Funny taste

Every brew that I've ever done has always had this funny taste to it that I've never tasted in any other beer. I notice that this flavor is more prominent when I decide to try a bottle a little earlier than I should. So, I'm guessing that this strange flavor is actually the priming sugar. The flavor is an odd, sweet taste.

I wonder if I'm doing something wrong when adding the priming sugar to my bottling bucket.

For example, the lager I'm fermenting now, will call for 3/4 cup of corn sugar for the priming sugar. My recipe doesn't mention the ratio of sugar to water to use when boiling the sugar before adding it to the beer. Am I adding too much sugar or not enough water?

Also, I am doing the logical thing by adding the beer to the priming sugar rather than vice versa. Anyone have any tips as to how to adequately mix the priming sugar to the beer, before bottling? I've had very successful brews that had random bottles that would literally erupt after opening them, leaving nothing but foam all over the place and in the bottle by the time it stops erupting. I'm just wondering if I'm doing something fundamentally wrong with the priming sugar, which could be causing the above symptoms.

If anyone could offer any advice regarding this odd, sweet taste I'm getting in my brew, I'd greatly appreciate it.

There are so, so many variables you are dealing with and you didn't really give nearly enough information about what the beers are, what processes you are using, the timelines and time frames you are talking about. OG/FG of beers...

Without the OG/FG of some of the beers I don't think anyone can do anything but give you random responses - (or ask for more info.)

There's a good bottle priming calculator here:
http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html
Use the temperature at which your beer fermented- there is dissolved CO2 in the beer before priming, and the volume depends on fermentation temp.

For bottle priming, I dissolve the weight of sugar indicated into a pint of water and boil for a few minutes. I cool this a bit and add to the bottling bucket. Then I rack the beer onto it, trying to swirl the beer so it mixes with the sugar. After it is racked, I stir gently (at this point you want to avoid oxygen) to mix. Then proceed to bottling!

That taste should disappear with proper conditioning. Three weeks at ~70F is recommended all across this board, but YMMV.

Cheers.

if you think the funny taste is bottling sugar, then taste the beer before you add the bottling sugar to determine if the taste is coming from the sugar. you just need to wait longer if sugar is the problem. bottling sugar makes the beer taste like apple cider.

if the funny taste is yeast that is still in suspension, your beer will be cloudy at bottling time and there will be a lot of yeast settled in the bottom of each bottle. if this is the case, slowly and steadily pour the beer into a glass, and stop when the yeast begins to pour out (the last half ounce of beer, or so). to fix this problem, let the beer stay in the fermenter for an extra week or two so that the yeast settles more.

My recipe says, "allow to ferment 5-7 days or until fermentation slows and then bottle..." Well, after about a week, the fermentation had slowed, so I figured it was right. I have been experimenting with longer fermentation times. Right now I've got a barley wine on deck in it's secondary. I'm going to give it one more phase of fermentation and another week (3rd week). During this third phase, I'll dry hop. Would you suggest I give it a 4th phase and dry hop then? By "phase", I mean I'm transferring it to another bucket/carboy. Thanks!

Well there you go - anytime a recipe gives you a timeframe for fermentation, ignore it! Yeast works on its own timeline, not yours, and not your recipe's! 5-7 days can be enough time for primary fermentation to complete, but it's rarely enough time to allow the yeast to clean up their waste products - a very common cause of off-flavors.

If you don't already have one, get yourself a hydrometer and a hydrometer testing jar and learn to use them! In general, after a week (though 2-3 can allow more time for clean-up), start testing samples. Once you've had 3 days in a row at a steady hydrometer reading, you're good to transfer to secondary or bottle, depending on what your recipe calls for.

Also - I've never done a barleywine before, but I think that'd need a lot more than 3 weeks before bottling! Lastly, your wording there sounds as if you're transfering the beer every week - there's no need to do this, and you're in fact increasing your risk of oxidation and/or infection!

Another possibility would be that you have crystallized some of your wort during the boil. These crystallized sugars are very hard for the yeast to ferment. What type of kettle and burner do you use?

@BKmyWAY

Hmm. I'm using a cheap turkey fryer burner. This actually had me concerned about another thing. My beer usually comes out darker than it should. I've got a lager on deck now too that was very light in color when it came out of the mash tun, but after it boiled, it was quite a bit darker. I was wondering if I was boiling too hard, which could have scorched the wort and given it a darker tone. Boiling down to 5 from 8 gallons takes quite a while. How long should this take? Should I just let it go at a very slow boil and be patient? Thanks again.

@stratslinger

I was planning on transferring it every week, but if you advise against it, I won't. I only transferred this once now and I felt it necessary because of the amount of junk in the bottom of it. I think I'll give the lager another week before putting it into a secondary.

I'll be honest, I'm a little bit leary about testing the gravity too often. I was planning on testing it when I transferred it only, for the exact reason I specified. I don't want to take the risk of infection. Having to sanitize my wine thief/hydrometer is fine, but I worry that it's not sanitized well enough.

bmantzey said:

I'll be honest, I'm a little bit leary about testing the gravity too often. I was planning on testing it when I transferred it only, for the exact reason I specified. I don't want to take the risk of infection. Having to sanitize my wine thief/hydrometer is fine, but I worry that it's not sanitized well enough.

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If you don't want to check the gravity, then let it in the primary for at least 4 weeks, then bottle it.

I will take your advice. Not to say that I don't want to check the gravity, just that I want to keep that at a minimum.

If you are extract brewing, it's usual for recipes to darken. It is extremely difficult to make a very light beer with extract. However, there are a few tricks.

Add only half your extract for the full 60 minute boil. Follow normal hop schedule. Add the rest of the extract 10 minutes from the end of the boil. This is enough time to sanitize and form a hot break, but not enough time to caramelize the extract. (google maillard reactions).

bmantzey said:

@stratslinger

I was planning on transferring it every week, but if you advise against it, I won't. I only transferred this once now and I felt it necessary because of the amount of junk in the bottom of it. I think I'll give the lager another week before putting it into a secondary.

I'll be honest, I'm a little bit leary about testing the gravity too often. I was planning on testing it when I transferred it only, for the exact reason I specified. I don't want to take the risk of infection. Having to sanitize my wine thief/hydrometer is fine, but I worry that it's not sanitized well enough.

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I don't understand- you're racking (siphoning) the beer every week? Seriously?

Put it in the fermenter when it's made. Walk away. Come back in three to four weeks, and then bottle it. Don't transfer it. Don't mess with it. Don't muck about with it at all. Check the SG about three days before you want to bottle it, then check it on bottling day. If it's the same, then boil up the priming sugar in 2 cups water, pour it in the bottling bucket, and siphon the beer into that. Then bottle.

Moving the beer unnecessarily can only cause harm. Leaving it in the fermenter for only a week can cause harm. Leaving it alone is the best course, until it's time to bottle.

unionrdr said:

I also don't know how in the world some guys on here are brewing 3-4 batches per month? they word their posts like they have on fermenter. Even with a secondary to rack to,that just seems like inadequate primary time to me. Just had to get that out.

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What in the world are you talking about? Of course I can make four batches per month.

unionrdr said:

I also don't know how in the world some guys on here are brewing 3-4 batches per month? they word their posts like they have on fermenter. Even with a secondary to rack to,that just seems like inadequate primary time to me. Just had to get that out.

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sorry, had to comment on this.

I have 6 primary fermenters, and that's a low number compared to some.

It's called a pipeline:
Week 1: brew beer 1
Week 2: brew beer 2
Week 3: brew beer 3
Week 4: brew beer 4, bottle/keg beer 1
week 5: brew beer 6, bottle/keg beer 2
so on, so on.....
AND two or more beers can be brewed in the same day/week, but that tends to make math confusing

I'm all-grain.

I don't transfer it every week. I transfer it to a secondary fermenter after about a week, when the fermentation slows. I've read that you can do a third fermentation phase as well, and I assumed this would be after another week. After a week or two, I bottle. Apparently, this is not enough time, which I've gathered from the very helpful responses I've gotten.

From what I gather, the purpose of transferring to a secondary is to reduce the amount of junk in the brew. Leaving behind most of the crapola when transferring, makes it so you have much less crapola when bottling that could float up and into your tubing when bottling. I don't remember exactly what, but there were other advantages to it. If you're curious about that, you could do some research about secondary fermentation. I'll probably double-check into it too, as I may have misunderstood something.

At any rate, I do appreciate all the great help everyone has offered me. I've really learned a lot.

bmantzey said:

I'm all-grain.

I don't transfer it every week. I transfer it to a secondary fermenter after about a week, when the fermentation slows. I've read that you can do a third fermentation phase as well, and I assumed this would be after another week. After a week or two, I bottle. Apparently, this is not enough time, which I've gathered from the very helpful responses I've gotten.

From what I gather, the purpose of transferring to a secondary is to reduce the amount of junk in the brew. Leaving behind most of the crapola when transferring, makes it so you have much less crapola when bottling that could float up and into your tubing when bottling. I don't remember exactly what, but there were other advantages to it. If you're curious about that, you could do some research about secondary fermentation. I'll probably double-check into it too, as I may have misunderstood something.

At any rate, I do appreciate all the great help everyone has offered me. I've really learned a lot.

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Well, the "crapola" will fall out with enough time whether it's in vessel #1, #2, #3, or the bottles. There is nothing magical that happens when you move the beer. Time and temperature are what cause the "crapola" to fall out. So yes, if you're doing a primary, a secondary, and considering a tertiary then I'd say there is some confusion.

Just for the heck of it, why don't you try doing a single vessel brew? Just once. Put the wort in primary, pitch the wort and walk away for three weeks. Come back and bottle it. It'll be just as clear as if you moved it two or three times. Like I said, moving the beer doesn't cause clearing.

The thing with letting it sit longer, is to help the yeast finish what they started. There may not be any fermentation going on, but they are still working to clean up some of the off flavors and such from fermentation. The 3 week rule is more of a personal preference, but many people on here abide by it.

As for helping to leave the crap behind, with the 3 week rule, the yeast on the bottom will be pretty tightly packed and most will stay behind when you transfer to the bottling bucket. This is why a secondary is not often performed by many, unless there is a specific reason to, like adding fruit or dry hopping, which in my preference can be done in the primary after fermentation is done, thus leaving secondary *almost useless.





*I'm aging a mead in secondary...

Awesome help! This really clarifies it all. So many questions are answered, even those I didn't outright ask. Thank you all so much. I have my first lager sitting in my carboy right now. This one has not been transferred at all. I think I'll go ahead and let it stay there and not do a secondary for this one. The barleywine does call for a dry hops, and I've only transferred it once, so I think I'll just leave it where it is. I was planning on putting the dry hops into the tertiary, but I can now see that this is not necessary. Another question comes up. Is there a certain amount of time the dry hops should be in there? I wouldn't want it to be there for too long, or too short a time. At this point, the dry hops are not in the fermenter. Shall I go ahead with it now, or wait until the last N days? Thanks!!

beninan said:

sorry, had to comment on this.

I have 6 primary fermenters, and that's a low number compared to some.

It's called a pipeline:
Week 1: brew beer 1
Week 2: brew beer 2
Week 3: brew beer 3
Week 4: brew beer 4, bottle/keg beer 1
week 5: brew beer 6, bottle/keg beer 2
so on, so on.....
AND two or more beers can be brewed in the same day/week, but that tends to make math confusing

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I am a fan of parti-gyle batches where you make 2 or 3 batches at a time...

bmantzey said:

Awesome help! This really clarifies it all. So many questions are answered, even those I didn't outright ask. Thank you all so much. I have my first lager sitting in my carboy right now. This one has not been transferred at all. I think I'll go ahead and let it stay there and not do a secondary for this one. The barleywine does call for a dry hops, and I've only transferred it once, so I think I'll just leave it where it is. I was planning on putting the dry hops into the tertiary, but I can now see that this is not necessary. Another question comes up. Is there a certain amount of time the dry hops should be in there? I wouldn't want it to be there for too long, or too short a time. At this point, the dry hops are not in the fermenter. Shall I go ahead with it now, or wait until the last N days? Thanks!!

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Well, there are about three times I'd use a secondary for my beers. One, for lagers. I don't think lagering on the yeast cake is a good idea. Lagers are clean and crisp and should be without yeast character. I always rack my lagers into a carboy for lagering. Another time would be for oaking or bulk aging, like in the case of a barley wne.

You can add the hops with 7-10 days left before bottling- that's what I do. You don't want to dryhop more than about 7-10 days.

That's kinda what I had in mind as well.