justinthehull
Well-Known Member
I've thought about this quite a bit today after researching for hours... and it seems like my batch is ruined. I'm going to take a good long look at it whe. I get home, but I think I'm going to dump it. This is my first batch and I've made a few mistakes:
1. I boiled hopped extract, because the directions with my kit told me to do so
2. I stirred in yeast rather than letting it sit for 15 minutes because "How to Brew" said to do it in the beginner insructions. In a later chapter (that i read after pitching the yeast) it says to wait 15 minutes to stir just like the instructions on the yeast did.
3. Fermentation got up to 74 degrees in my first spot. I had the carboy wrapped in a blanket and a black shirt over it to block light, but didn't realize it was just a couple feet away from a vent blasting warm air. I moved the Carboy to a closet which is probably the coldest spot in our house in the winter.
4. When the fermometer read 63-64, I moved it again.... into our bedroom. It was again a few feet from a vent (farther than the first time), so I left the blanket off and only had the shirt protecting he beer. Now something smells like a skunk in my room, and it must be the beer. I thought I had used too much starsan for the amount of water when I prepared forma hydrometer test and the new solution I put in the airlock was the culprit, but researching all morning has discovered no other cases of people thinking starsan smells like this. This smell was first noticed a week after brewing.
I'm doing my best to prepare for what I'll have to do tonight, but I'm really depressed about the whole thing. I'm not getting much work done today... What a waste...
1. I boiled hopped extract, because the directions with my kit told me to do so
2. I stirred in yeast rather than letting it sit for 15 minutes because "How to Brew" said to do it in the beginner insructions. In a later chapter (that i read after pitching the yeast) it says to wait 15 minutes to stir just like the instructions on the yeast did.
3. Fermentation got up to 74 degrees in my first spot. I had the carboy wrapped in a blanket and a black shirt over it to block light, but didn't realize it was just a couple feet away from a vent blasting warm air. I moved the Carboy to a closet which is probably the coldest spot in our house in the winter.
4. When the fermometer read 63-64, I moved it again.... into our bedroom. It was again a few feet from a vent (farther than the first time), so I left the blanket off and only had the shirt protecting he beer. Now something smells like a skunk in my room, and it must be the beer. I thought I had used too much starsan for the amount of water when I prepared forma hydrometer test and the new solution I put in the airlock was the culprit, but researching all morning has discovered no other cases of people thinking starsan smells like this. This smell was first noticed a week after brewing.
I'm doing my best to prepare for what I'll have to do tonight, but I'm really depressed about the whole thing. I'm not getting much work done today... What a waste...