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dhammers91

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I brewed a blonde ale kit last weekend. It fermented quickly this past week and I transferred it to secondary yesterday on some knox gelatin for a quick clearing. I have two issues.. i think...

1. I just drank my first blond (store bought) tonight and realized that my blonde smelled similar... sort of... it has a very potent smell, and if I didn't know what a blonde was supposed to smell like I would say that it smelled like turkey guts... yuck... i know...

2. My second issue is that it has been on the gelatin and in the fridge for 24 hours, and I don't see any difference. I have read that it should only take 48 hours for the beer to clear when mixed with gelatin.

Anybody have any solutions to my problems or any other prior experiences to share? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks! :)
 
brettg20 said:
Look at the very bottom

What do you mean look at the bottom? I have it in a bucket so I can't see the bottom, but r u saying it should be clear on the bottom?
 
I think you got overanxious and tried to clear the beer when the yeast wasn't done yet. Take it back out of the refrigerator and give it another week or a bit more so the yeast can finish their job and it will probably clear right up. The objectionable odor will likely be gone then too.
 
RM-MN said:
I think you got overanxious and tried to clear the beer when the yeast wasn't done yet. Take it back out of the refrigerator and give it another week or a bit more so the yeast can finish their job and it will probably clear right up. The objectionable odor will likely be gone then too.

Alright, thanks for the suggestion... I just thought it was good to go bc the original gravity was 1.050 and when checking for the final gravity, I got a reading of 1.012 3 days in a row, that's why I racked to secondary on the gelatin...
 
I hope your beer was done because if the yeast were still busy fermenting you could end up with beer that is overcarbonated or worse yet, bottle bombs. Put those bottles into something that can contain any flying glass if that should happen. Even a cardboard box with a lid would work.

Yes your beer will continue to condition in the bottles. Being bottled so early it will take longer to get to maturity. I'd expect a month or more to reach the good stage. For your next beer, leave it in the primary fermenter longer. Mine go 2 to 3 weeks in the primary and then to bottles with no secondary.
 
I'm gonna share my experience here, since I brewed this exact kit recently. Now, I was looking to brew a blonde because I've always enjoyed drinking Leffe Blonde. I didn't anticipate this Blonde to clone Leffe's, because there are quite a few nuances in that beer, but I thought perhaps it would be nice anyway. I've drank nearly all of it now, had quite a bit of time to think about it, and I'm not in love with the results. I did modify the recipe and put in 2 lbs extra malt extract, to increase the gravity. It ended up right where I wanted it. The carbonation is smooth, and the flavor is slightly sweet, kind of fruity. I think that the yeast worked very quickly, for some reason, which can give that effect. There is something a bit off with the flavor. I can't put my finger on it and I have a hunch it has to do with my process. Curious to see your thoughts on yours.

I'm a little confused with your process. I usually always do a week in primary, a week in secondary, bottle, and wait at least two weeks to drink (longer is better for flavor). Leaving in the primary the whole time is fine, I only transfer for clarity. Did you put your beer in the refrigerator after one week?
 
BlauMaus said:
I'm gonna share my experience here, since I brewed this exact kit recently. Now, I was looking to brew a blonde because I've always enjoyed drinking Leffe Blonde. I didn't anticipate this Blonde to clone Leffe's, because there are quite a few nuances in that beer, but I thought perhaps it would be nice anyway. I've drank nearly all of it now, had quite a bit of time to think about it, and I'm not in love with the results. I did modify the recipe and put in 2 lbs extra malt extract, to increase the gravity. It ended up right where I wanted it. The carbonation is smooth, and the flavor is slightly sweet, kind of fruity. I think that the yeast worked very quickly, for some reason, which can give that effect. There is something a bit off with the flavor. I can't put my finger on it and I have a hunch it has to do with my process. Curious to see your thoughts on yours.

I'm a little confused with your process. I usually always do a week in primary, a week in secondary, bottle, and wait at least two weeks to drink (longer is better for flavor). Leaving in the primary the whole time is fine, I only transfer for clarity. Did you put your beer in the refrigerator after one week?

Yeah, I had read that after fermentation was done, which I assumed it was bc I got a reading of 1.012 three days in a row with an OG of 1.050 that you could rack onto gelatin and cold crash for 2 days and bottle.... This is only my second brew. My other brew which was a pilsner extract kit, I followed the same process that you do. I just thought I would give it a try... When yours was done fermenting did it have a sort of rancid smell? I just drank a blonde for the first time and could smell some similarities, but I don't know if it was just bc it was such a concentrated smell or what... I guess time will tell... Did u use the safale 05 that came with the kit? What temp did u ferment at? Did yours finish fermenting short of a week?
 
dhammers91 said:
Yeah, I had read that after fermentation was done, which I assumed it was bc I got a reading of 1.012 three days in a row with an OG of 1.050 that you could rack onto gelatin and cold crash for 2 days and bottle.... This is only my second brew. My other brew which was a pilsner extract kit, I followed the same process that you do. I just thought I would give it a try... When yours was done fermenting did it have a sort of rancid smell? I just drank a blonde for the first time and could smell some similarities, but I don't know if it was just bc it was such a concentrated smell or what... I guess time will tell... Did u use the safale 05 that came with the kit? What temp did u ferment at? Did yours finish fermenting short of a week?

Well, it looks like I've misplaced my notes on that beer, but from what I can recall, it did finish fermenting short of a week and had the biggest head of krausen I'd seen in one of my brews yet. I did use the Safale 05. Interestingly I don't think any other kit on that site comes with yeast included. Fermented at 68. I don't know about this smell you're talking about, like the others said, let it sit for a couple weeks and try it again. I find this helps. It definitely has a pungent aroma. If it tastes ok I wouldn't worry too much about it. Maybe get someone else's opinion, too.
 
BlauMaus said:
Well, it looks like I've misplaced my notes on that beer, but from what I can recall, it did finish fermenting short of a week and had the biggest head of krausen I'd seen in one of my brews yet. I did use the Safale 05. Interestingly I don't think any other kit on that site comes with yeast included. Fermented at 68. I don't know about this smell you're talking about, like the others said, let it sit for a couple weeks and try it again. I find this helps. It definitely has a pungent aroma. If it tastes ok I wouldn't worry too much about it. Maybe get someone else's opinion, too.

Alrighty... Well since I didn't know what to do I just bottled it... Hopefully it will just continue to condition in the bottle... The smell is probably normal, it's my first blonde so I was probably just a little apprehensive...
 
BlauMaus said:
Well, it looks like I've misplaced my notes on that beer, but from what I can recall, it did finish fermenting short of a week and had the biggest head of krausen I'd seen in one of my brews yet. I did use the Safale 05. Interestingly I don't think any other kit on that site comes with yeast included. Fermented at 68. I don't know about this smell you're talking about, like the others said, let it sit for a couple weeks and try it again. I find this helps. It definitely has a pungent aroma. If it tastes ok I wouldn't worry too much about it. Maybe get someone else's opinion, too.

How was it? I am thinking of making this kit and then racking onto strawberries to make a strawberry blonde.
 
BonzoAPD said:
How was it? I am thinking of making this kit and then racking onto strawberries to make a strawberry blonde.

Well I don't know if you should base your decision off of me.... I could have screwed it up... I tried one last night, and it smelled decent, and the initial taste was nice too, but the after taste was kinda funky... I'm hoping that it will continue to condition out... It was kinda carmel-ly, but not really... I dunno... Lol! Strawberries could adds nice touch and possibly change the random aftertaste! Hope it goes well! :) good luck!
 
How was it? I am thinking of making this kit and then racking onto strawberries to make a strawberry blonde.

Well I don't know if you should base your decision off of me.... I could have screwed it up... I tried one last night, and it smelled decent, and the initial taste was nice too, but the after taste was kinda funky... I'm hoping that it will continue to condition out... It was kinda carmel-ly, but not really... I dunno... Lol! Strawberries could adds nice touch and possibly change the random aftertaste! Hope it goes well! :) good luck!

Yeah, I would think if anything the strawberries could balance this beer nicely and at least make it more interesting than it is. It does taste better after you give it time to condition, in my opinion. It's already fairly sweet, so be cautious of that.
 
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