Fusel alcohol???

I brewed my second batch. A double IPA from Northern Brewer. Suprisingly my first batch came out fantastic!! I am not so pleased with the second brew. I would like to know what went wrong so i can avoid mistakes in the future. It has a ridiciulously strong, almost rubbing alcohol taste to it. There is some hop flavor, but i believe the only flavor i am getting is from the addition of the finishing hops 2 weeks before bottling.
I kind of suspected something was going wrong when my primary did not stop for about 2 weeks, maybe more. It was very slow bubbling right from the start and stayed at that rate right through to the end. I then racked it to a secondary and let it sit there for about 8 weeks. Some of the bottles i have drank seemed not as bad, but others were bad enough where i did not care to finish them. It's drinkable, but that's about it. Is contamination a possibilty? I was not very pleased with the Wyeast liquid pack either. Too much prep time. The first batch i brewed was an Imperial stout, and i used a dry yeast pack with no started, and it worked fine. I just brewed a Heffewiezen last week and everything seemed to go smoothly. It's sitting in the secondary on a can of Peach puree right now. We'll see how that turns out in a week or two. I don't want to have another batch like the last.... $45.00 down the drain! I have heard that IPA's are a bit tougher to get to turn out good. Any thoughts?? I definitely think something went wrong somewhere.

thanks

Here are some questions:
1)At what temperature did you ferment?
2)Which yeast strain did you use?
3)Did you aerate heavily and make a big starter?
It seems that you didn't use a starter, if so this is probably the culprit. IIPAs take a long time to mature and mellow out, maybe you should let the bottles sit for another 4 weeks, then try one.

A double IPA needs more aging than most beers. Give it two months.

Iordz said:

Here are some questions:
1)At what temperature did you ferment?
2)Which yeast strain did you use?
3)Did you aerate heavily and make a big starter?
It seems that you didn't use a starter, if so this is probably the culprit. IIPAs take a long time to mature and mellow out, maybe you should let the bottles sit for another 4 weeks, then try one.

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My temperature was around 69-70 degrees. I did use a starter. It was Wyeast smack-pack. I might not have had a big enough starter, it was the first time i used that particular yeast.
I did have it in the secondary for about 8-10 weeks. It's been in the bottles for maybe a month or so.
It's strange though... some bottles seem ok, and others seem like they have a really strong alcohol aftertaste.
Oh well, i am not too sure i am going to be quick to try another IPA real soon. I prefer stouts anyhow.

What kit was it, and do you recall the Original Gravity?

The smack pack by itself does not constitute a starter. A starter consists of a quantity of malt extract, to which the yeast is introduced before going into the wort. Most smack packs can be directly pitched into worts of 1.060 or less which is why I asked. Greater than that generally requires a starter.

GunnyB said:

What kit was it, and do you recall the Original Gravity?

The smack pack by itself does not constitute a starter. A starter consists of a quantity of malt extract, to which the yeast is introduced before going into the wort. Most smack packs can be directly pitched into worts of 1.060 or less which is why I asked. Greater than that generally requires a starter.

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Since it's been more than 5 years since this thread was created, I'm pretty sure that
a. the beer is long gone
b. the OP doesn't remember which kit and which OG
c. He did use a starter (as indicated by him above)

We really appreciate great advice (which you gave). It just might a little late for this thread.

Too funny.

I apologize for not noticing the date