megadave5000
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- Oct 18, 2012
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Good evening all,
First of all I want to say that this forum has been a hugely helpful resource to me Ive been brewing since this past 4th of July and I dont know where Id be without this place. A hearty THANK YOU!
I have a curious problem going on whenever I brew a beer in a particular one of my fermenters. I was given some brewing equipment to start with in July one piece being a plastic 10-gallon capacity carboy with a lid that doesnt seal completely. Instead of an o-ring and an airlock, the lid just doesnt seal completely to the bucket. I dont know if my description makes sense or not, but basically CO2 can get out but bugs would have trouble getting in. Also, since then I've been upgrading equipment (what brewer doesn't buy new stuff every now & again?).
I brewed my first batch in this fermenter a Two Hearted clone from Northern Brewer. My O.G. was 1.062 and final was 1.007 (I believe my F.G. measurement to be inaccurate, it was probably somewhat higher, but this is what I wrote down all those months ago). Unfortunately, there was a big acetaldehyde smell and taste serious green apples! My craft beer buddies and another home brewer friend of mine could pick it up when I pointed it out. I thought it was overpowering but I guess you are your own worst critic sometimes. For reference, the temp during fermentation was too high basement was ~69-70 over the 4th of July weekend and Im sure that didnt help. Im much more conscious of temp during fermenting now, not so much back then. In all honestly, I don't recall if I used 1 or 2 packs of SA05 dry yeast, but I know it was at least 1 entire pack of SA05 (I did not record this, but I really want to say that I used two, I just cannot be 100% sure on the number of packs but I am 110% sure it was SA05 since that is what the kit recipe called for). I chalked up the green apples to being a new brewer and bravely forged ahead.
After this batch, I bought two 6.5 gallon plastic carboys - each with the o-ring lid seal and 3 pc airlock. I havent had a problem with acetaldehyde in these fermenters at all, at least not that I can tell with my taste buds and nose and neither can anyone else who drinks my beers (unless they're just not being forthcoming). Since the first apply IPA, I have brewed a Russian Imperial Stout, a nut brown, a double IPA, and an oatmeal nut brown all in those new carboys with the o-ring sealing lids. Then, at the onset of September, I brewed a Founders Porter clone in the old non-sealing carboy and guess what? Yup, green apples up the wa-zoo. So this fermenter is 0 for 2 at this juncture in my tale.
The O.G. target was 1.067 and I hit 1.061 the F.G. target was 1.017 and I got to 1.015. To me, this seems pretty good, but Im still a rank amateur at this. Oh yea, did I mention the green apples? I should have left this alone for longer than 17 days in the primary, but I stupidly moved it into a secondary where it sat for two weeks before being bottled. Two solid weeks in the bottles and that darn taste was there yet. The other day, this is now 20 days after bottling, I popped another bottle and to my shock and surprise tasted pretty good, relatively speaking. Theres still a hint of apples, but I think the apple smell/taste is subsiding. My plan is to let these puppies sit for a few more weeks at ~66 and hope for the best. Im encouraged that the off-flavor taste seems to be fading; its a really good beer otherwise.
So at this point, I thought that I might have an aeration problem. Its hard to aerate a beer in this fermenter in question since the lid doesnt seal all the way - Ive found that beer spills out of the top very easily when I shake it (gushes out is more like it). So, to combat this, I bought an aeration stone (2 micron) and hooked it up to an O2 tank and proceeded to brew an IPA somewhat similar to the Two Hearted clone (only different types of hops and liquid yeast). Here is my recipe, comments are welcome everyone, I literally threw this together on a whim at my LHBS:
Wyeast 1056 smack pack into a 1 L starter 15 hours before brewing
Wyeast nutrients 1tsp dumped into starter
Diammonium phosphate 2 tsp dumped into start
6 gallons of store-bought spring water
Caramel 20L 1 pound steeped for 20 min while water heated
9.15 lbs gold LME for full 60 min
Columbus 1oz at 60 min
Centennial 1.5 oz at 15 min
Whirlfloc ½ tab at 15 min
Citra 1.5 oz at 5 min
Citra 1.5 oz dry hop (not there yet)
I used a wort chiller to get from boiling to 70 degrees in ~30 min
My measured O.G. was 1.0538
I did not measure pH - should I do so for extract?
I did a full boil in my 10 gal kettle and used the aeration stone for 70 seconds before pitching
This has been in my basement all week it is considerably cooler there now vs. the summer. Using a digital thermometer, Ive taken the temperature of a bucket of water sitting directly beside the fermenter twice each day. Once when I wake up and once when I get home from work. The temp has not been above 62 and has not fallen below 60. Tonight I moved the fermenter to a room in my basement which is a shade warmer presently its 66 - to finish its fermentation.
I brewed this IPA on 10/14/12, this past Sunday. I couldnt resist, tonight I lifted that no-sealing lid and Ill be damned - theres green apple smell in there. Took a sample and my gravity is now 1.012, I think thats pretty much where it should be, maybe a bit lower but not much? I guess I have to buy BeerSmith to get a better idea. FYI there is still foam on the beer, and there was a much higher krausen as evidenced by the crud on the sides of the bucket - but thats all gone now, its just some ugly looking yellowy-brown foam.
Interestingly, I tasted the sample and couldnt really smell the apple nor taste it in the small glass I poured it into after the gravity test so maybe its just when I have all 5+ gallons of it in my face that its so noticeable. In any case, I really want to know if this apple smell & taste is due to my process, if theres something wrong with the fermenter, or what. First, this beer is pretty young its technically not even 5 days away from being called wort. Perhaps this is going to turn out just fine, but I am growing impatient and becoming suspicious of my cleaning/sanitizing technique even though I think I'm being at least adequately good about killing germs, it's tough to tell when you're doing this all alone. Second, maybe there is just something about this fermenter that doesnt mix with my brewing style and I should toss it to the curb and move on. Maybe there's a scratch in the plastic that I can't see, can a fermenter just go "bad?" Well, I'm sure you've noticed that I'm a detail wonk, I like puzzles, and I want to get to the bottom of this. I am convinced that there is an explanation here and I would like to one day turn out a batch of some awesome beer from this bucket so I feel like I was able to overcome whatever was messing up the beer (even if its my own methods).
I would appreciate any help / ideas / suggestions with this situation. Is it the fermentor, cleanliness, aeration, something else? Thanks in advance and please let me know if you have questions that I can answer. I eagerly await your responses.
Dave
First of all I want to say that this forum has been a hugely helpful resource to me Ive been brewing since this past 4th of July and I dont know where Id be without this place. A hearty THANK YOU!
I have a curious problem going on whenever I brew a beer in a particular one of my fermenters. I was given some brewing equipment to start with in July one piece being a plastic 10-gallon capacity carboy with a lid that doesnt seal completely. Instead of an o-ring and an airlock, the lid just doesnt seal completely to the bucket. I dont know if my description makes sense or not, but basically CO2 can get out but bugs would have trouble getting in. Also, since then I've been upgrading equipment (what brewer doesn't buy new stuff every now & again?).
I brewed my first batch in this fermenter a Two Hearted clone from Northern Brewer. My O.G. was 1.062 and final was 1.007 (I believe my F.G. measurement to be inaccurate, it was probably somewhat higher, but this is what I wrote down all those months ago). Unfortunately, there was a big acetaldehyde smell and taste serious green apples! My craft beer buddies and another home brewer friend of mine could pick it up when I pointed it out. I thought it was overpowering but I guess you are your own worst critic sometimes. For reference, the temp during fermentation was too high basement was ~69-70 over the 4th of July weekend and Im sure that didnt help. Im much more conscious of temp during fermenting now, not so much back then. In all honestly, I don't recall if I used 1 or 2 packs of SA05 dry yeast, but I know it was at least 1 entire pack of SA05 (I did not record this, but I really want to say that I used two, I just cannot be 100% sure on the number of packs but I am 110% sure it was SA05 since that is what the kit recipe called for). I chalked up the green apples to being a new brewer and bravely forged ahead.
After this batch, I bought two 6.5 gallon plastic carboys - each with the o-ring lid seal and 3 pc airlock. I havent had a problem with acetaldehyde in these fermenters at all, at least not that I can tell with my taste buds and nose and neither can anyone else who drinks my beers (unless they're just not being forthcoming). Since the first apply IPA, I have brewed a Russian Imperial Stout, a nut brown, a double IPA, and an oatmeal nut brown all in those new carboys with the o-ring sealing lids. Then, at the onset of September, I brewed a Founders Porter clone in the old non-sealing carboy and guess what? Yup, green apples up the wa-zoo. So this fermenter is 0 for 2 at this juncture in my tale.
The O.G. target was 1.067 and I hit 1.061 the F.G. target was 1.017 and I got to 1.015. To me, this seems pretty good, but Im still a rank amateur at this. Oh yea, did I mention the green apples? I should have left this alone for longer than 17 days in the primary, but I stupidly moved it into a secondary where it sat for two weeks before being bottled. Two solid weeks in the bottles and that darn taste was there yet. The other day, this is now 20 days after bottling, I popped another bottle and to my shock and surprise tasted pretty good, relatively speaking. Theres still a hint of apples, but I think the apple smell/taste is subsiding. My plan is to let these puppies sit for a few more weeks at ~66 and hope for the best. Im encouraged that the off-flavor taste seems to be fading; its a really good beer otherwise.
So at this point, I thought that I might have an aeration problem. Its hard to aerate a beer in this fermenter in question since the lid doesnt seal all the way - Ive found that beer spills out of the top very easily when I shake it (gushes out is more like it). So, to combat this, I bought an aeration stone (2 micron) and hooked it up to an O2 tank and proceeded to brew an IPA somewhat similar to the Two Hearted clone (only different types of hops and liquid yeast). Here is my recipe, comments are welcome everyone, I literally threw this together on a whim at my LHBS:
Wyeast 1056 smack pack into a 1 L starter 15 hours before brewing
Wyeast nutrients 1tsp dumped into starter
Diammonium phosphate 2 tsp dumped into start
6 gallons of store-bought spring water
Caramel 20L 1 pound steeped for 20 min while water heated
9.15 lbs gold LME for full 60 min
Columbus 1oz at 60 min
Centennial 1.5 oz at 15 min
Whirlfloc ½ tab at 15 min
Citra 1.5 oz at 5 min
Citra 1.5 oz dry hop (not there yet)
I used a wort chiller to get from boiling to 70 degrees in ~30 min
My measured O.G. was 1.0538
I did not measure pH - should I do so for extract?
I did a full boil in my 10 gal kettle and used the aeration stone for 70 seconds before pitching
This has been in my basement all week it is considerably cooler there now vs. the summer. Using a digital thermometer, Ive taken the temperature of a bucket of water sitting directly beside the fermenter twice each day. Once when I wake up and once when I get home from work. The temp has not been above 62 and has not fallen below 60. Tonight I moved the fermenter to a room in my basement which is a shade warmer presently its 66 - to finish its fermentation.
I brewed this IPA on 10/14/12, this past Sunday. I couldnt resist, tonight I lifted that no-sealing lid and Ill be damned - theres green apple smell in there. Took a sample and my gravity is now 1.012, I think thats pretty much where it should be, maybe a bit lower but not much? I guess I have to buy BeerSmith to get a better idea. FYI there is still foam on the beer, and there was a much higher krausen as evidenced by the crud on the sides of the bucket - but thats all gone now, its just some ugly looking yellowy-brown foam.
Interestingly, I tasted the sample and couldnt really smell the apple nor taste it in the small glass I poured it into after the gravity test so maybe its just when I have all 5+ gallons of it in my face that its so noticeable. In any case, I really want to know if this apple smell & taste is due to my process, if theres something wrong with the fermenter, or what. First, this beer is pretty young its technically not even 5 days away from being called wort. Perhaps this is going to turn out just fine, but I am growing impatient and becoming suspicious of my cleaning/sanitizing technique even though I think I'm being at least adequately good about killing germs, it's tough to tell when you're doing this all alone. Second, maybe there is just something about this fermenter that doesnt mix with my brewing style and I should toss it to the curb and move on. Maybe there's a scratch in the plastic that I can't see, can a fermenter just go "bad?" Well, I'm sure you've noticed that I'm a detail wonk, I like puzzles, and I want to get to the bottom of this. I am convinced that there is an explanation here and I would like to one day turn out a batch of some awesome beer from this bucket so I feel like I was able to overcome whatever was messing up the beer (even if its my own methods).
I would appreciate any help / ideas / suggestions with this situation. Is it the fermentor, cleanliness, aeration, something else? Thanks in advance and please let me know if you have questions that I can answer. I eagerly await your responses.
Dave
