Hi all,
I have a concern about my first batch being off and wondering if I should dump and try again or wait it out. Basically I brewed following the online version of the John Palmer guide about 2 weeks ago. My beer has been fermenting for the past 2 weeks in 68-69*F area of the house and all seemed to be going well. Yesterday was bottling day and I sampled the bit that I used with the hydrometer. The beer had a weird flavor... not sure how to describe it. The hop/bitterness came through quite well, but not much other flavor. Does this just mean that the beer has to still condition in the bottles or will not additional flavor develop? The beer itself smells great and is clear.
I did have a craving for more of it after sampling so I guess that's a good sign? I was a little worried about fermentation dying early so I tried swirling the bucket (I know, I know! leave the bucket alone! blame it on newbie eagerness). I also did not do a yeast starter, but just let the WYEAST baggy expand with the nutrient packet for a few hours - will definitely do a starter for the next round.
As for the beer/brewing itself, details below:
Lady Liberty Ale - American Pale Ale w/specialty grains
Recipe Form For: pale ale
Recipe Volume: 3 gallons
Yeast: american ale 1 packet from WYEAST
Malts: Amount Type
3.6 lbs pale malt extract (syrup)
4.8 oz crystal malt 60L
Calculated Original Gravity: 1.045
Hops: Amount (oz) Time (Minutes) Type % Alpha Acid
0.4 60 pellet 10.6
0.4 30 pellet 8.2
0.4 15 pellet 8.2
Calculated IBUs: 37
Procedure: boiled 1 gallon of water, put in fermenter, boiled 2 gallons, let cool to 160F, steeped crystal malt 60L for 30 minutes at 160F, brought to boil, mixed in LME, resumed boil (might have needed to wait longer, was only 195F when began time), began hop addition, cooled wort to 70F, pitched yeast into bucket (just 3 hrs in packet with nutrients), poured wort into fermentation bucket
Fermentation: after 24 hrs - very little activity, some bubbling, airlock shows higher pressure inside
26 hrs - crazy bubbling, until about 40 hrs, then stopped tried to swirl bucket, started up again for about 10 hrs, then died down,
FG = 1.013, smells good, tastes hoppy and something off?
I have a concern about my first batch being off and wondering if I should dump and try again or wait it out. Basically I brewed following the online version of the John Palmer guide about 2 weeks ago. My beer has been fermenting for the past 2 weeks in 68-69*F area of the house and all seemed to be going well. Yesterday was bottling day and I sampled the bit that I used with the hydrometer. The beer had a weird flavor... not sure how to describe it. The hop/bitterness came through quite well, but not much other flavor. Does this just mean that the beer has to still condition in the bottles or will not additional flavor develop? The beer itself smells great and is clear.
I did have a craving for more of it after sampling so I guess that's a good sign? I was a little worried about fermentation dying early so I tried swirling the bucket (I know, I know! leave the bucket alone! blame it on newbie eagerness). I also did not do a yeast starter, but just let the WYEAST baggy expand with the nutrient packet for a few hours - will definitely do a starter for the next round.
As for the beer/brewing itself, details below:
Lady Liberty Ale - American Pale Ale w/specialty grains
Recipe Form For: pale ale
Recipe Volume: 3 gallons
Yeast: american ale 1 packet from WYEAST
Malts: Amount Type
3.6 lbs pale malt extract (syrup)
4.8 oz crystal malt 60L
Calculated Original Gravity: 1.045
Hops: Amount (oz) Time (Minutes) Type % Alpha Acid
0.4 60 pellet 10.6
0.4 30 pellet 8.2
0.4 15 pellet 8.2
Calculated IBUs: 37
Procedure: boiled 1 gallon of water, put in fermenter, boiled 2 gallons, let cool to 160F, steeped crystal malt 60L for 30 minutes at 160F, brought to boil, mixed in LME, resumed boil (might have needed to wait longer, was only 195F when began time), began hop addition, cooled wort to 70F, pitched yeast into bucket (just 3 hrs in packet with nutrients), poured wort into fermentation bucket
Fermentation: after 24 hrs - very little activity, some bubbling, airlock shows higher pressure inside
26 hrs - crazy bubbling, until about 40 hrs, then stopped tried to swirl bucket, started up again for about 10 hrs, then died down,
FG = 1.013, smells good, tastes hoppy and something off?