Aberrix
Active Member
It's now 4 weeks from when I brewed my first beer (an ESB from Northern Brewer) and I had 3 buddies come over and we tasted it (each sampled 1/4 pint). It tastes 'alcoholy' and someone said 'medicinal' so I'm trying to find out where I went wrong. I googled and I have some idea (phenols and/or fusel alcohol) but I just wanted to check and see what you guys thing...
here was my process;
I didnt really actually clean anything, everything appeared "clean" no major debris... So I just sanitized everything with Star San. Is that okay to just sanitize or do I need to clean and then sanitize? also should I be rinsing the Star San off of things? I was told I didnt need to but just wanna make sure.
I followed the recipe instructions pretty well. I did however have the lid on my kettle for a while to try and help the boil (I later learned this is a no-go and will produce esters). All in all beyond that I think the brewing process went well. I pitched my Wyeast slap pack that was fully inflated and let it sit.
I had a beautiful fermentation in the first 3-4 days with a thick kraussen and then it fell back into the beer. I left it in the primary for 2 weeks.
I racked it to my secondary on the 2 week mark, again using star san to sanitize my siphon and everything else.
Here is where I think I may have produced the fusel alcohols, my basement is unfinished and my secondary was sitting at around 60F +/- which got me kinda worried, I moved it back into my office where it sat at around 68F +/-, I think it may have gotten too warm in the office and thus produced the fusel alcohols, is that assumption correct? is that what could've happened?
at about 3.5 weeks I cold crashed it by putting my entire secondary into my chest freezer which is at about 34-36F for two days.
I then kegged it, again using star san but not actually using any cleaner.
I've been tasting sips here and there and it just "doesnt taste right", alcoholy, etc...
now I just reread my recipe kit and it says 6 weeks... did I rush it too fast? is that why I'm having these off tastes? or did I do something else wrong? will it get better?
thanks in advance
here was my process;
I didnt really actually clean anything, everything appeared "clean" no major debris... So I just sanitized everything with Star San. Is that okay to just sanitize or do I need to clean and then sanitize? also should I be rinsing the Star San off of things? I was told I didnt need to but just wanna make sure.
I followed the recipe instructions pretty well. I did however have the lid on my kettle for a while to try and help the boil (I later learned this is a no-go and will produce esters). All in all beyond that I think the brewing process went well. I pitched my Wyeast slap pack that was fully inflated and let it sit.
I had a beautiful fermentation in the first 3-4 days with a thick kraussen and then it fell back into the beer. I left it in the primary for 2 weeks.
I racked it to my secondary on the 2 week mark, again using star san to sanitize my siphon and everything else.
Here is where I think I may have produced the fusel alcohols, my basement is unfinished and my secondary was sitting at around 60F +/- which got me kinda worried, I moved it back into my office where it sat at around 68F +/-, I think it may have gotten too warm in the office and thus produced the fusel alcohols, is that assumption correct? is that what could've happened?
at about 3.5 weeks I cold crashed it by putting my entire secondary into my chest freezer which is at about 34-36F for two days.
I then kegged it, again using star san but not actually using any cleaner.
I've been tasting sips here and there and it just "doesnt taste right", alcoholy, etc...
now I just reread my recipe kit and it says 6 weeks... did I rush it too fast? is that why I'm having these off tastes? or did I do something else wrong? will it get better?
thanks in advance