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jackiolantern

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So... I have brewed 3 batches in total and I'm noticing a trend that I'd like to correct. Please help!

1st Batch- Irish Red Kit- Turned out okay- Took a long time in the bottle to taste palatable. Very Carbonated, Cloudy, and slightly metallic taste (like pennies). Think of it more as a dark Pilsner than an Irish Red.

2nd Batch- Hopstache Black IPA- In the carboy 3rd week now- dry hopped and moved from the bucket to the carboy after 7 days. It has been in the carboy for 2 weeks now and the SG is still changing and it's still not at the correct SG. It's sitting at 1.8? After tasting the most recent draw- it tastes murky....kinda off, not like the Red.... but kinda thick... My husband says sour.

3rd Batch- Coffee Stout- Boiled, pitched, ready to add coffee and move to the carboy anytime now. SG is in range (1.2?) but it is starting have the same cloudiness issue as the other two batches.

Any recommendations for a newbie?
 
How's your sanitation? Did you use a low to medium flocculation yeast? Controling ferment temps will help with off flavors.
 
You OGs are way off. Unless you added a crapload of fermentables and have a specialized hydrometer, there is no way you could even read a gravity of 1.8. Do you mean 1.008?

The penny taste in the first beer make me think high amounts of iron in the beer. Portland has great water, so it could be something else.

I sounds like your second batch was transferred too early. You should wait until the gravity stabilizes before racking to another vessel. The sour descriptor is a pretty big indication of a bacterial infection.

Cloudiness can be caused by a number of issues. Unconverted starch, yeast, tannins, etc. can all cause haze. Most beer will be cloudy until you store it cold for awhile and let the have settle out.
 
Please describe your equipment (e.g., what type of boil kettle, fermenter, etc) and your entire brewing process, including sanitation, how you cool your wort, temperature you pitch at, temperature you ferment at. You get the idea. We need to know all the details.
 
More information please. Fermentation temp., type of yeast, temp. of the wort when yeast was pitched, and more on sanitation. It does sound like something is being passed on from one to the next. Sanitation practices or equipment used without proper cleaning and sanitizing before or during use. The 1.8 & 1.2 gravity is why I ask about wort temp. at pitching, unless you mean 1.008 & 1.020? If you pitched to hot and killed the yeast than 1.080 would make sense, but you said its still changing.:confused:
 
OK - pick one of the beers that you like, like the irish red, and brew it untill you get it right. Address each issue and find the cause and you will become a better brewer.
 
On the first, a high carbonation can make for some change in the perceived flavors, generally for the more bitter/sharp so that may have some bit to do with it.

The second, probably moved too soon so the SG could change for quite a while. As for the taste, an IPA is going to take a while to settle down so that should be just a waiting thing.

The third, well how can you tell it's cloudy in a stout anyhow? :p That aside, if clarity is a real issue you could try gelatin in any of your brews (I keep a few packs of Knox unflavored around for emergency use) and it will pull down about anything still hanging around, tannins and proteins included. Ultimately though if it's just a cosmetic thing, just tell the guests that it's homebrew so it's not supposed to look like commercial, over-filtered swill.

Oh and as noted above, the SG is not 1.8 unless something was way off in the making, 1.080 is still high, 1.008 is exceptionally low for most any beer. 1.8 is more than even wine should be.
 
How's your sanitation? Did you use a low to medium flocculation yeast? Controling ferment temps will help with off flavors.

Used the sanitizer that came with the Kit from Midwest Brew Supply.
Used the yeast that came with the Kit.
Consistent temp has been a challenge... Apartment living kinda sucks :(
 
Please describe your equipment (e.g., what type of boil kettle, fermenter, etc) and your entire brewing process, including sanitation, how you cool your wort, temperature you pitch at, temperature you ferment at. You get the idea. We need to know all the details.

My brew Kettle is a Stoneware (new) 5 gallon
The Fermentation bucket for the first step is from a kit from Midwest Brew Supply as is the bottling bucket and siphon.

I cool my wert with Ice and a sick full of cold water & by topping off my wert with Ice.

The First batch I pitched the yeast dry on top and admittedly the temp was a bit too high- but I did see action in the air lock within a day so I figured I hadn't killed it... but definately not the best start
The Second Batch- I cooled to 80 degrees, gave the yeast a 10 min head start (with some previously boiled water cooled to the right temp)
Same process for the 3rd batch
All of the yeast has been premium dry yeast included with the kits stored in the fridge from the time it arrives at my doorstep until the day I start the boil.

Fermentation temps:
I was shooting for between 60-70 degrees- but little to nothing was happening until I got close to 68 so I let it get a bit warmer and capped my indoor temp (to the best of my ability with a wall mount radiator from the 40's) at the low 70's... Consistency has been an issue and it may not be something that I can controll in my current living situation.
 
OK lets make this easy. Make sure you wort is at a maximum of 65 before you pitch and do not let it go higher. If you are having the same off taste issues after that we will start working on other possible issues.
 
You're topping off with ice, which is fine depending on where the ice is coming from. Is it tap water that you have frozen, how long has it been in the freezer? Was it boiled first? Some apartments can have plumbing issues that change to chemistry of the city water. I would try a batch using only bottled spring water to see if it makes any difference.
 
jackiolantern said:
I cool my wert with Ice and a sick full of cold water & by topping off my wert with Ice.

Well there's yer problem. :p

Also I'm not particularly sure what type you mean by 'Stoneware' but I've seen that name on the thin coated metal pots, usually black or green with white flecks. It may not be a problem when new but those have been said to have problems with the sustained boil and somewhat acidic nature of wert over time.

Other than that, murky, cloudy, sounds a lot like just another bit of green beer that needs some time. As a general rule, I look at no less than 2 months as being a start to finish time scale for most brews. It may just be a case of wait for a while and let it all meld.
 
+1 to fermentation temps. If the humidity is low, it's a simple as tossing a wet towel on your fermentor and pointing a fan at it. I can ferment my beers at 61-62F this way in an 80F condo. No water bucket or ice bottles required, though that's another way to go if your humidity is very high and evaporative cooling doesn't get the job done.

Once you fix your fermentation temperatures, everything else will come together. It will also be much easier to diagnose problems.
 
OK lets make this easy. Make sure you wort is at a maximum of 65 before you pitch and do not let it go higher. If you are having the same off taste issues after that we will start working on other possible issues.

Okay- This is new information- My kit directions say below 80. Beerman0001Can you tell me why below 65?
 
Whenever I get into a hobby or pursuit (ceramics, fly-fishing, skiing, drawing) I try to limit my variables as much as possible and work within of the constraints of said lack of variables. Personally, I would recommend starting with a quality dry yeast selection(s). Dry yeast is inexpensive as compared to liquid, more forgiving, and end result can rival or surpass liquid selections depending on what your going for.
Pick a kit like someone mentioned, use a 5 gallon plastic bottled water (as your water source, repeatable, known quality) that way you can (likely) get a water assessment. I first started brewing with a 2.5 gallon boil, then poured 2.5 gals in 5 gallon carboy, and poured resulting wort ~2 gals or so into carboy. Mixing the hot and cold togethor like this insured sanitation and quick cool down since the cool water was as much or more than the hot wort.
With your first batches try not to get to fancy, just "get it in the can."
 
Okay- This is new information- My kit directions say below 80. Beerman0001Can you tell me why below 65?

Every yeast has a temperature range that it works best in. I have found that if I pitch yeast at or below the temp that I want to ferment at that in the end I have a much better beer. I know the kit says to pitch under 80 but that is out of the temp ranges for almost all the yeast out there.
 
A good rule of thumb to remember is that kit manufacturers, for the most part, are trying to speed up the process for you. Their fermentation periods will be smaller, and they will do things like recommend a higher pitching temp in order to make life easier on the new brewer (It's amazing how much extra energy it takes to chill from 90° to 65° compared to boiling to 90°, assuming you're using an icebath).

I usually chill to 65° or so and let the yeast bring the temp up if the fermentation calls for it.

As a resource, I would advise reading up on the wiki beer making process. I found it an invaluable tool when I first started out brewing. And any uncertainties can always be cleared up with eaither a search of these forums or a thread posing a question.

I still learn new things every time I get on this forum, so good luck. Preparation and repetition will win the day.
 
when i did extract, i topped off with tap water and had good results. some of the off flavors might come from the ice you are using. IIRC, ice can absorb odors and other nasty stuff. I'd advise not using ice, unless it was boiled and then frozen. As far pitching temps, i've pitched in the low 80s and it came out ok, but i wouldn't recommend it hahah.
 
I give a +1 to beerman. The kit probably gives that temp range to make things simple and foolproof, as yeast will ferment very strong at those temps. but most yeasts will start to give off flavors once you start to get out of the sixties, some of them even in the upper sixties. So keeping temps lower is a great place to start in eliminating off flavors. That and waiting longer. Often people get impatient and try the beer too soon, and then wonder what went wrong. Beer that is too young can be surprisingly unpleasant, especially if fermentation temps were off. If we take care of these things, it will take care of many problems and give a much more solid ground to isolate any other potential problems if they still exist.
 
Fermentation will raise the temperature of the wort around 10 degrees, so if you pitch at 80, it may continue to cool down during the lag period a few degrees depending on your ambient temperature, but once the fermentation takes off it'll go up about 10 degrees. That'll most likely put you out of the ideal temperature range for ale fermentation.

You should be shooting for 68 to 72 degrees for most ale yeasts, and a lower starting temp is usually better. I pitch at 62 to 64 degrees and keep my fermenter in a room that is 65 degrees.
 
Only once you get the process down to be able to repeat batch after batch can you really start to narrow down any issues. If you read on here long enough everybody agrees on most of the basics that you use. After that its all a huge can of worms. What is your next brew going to be? We will help you step by step and make sure you are not missing any of the little things. Big things seem to take care of themselves its the little things that bite you in the ass.:cool:
 
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