

The biggest mistake I see is that you haven't started the next batch already. Seriously though, if it tastes in the ballpark of what you were shooting for on your first brew, then you've learned several things about just how easy it can be to get a decent beer from your efforts. congrats and keep brewing.

Welcome to the HBT Forum.

95 is a tad high, but it wont kill the yeast at that temp. You MIGHT get some fusel alcohol flavors, but even that is assuming your fermentation took off right away.

If it didn't taste syrupy sweet when you transferred then you know it fermented and your yeast did their thing. Did you happen to get a gravity reading when you transferred? OH..and DON'T WORRY if you didn't. NO biggie, just asking. It is a good indicator as to how effective (attenuation) your yeast was.

In short...quit worrying and go brew another batch.

Thanks for the input. No I didn't get a reading I need to get a hydro first. It did start bubbling right away and then stopped after 48 hrs or so that is why I moved it. early I know but I'm like a kid at Christmas. I plan to let it sit for at least a week in the secondary. Thus making me wait with the next batch in the primary a bit longer and watching the temps better. What are fusel alcohol flavors? Is that the acidic taste it had perhaps? it should be watery still right? and no it wasn't sweet at all.

Next time you will find that leaving your beer in primary for 3-4 weeks will do a number of things, including help clean up any off flavors produce by too high a temp, and will make your beer very clear and crisp tasting...

You will find that many of us leave our beers in primary for 3-4 weeks, skip secondary and bottle. Just search for the 10,000 threads under "long Primary" or "no secondary" and you will see all the resaons why we do it, and the explanations behind...There's at least one thread a day on the topic, so it's really not hard to find the discussion pretty much hashed to death.

Even Palmer recommends not rushing the beer out of primary.

From How to Brew;
Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks (instead of just the one week most canned kits recommend), will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring. And, three weeks in the primary fermentor is usually not enough time for off-flavors to occur....

... From How to Brew;
Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks (instead of just the one week most canned kits recommend), will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring. And, three weeks in the primary fermentor is usually not enough time for off-flavors to occur....

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I know you are excited, but don't be too quick to rush things....please, leave it AT LEAST 2 weeks in primary...more than likely, since you used bubbling as an indication (another BIG NONO) the beer wasn't finished fermenting yet.....The yeasts have a lot of work that when you rush them off the cake they don't get to do, like making your beer actually taste good.


Patience Padwan, Patience, you aren't making koolaid.

Agree with the others--you should be making your next batch now. Not tommorow, not tonight, now. Welcome!

Ok since I couldn't make another batch on the 21st like suggested I made up for it tonight. I kegged the shiner clone sampled and it's ok still waiting for carb and some conditioning but I think I didn't screw it up too bad. I made Apple wine today ed worts with a twist. And a Hefe is chilling as I type this. I also have plans to start a few small (1 gal) meads in the next week.