can i pour my bottled beer back into secondary fermenter?

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johnbrain

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I bottled my stout 3 days ago. I missed my final gravity and think it's because of higher mash temp. I broke a bottle today and it smells rubbery. It did when i bottled too. I've seen mention it might clean up.

Could i gently them back into a carboy for seCondary or its the infection risk just way too high?
 
I would think that it would get too much air, and change the taste to something really bad. I would just leave them in the bottle, bt keep an eye on them. What was your final gavity?
 
Gear is correct in saying you will change the taste of the beer due to the introduction of air; you would need to build negative pressure (vacuum) system if you wanted to do it, and preserve the current flavor.

I recommend putting it in the closet for a month or two and see what happens. Unless you want to take the gamble by adding air to beer, you never know, it could turn it into an A+ beer
 
Maybe take 1/2 or a 1/4 of the bottles for re- ferment and keep the others bottled. Who knows you might learn something from the experience.
 
johnbrain said:
1.024. Should have been about 1.020. First time I've missed the mark. Watching for bottle bombs.

You won't get bottle bombs just because the FG is higher - you get bottle bombs from fermentation not being done. If fermentation is done, you'll only get bombs from priming mistakes, infections, or weak bottles. One of my best beers missed the target FG by almost 10 points and turned out amazing.
 
Don't worry. The beer will continue to condition in the bottles. I had a hefeweizen that was so terrible tasting when I first bottled it. It was like drinking a banana sledge hammer. Then I waited a few weeks and the flavor calmed down. Now it's really good.
 
Just let it age. Its really all you can do.

If aging doesn't fix it, alter your process next time.
 
a banana sledge hammer
Ha! :p That's what I'm worried my Wit will taste like. I put it in a water bath with the temp @ 62 and left town for 2 weeks. The next day my wife said it was a little over 70...we'll see how it turns out when I get back and take a grav sample. I'm sure it will be OK.
 
How long was it left to ferment? Was the gravity steady for a few days before bottling? 4 points high is no big deal IMO. Let it age awhile, I had a cream ale that was awful at bottle time, and now is fantastic about a month later and its still improving! In general I've found giving it a month or so to bottle condition significantly improves it, unless you made a mistake during bottling or a fundamental mistake on brew day. Worst case it doesn't improve, but at least you wont risk ruining what could be a good beer.
 
It was in primary for 3 weeks. I didn't take gravity samples over a few days because at 2.5 gallons getting a sample is a pain. But I'm confident it was done. my red I just bottled was off by about .002 so I'm going to test my hydrometer today actually.

I'll wait it out. I just recall my first batch, even the sample tasted great albeit green.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I just want every batch to be good after all the work it takes. My tripel was horrible after primary. It's been in secondary almost a month and even the smell seems awesome compared to one month. I'll bottle that next week and hide it for a few months.
 
Exactly why I never tase my beer b4 its time...aka 8 weeks from brew date....too much to worry about

This is such superb advice. We get thread after thread every week with people stressing over the off flavors in beer that the fully admit isn't even close to being ready. Leave the beer alone for at least three weeks! If it's bad then... leave it alone for a while longer.

If it's still bad, THEN start worrying about what you did wrong. Pouring beers into a secondary to let them age pretty much guarantee two cases of liquid cardboard.

Also, OP - missing your FG by .004 is essentially the same as hitting it on the nose, provided the gravity is stable. You aren't building something using fixed-size blocks; you are dealing with an organic, inherently variable process driven by living organisms. .004 means nothing is wrong.
 
My concern was in the context that none of my other batches have had such an off flavor/aroma even right out of primary. I'd never expect a mature beer but this was so robust i felt it necessary to inquire.

@yooper +1. I'm ask about instant gratification. Perhaps brewing isn't for me. Recently I've had no beer to share with guests because i wind up drinking everything i brew + i split any batch with my friend when we brew together.

P.s. Thanks for the quote about bring off by .004 on gravity bring essentially on the nose. Still learning the subtlety of brewing.
 
My concern was in the context that none of my other batches have had such an off flavor/aroma even right out of primary. I'd never expect a mature beer but this was so robust i felt it necessary to inquire.

@yooper +1. I'm ask about instant gratification. Perhaps brewing isn't for me. Recently I've had no beer to share with guests because i wind up drinking everything i brew + i split any batch with my friend when we brew together.

P.s. Thanks for the quote about bring off by .004 on gravity bring essentially on the nose. Still learning the subtlety of brewing.

Well, I'm a strong believer that a well-made beer of a relatively low ABV doesn't need a ton of time to be ready and good, and in fact may be at its peak by week 4-6. But the key is "well made beer".

Even aging will not fix a bad beer, and most beers should taste really good coming out of primary. They may be a little rough until they are carbed up, of course, but even out of primary the beer should taste like young flat beer. If there are off-flavors, sometimes those may age out. Most don't, though.

"Rubbery" usually is caused by phenols. Sometimes that's due to infection, or sometimes chlorine (or chloramines) in the brewing water. A higher fermentation temperature can exacerbate that off-flavor. Phenols don't usually age out, but they may fade enough for the beer to be somewhat drinkable with some time.
 
Well, I'm a strong believer that a well-made beer of a relatively low ABV doesn't need a ton of time to be ready and good, and in fact may be at its peak by week 4-6. But the key is "well made beer".

After a couple years, I am really starting to believe 4 to 6% is were to brew at.

That is all I really brew anymore.
 
most beers should taste really good coming out of primary. They may be a little rough until they are carbed up, of course, but even out of primary the beer should taste like young flat beer. If there are off-flavors, sometimes those may age out. Most don't, though.

"Rubbery" usually is caused by phenols. Sometimes that's due to infection, or sometimes chlorine (or chloramines) in the brewing water. A higher fermentation temperature can exacerbate that off-flavor. Phenols don't usually age out, but they may fade enough for the beer to be somewhat drinkable with some time.

I'm think it might be chlorine or chloramines. I used my high Ph tap water and left it out over night. Same thing I did first batch. Fermentation temp never got to high. Maybe because it's such a small batch those effects we exacerbated?

I agree this beer should have just tasted like young flat beer out of the primary. I'll see if it cleans up but I suspect something went wrong somewhere. I don't think it's an infection though. Moving forward I'll use bottled water, which I do for all my other home brew
 
F#ck it. I'll brew another batch with bottled water. When I go to bottle, if this current batch still sucks I'll dump it. I want to have the stout for a tasting party.
 
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