radicalsubversiv
Member
Howdy,
First off, kudos to all the regulars on a great forum. The first couple times I've posted I've gotten very helpful feedback, and I've learned far more than I ever wanted to know about a number of topics surfing the archives.
I'm just starting to drink my second batch, 2.5 weeks after bottling -- an English Brown Ale from the Brewer's Best kit, replacing the dry yeast with a WLP005 British Ale Yeast.
I don't have a secondary available, so I let it sit in the primary for two full weeks. (The fermentation started pretty abruptly after about 48 hours, and the bubbling stopped a little abruptly after a day or so.)
and the final gravity was very close to the target 1.010 for the recipe (it was a little hard to read because the hydrometer was just barely on the edge of floating in the test cylinder, which clearly isn't tall enough). It tasted pretty great on bottling day. Used the 5 oz of corn sugar provided in the kit for the priming solution, and bottled.
While the taste today is a dramatic improvement over my first attempt, it's definitely moderately overcarbonated, which may be connected to a thin mouthfeel and an off-taste which I'm having a hard time describing except as a mild "bite" -- perhaps similar in character to the champagne-y taste of my first batch, but much less intense.
I have two basic questions:
1) Is there anything to do with it now? As a test, I uncapped and recapped a couple bottles yesterday. They foamed a fair amount at room temperature, but the one I re-opened today tastes better. OTOH, it went flat a little quickly, and I assume the risk of oxidation means it'll start going stale soon?
2) I've got a batch of Oatmeal Stout in the fermenter right now, and I'm wondering if there's anything I should be paying attention to prevent the problem from recurring. Maybe just use a little less priming sugar?
Many thanks in advance!
First off, kudos to all the regulars on a great forum. The first couple times I've posted I've gotten very helpful feedback, and I've learned far more than I ever wanted to know about a number of topics surfing the archives.
I'm just starting to drink my second batch, 2.5 weeks after bottling -- an English Brown Ale from the Brewer's Best kit, replacing the dry yeast with a WLP005 British Ale Yeast.
I don't have a secondary available, so I let it sit in the primary for two full weeks. (The fermentation started pretty abruptly after about 48 hours, and the bubbling stopped a little abruptly after a day or so.)
and the final gravity was very close to the target 1.010 for the recipe (it was a little hard to read because the hydrometer was just barely on the edge of floating in the test cylinder, which clearly isn't tall enough). It tasted pretty great on bottling day. Used the 5 oz of corn sugar provided in the kit for the priming solution, and bottled.
While the taste today is a dramatic improvement over my first attempt, it's definitely moderately overcarbonated, which may be connected to a thin mouthfeel and an off-taste which I'm having a hard time describing except as a mild "bite" -- perhaps similar in character to the champagne-y taste of my first batch, but much less intense.
I have two basic questions:
1) Is there anything to do with it now? As a test, I uncapped and recapped a couple bottles yesterday. They foamed a fair amount at room temperature, but the one I re-opened today tastes better. OTOH, it went flat a little quickly, and I assume the risk of oxidation means it'll start going stale soon?
2) I've got a batch of Oatmeal Stout in the fermenter right now, and I'm wondering if there's anything I should be paying attention to prevent the problem from recurring. Maybe just use a little less priming sugar?
Many thanks in advance!