First pour on day 10 post bottling, slightly sweet, and flat

I opened up my first Irish Stout Pub Draught on the 10th day after bottling. The bottle gave bit of a hiss when popping the top but found the first pour to be a bit flat. The beer tastes right and has alcohol but seemed to have a slight sweetness about it. It tastes like bitters that I have had in the past and very much like a cask beer. Since this is my first batch and first experience with this beer, I have nothing to compare to. I was also uncertain as to the sweetness being related to the hops that I used or the bottling sugar. Can bottling sugar be tasted if not totally used up by the remaining yeasts?

Only ten days after bottling? How long did you let the beer ferment for? Likely your beer is green and will improve dramatically if you give it a couple more weeks. Go buy some local micros and give your beer a chance to age!

Three weeks at 70 is typical to carb.

Sweetness is probly sugar used at bottling the yeast hasn't eaten yet, little carb is also likely due to the yeast not having had a chance to eat the sugar yet. Give them at least another 10-15 days.

Also-- Hello to a fellow Haligonian

Did you refrigerate it? Give it another four or five days at room temp, then a week in the fridge. A neat trick I learned on this forum is to bottle the last one in a plastic soda bottle, then you can feel how hard it gets over time.

pelipen said:

Did you refrigerate it? Give it another four or five days at room temp, then a week in the fridge. A neat trick I learned on this forum is to bottle the last one in a plastic soda bottle, then you can feel how hard it gets over time.

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Great idea!

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am glad to hear that people agree that the beer seems green. If it did not taste right, I would not have assumed it to be green but, bad. It does taste like it should only a touch sweet and flat like a cask beer. I may just go and buy some PET bottles to have on hand for the next batch.

Thanks,

Darwin18 said:

Only ten days after bottling? How long did you let the beer ferment for? Likely your beer is green and will improve dramatically if you give it a couple more weeks. Go buy some local micros and give your beer a chance to age!

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The beer fermented for 2 weeks, was bottled and the first pour happened on day 10 after bottling. How much difference does a day make, a week make, a month make make when carbonating and aging? The bottles are currently sitting in a dark closet at a temp range of 18-19 degrees celcius.

I have moved to bottling everything for at least three weeks prior to opening any. This gives ample time to carbonate and the conditioning also helps the flavor. I know it sucks at times, but I can always buy a cheap six pack or two if I need beer and don't want to wait.

tgmartin000 said:

Three weeks at 70 is typical to carb.

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My beer sits in a dark closet ranging in temp between 18-19 degrees celcius. It is the most stable temp in my appartment. This will change the speed of the carbonating/aging correct?

pyth said:

Sweetness is probly sugar used at bottling the yeast hasn't eaten yet, little carb is also likely due to the yeast not having had a chance to eat the sugar yet. Give them at least another 10-15 days.

Also-- Hello to a fellow Haligonian

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And hello as well to a fellow Haligonian,

Ok, so the beer should be aging/carbonating for a total of 20-25 days or 3-4 weeks? My father makes kit beers (Coopers) and won't touch them before the 5 week mark. He swears that even 4.5 weeks is not long enough. Is longer better? The bottles are currently at a constant temp of 18-19 degrees celcius in a dark closet (I am using a kitchen thermometer to give me an aproximation of the room temp which is a small dial type).

NavyMarine1978 said:

And hello as well to a fellow Haligonian,

Ok, so the beer should be aging/carbonating for a total of 20-25 days or 3-4 weeks? My father makes kit beers (Coopers) and won't touch them before the 5 week mark. He swears that even 4.5 weeks is not long enough. Is longer better? The bottles are currently at a constant temp of 18-19 degrees celcius in a dark closet (I am using a kitchen thermometer to give me an aproximation of the room temp which is a small dial type).

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It depends. Some beers like wheat beers are better drunk young while my stout will take 4 or 5 months to fully mature.

Carbonation time depends mostly on the temperature when carbonating. You no longer need to worry about getting off flavors so you should encourage your yeast to work fast by making them comfortable. 22 would be appropriate and much faster than at 18.

RM-MN said:

It depends. Some beers like wheat beers are better drunk young while my stout will take 4 or 5 months to fully mature.

Carbonation time depends mostly on the temperature when carbonating. You no longer need to worry about getting off flavors so you should encourage your yeast to work fast by making them comfortable. 22 would be appropriate and much faster than at 18.

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The Irish Stout Pub Draught sat at a constant temp of 18-19 for about a week. I just figured out that a cabinet above the fridge is a more constant 21-24. I moved the batch to there two days ago. I now use the other room to ferment the beer which sits at the 18-19 degrees celcius. Will the fact that the fridge cabinet sits a bit higher at 21-24 be a problem?

Cheers,

NavyMarine1978

I usually let my beers ferment a week at the cooler temperature and then bring it to a warmer location to encourage the yeast to finish the cleanup. I leave them at room temperature for a couple weeks or longer so the yeast has plenty of time to clean up, flocculate, and settle to the bottom.

3 weeks at 70F after bottling. You can try them earlier, but most likely will be disappointed with the carbonation. Stronger beers may take longer. I'm sure someone will be along soon to straighten this thread out.

I definately appreciate all of the input and advice. I am recording all of the dates and times of when I am doing the different processes with hopes of being able to tweek the method after I have a result.

Thanks again to everyone and please keep the suggestions coming in.

Cheers,

NavyMarine1978