Had my first home brew today...

Well... its been a week since bottling... so I decided to crack one open and see what it was like. It kinda didnt really ferment... i saw nothing happen in the airlock the whole week it was in the fermenter... and there wasnt as much of a change between the OG and the FG as their should of been...

So anyway... as expected... it was pretty shyt...

First mouthfull...was kinda alright... then the aftertaste... that was a little off... kinda bitter/sour/just plain weird...

But yeah... i think this ones pretty much a writeoff... gonna have to get some mates to help drink it...

The second batch was bottled today... and that one actually fermented... so im looking forward to tasting that one...

Chrus

That sounds very unusual that your beer didn't even ferment. What kind of yeast did you use? You really didn't have any noticeable activity in your fermenter?

It is rare that people actually make undrinkable beer, but this could be an instance. If you have lttle or no alcohol there, it will not be preserved and is likely to get infected quickly.

Sounds like you had better luck the second time around.

p.s. In the future, if you do not notice visible fermentation going on within about 48 hours it's probably a good idea to do something about it. You could try: 1. If your house is too cool, move the beer to a warmer spot in your house, or 2. add some yeast nutrient, or 3. add more yeast.

Do you mean "carbonate" instead of "ferment"?

Give it a couple of weeks in the bottle followed by a couple of days in the fridge. The flavors will change. Over time it will mellow and blend into something great. Unless there really is something wrong with it.

homebrewer_99 said:

Do you mean "carbonate" instead of "ferment"?

Give it a couple of weeks in the bottle followed by a couple of days in the fridge. The flavors will change. Over time it will mellow and blend into something great. Unless there really is something wrong with it.

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No, he said "no activity in the airlock and no change in SG". In other words, no primary fermentation. What you have here, OP, is definitely, as you say, shyte. It's sweet wort in a bottle. I wouldn't even bother getting your friends to drink it with you. Do yourself a favor---pour all the stuff from the bottles back into your brew kettle. Bring it to boiling for 15 minutes to kill any nasties. Add back some filtered water, put it in a sanitized carboy, cool it down to under 80f, and pitch more yeast into it.

Beer without primary fermentation isn't beer at all. Next time, don't even bother bottling until fermentation has happened. Luckily, in this case, you may be able to salvage this batch.

There was definatly a problem with the fermentation... Ive been told some fermentation did take place... there was that foamy stuff on top...

Carbonation wasnt great either... bubbles where there... but nothing to write home about. (that reminds me... i got another question about that.. ill ask in a new thread though... not really related to this...)

I dont think its gonna be worth trying to save it... will probably just throw the whole batch out and start again...

There was a post a couple days ago from a guy in Australia about his batch sitting at around 80 F...Was that you? if so that was why you did not get any fermentation.

I may be wrong though

AleHole said:

There was a post a couple days ago from a guy in Australia about his batch sitting at around 80 F...Was that you? if so that was why you did not get any fermentation.

I may be wrong though

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Yeps... that would of been me...

But my next batch started out in the same place as that first one... and it was fermenting like crazy. I did move that one to a cooler part of the house as soon as i found out it was too hot though...

After all that my recommendation would be to get a hydrometer and learn how to use it...

homebrewer_99 said:

After all that my recommendation would be to get a hydrometer and learn how to use it...

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Well if he has the SG and FG, he has a hydrometer...just happenned to have some dead yeast. I say boil it again and pitch again. It would be a shame to throw it out.


Dan

make sure you are pitching your yeast into wort that is less than 80°F

If it never fermented, (and he knew this from the FG), then it never should have been bottled in the first place. It appears it is too late to fix anything now.

yeah mate for future reference if you have problems with fermentation always try to re-pitch your yeast and get it going. I wouldn't have gone through all the work if I knew my ferm wasn't heading in the right direction. but if it was constantly in an area around 80 degrees or higher that may be a start to your problem.

Good luck on the next one mate!

Cheers,

I think he said there wasn't MUCH change in OG and FG meaning it had to have fermented a little bit. Which is even more intriguing. The right thing to do would have definately been add more yeast or yeast nutrient, or maybe he just didnt' wait long enough and fermentation would have taken off eventually. Whatever it is bottling was definantly the wrong thing to do, but I agree with the consenses to pour it out into your brewkettle toboil and repitch the yeast. This might not work, but I would try it simply to avoid having to waste a whole batch.

AleHole said:

There was a post a couple days ago from a guy in Australia about his batch sitting at around 80 F...Was that you? if so that was why you did not get any fermentation.

I may be wrong though

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80 degrees F will not kill yeast. It will more likely cause a very quick, violent fermentation with the production of a ton of esters and fusel alcohols that will contribute to an off-tasting beer. You can definitely ferment beer at 80, but I doubt you can get the results you intend to achieve at that temperature.

One more thing-- if your house is too warm, try the wet t-shirt trick. Put your carboy in a tub of water with wet t-shirt over it. Make sure the bottom of the shirt is in the water. Water will wick up into it and evaporate. This keeps your beer several degrees cooler than the temp in the room.

Chrus said:

... there was that foamy stuff on top...

Carbonation wasnt great... bubbles where there...

I dont think its gonna be worth trying to save it... will probably just throw the whole batch out and start again...

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Sounds to me like you've got a young beer that wants to be left alone for more than just a week.

If I'd have judged my English Ale after one week in the bottles, I'd have thrown out one of my best batches ever.

Unless you need the bottles, I'd say get on to your next brew and leave those babies alone. You'll be amazed what proper bottle conditioning can do for a beer.

I went back and found this post from you on the 22nd:

Chrus said:

After a week in the fermenter, there was a kinda skungy head on top... im guessing thats bad?

Forgot to check the gravity at the start (my bad)... being new to the whole home brew thing... we kinda missed that bit...
But it was about 1.020 at the end.

Carboy or bucket? sorry... i dont know what that means...

The temp was about 27C when yeast was added...

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Again, I'd say a skungy (?) head on the primary and a final OG of 1.020 means you definitely had fermentation. It might have ceased early, but you definitely have beer in those bottles. What you do is up to you but there is no effort involved in leaving things alone.