Just tasted my first brew and have some questions. I'll detail the steps I took first. Ok, so brew day I followed the instructions that came with my kit to a t since it was my first batch. I cooled it in an ice bath and was able to get it to my pithing temp of 70 deg pretty quickly. I transferred it to primary for one week, got a stable hydrometer reading for three days and then racked to a secondary. I let it stay in secondary for a week then to bottles for another two weeks to condition at about 70 deg. I just tasted my first pint and it was decent. Definitely drinkable. But it seems a little to carbonated and the head disappears almost immediately. It fizzes a little like a glass of soda. Any suggestions why this is? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks
Fat Tire Clone (First Batch)
- Thread starter kgb294
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
JordanThomas
Well-Known Member
Can you post the recipe or the kit?
That would help.
That would help.
jwalk4
Well-Known Member
I'm glad that your first beer was, for the most part, a successful venture!
First, I'll say that although head retention and carbonation may seem like they're related issues, they aren't.
If you post your OG. and FG. (If indeed you have that information, don't sweat it if you don't. It's your first batch.), how much beer you brewed, and how much priming sugar you used to carbonate your beer, we can tell you whether or not it was too much.
The head can disappear from a beer for a number of reasons. 1) maybe the that the glass you used had a little bit of soap residue in it. Give your next beer glass a good rinse before use, and see if that helps. 2) A Poor head can sometimes be the result of stale, or staling, malt extract. It's the proteins in the beer that form a good lasting head. Unfortunately its a tough problem to fix when working with kits.
First, I'll say that although head retention and carbonation may seem like they're related issues, they aren't.
If you post your OG. and FG. (If indeed you have that information, don't sweat it if you don't. It's your first batch.), how much beer you brewed, and how much priming sugar you used to carbonate your beer, we can tell you whether or not it was too much.
The head can disappear from a beer for a number of reasons. 1) maybe the that the glass you used had a little bit of soap residue in it. Give your next beer glass a good rinse before use, and see if that helps. 2) A Poor head can sometimes be the result of stale, or staling, malt extract. It's the proteins in the beer that form a good lasting head. Unfortunately its a tough problem to fix when working with kits.
solbes
Well-Known Member
Probably the CO2 has not been fully absorbed into the beer. You say you conditioned for 2 weeks at 70, how long did the bottle get refrigerated before opening? At only 2 weeks, it might need 2-3 days of fridge time. If it doesn't get sufficient time, the CO2 may be still in the headspace resulting in a foamy pour and beer that is not carbonated well. How much priming sugar did you add?
Your beer is still pretty young (4 weeks) and will get better over the next 4-6 weeks. Try to hold off drinking these and go buy some commercial beer in pry off bottles (save the bottles). Then get another batch brewing!
Your process sounds okay, although many would just leave it in primary for 3 weeks and skip the secondary for a beer like this. You want to let it sit on primary yeast for 5-7 days after fermentation has ended. The yeast do a better job of cleanup.
Your beer is still pretty young (4 weeks) and will get better over the next 4-6 weeks. Try to hold off drinking these and go buy some commercial beer in pry off bottles (save the bottles). Then get another batch brewing!
Your process sounds okay, although many would just leave it in primary for 3 weeks and skip the secondary for a beer like this. You want to let it sit on primary yeast for 5-7 days after fermentation has ended. The yeast do a better job of cleanup.
Which kit did you use and how does it compare to the real thing? The 'Phat Tyre' kit from Northern Brewer is on my short list and I'm wondering how close it's going to be to the original.
Thanks for the reply. My OG was 1.056 and my FG was 1.012. I made a 5 gallon batch. I don't know the exact amount of priming sugar off hand but it was a packet that came with the kit and it said use the whole thing dissolved in 16oz of boiling water. And I actually just tried another today when I got home from work and it has improved already as far as taste and head retention. I think one of my problems was I only had it in the fridge for like 15min. before I tried the first one! I was a little excited to see how my first batch turned out! I'm going to let them be for another few days and pop one on Saturday and see how it's coming along. Again, thanks for the information and the reply. Cheers!
Thanks for the reply. It was only in the fridge for about 15 min before I tried it! LOL. I was excited! But I tried another when I got home from work today and it was much better. I'll let them sit for a few more days before I pour another. I have two kits ready to go and plan to brew either a Black IPA from Northern Brewers or the Beartooth Stout from homebrewers.com. I'm leaning towards the Beartooth since the IPA is a little more advanced of a kit with more additions and dry hopping involved. I want to get a little more comfortable with the process so I'll post again when I finish that one up. Till then, Cheers!
I used the Ft. Collins Amber Ale kit from homebrewers.com. As far as taste it is a good amber ale. To me, it isn't that close to the real thing. But maybe the one from northern is closer. Either way, give it a try and let me know how it turns out.
I used the Ft. Collins Amber Ale kit from homebrewers.com. As far as taste it is a good amber ale. To me, it isn't that close to the real thing. But maybe the one from northern is closer. Either way, give it a try and let me know how it turns out.
You got it.
Do the IPA next. The stout will take longer to mature and get good to drink than the IPA and I think you will run out of your first homebrew before the stout is ready. Dry hopping is simple. Let your beer have enough time in the fermenter to be complete, then pop the lid open and drop in the hops. Put the lid back on for another week or thereabouts and then bottle it.
Similar threads
