First batch bottled questions

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Stape

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Hey all. Brewed up a Coopers wheat beer kit, put it into primary, and was done fermenting in 3 days. Transfered to secondary, and the beer cleared right up to a nice golden color. Upon asking questions here, I was pointed in the direction that wheat beers are supposed to be cloudy and it was OK to bottle wheat after the primary. So.....I sanitized all my equipment and bottles, then a followed the instructions and blended exactly 3/4 cup corn sugar into 2 cups boiling water. I thought I was going to get a white-ish mixture but the sugar quickly desolved and looked like plain ole water. So, I stir the water mixture into my bucket wit the beer in it, then siphon into about 18 bottles, accounting for loosing some during all the transfers and all, I thought I should get more though. Anyway, I sampled a bit, and it tasted like a 50/50 mix of beer and cider. Smells like old flat, stale cheap beer. Is this normal? Is it ruined? Is this just green beer? I was planning on letting it bottle condition for 2-3 weeks or so. Am I doing this right? Any tips are appreciated. I'd be super dissappointed if all my hard work turned out a crap batch... I got it all sitting in a cool dark basement right now.
 
Stape said:
Hey all. Brewed up a Coopers wheat beer kit, put it into primary, and was done fermenting in 3 days. Transfered to secondary, and the beer cleared right up to a nice golden color. Upon asking questions here, I was pointed in the direction that wheat beers are supposed to be cloudy and it was OK to bottle wheat after the primary. So.....I sanitized all my equipment and bottles, then a followed the instructions and blended exactly 3/4 cup corn sugar into 2 cups boiling water. I thought I was going to get a white-ish mixture but the sugar quickly desolved and looked like plain ole water. So, I stir the water mixture into my bucket wit the beer in it, then siphon into about 18 bottles, accounting for loosing some during all the transfers and all, I thought I should get more though. Anyway, I sampled a bit, and it tasted like a 50/50 mix of beer and cider. Smells like old flat, stale cheap beer. Is this normal? Is it ruined? Is this just green beer? I was planning on letting it bottle condition for 2-3 weeks or so. Am I doing this right? Any tips are appreciated. I'd be super dissappointed if all my hard work turned out a crap batch... I got it all sitting in a cool dark basement right now.

All sounds good to me. What was the original batch size? 5 gallons? 18 bottles what size? 22 or 12oz? 5 gallons is 52 12oz bottles. What was the recipe? Did it call for corn sugar to boost the ABV or anything like that? The amount of corn sugar and color is right. It will be flat right now....it has not carbed yet, lol. Stale and cheap though? I would call it your first batch and let it sit in bottles for 3 weeks (taste one a week to see how it is progressing :D ). You need it to be around 70 or so to carb it. Don't let it be too cold i your basement or your yeast will go dormant and not carb your beer. Post back in a week after you try your first one. Some of the sweet taste will be gone as the yeast eats the sugar and carbs your beer. I think you'll end up being super happy with it in the end.
 
I wouldnt worry about it too much. Beer will "fix" itself during bottle conditioning. As a matter of fact, basically every beer I have ever made tasted a little less than desirable when first bottled, but after 3-4 weeks, most of them tasted great.

As for the 18 bottles, that does seem a little low to me. Was it a five gallon batch? How big were your bottles? I usually use a mix of 22oz and 12oz when I bottle (whatever happens to be empty at the time) and my last batch that I bottled, I got 17-22OZ and 16-12oz.
 
It was a 5gal batch, I was a tad on the light side of it though, wanted to leave room for whatever. Normal size 12oz bottles, I wasted allot getting my siphon started, didn't want to mix in any water or slop when transferring from one step to the next, plus my siphon skills suck (pun or no pun?) So off to get an auto siphon tonight. I have the bottles conditioning in my basement, average twmp down there is 65 or so, maybe a bit cooler in the dead of night but pretty steady, is this OK, I don't think I can fit any other brew throughout the house!
 
That's a big discrepancy compared to the amount of bottles you should have gotten. Even with incredibly bad siphon skills, you still have less than half of what you should have ended up with. I was mad when my third batch only got me about 42 bottles or so. Are you sure you started with close to 5 gallons of wort?
 
Using a standard 5gal carboy. Bout the same size as a 5 gal bucket? I filled it to the point befor the carboy starts to neck-up.
 
Maybe someone more knowledgeable can respond here but this might account for part of it. I've been using plastic pails for primary, and a better bottle for secondary...

Basically, I'm not sure if a 5 gallon carboy holds 5 gallons unless it is filled all the way to the top. So my primary fermenters are 6 or 6.5 gallons so that I can have some headspace for krausen to form...not sure if this helps or not, but hey, if you're happy with the volume of beer you get, who cares right? Also, I assume it comes out stronger, which can't be bad either!:drunk:
 
hope so. With my lack of experience, I have the usuall jitters about it comming out right, so far, from the words of encouragement from here, I think it is ok. Need to get a few batched under my belt so I can identify whats normal and whatnot.
 
Stape said:
Hey all. Brewed up a Coopers wheat beer kit, put it into primary, and was done fermenting in 3 days. Transfered to secondary, and the beer cleared right up to a nice golden color. Upon asking questions here, I was pointed in the direction that wheat beers are supposed to be cloudy and it was OK to bottle wheat after the primary. So.....I sanitized all my equipment and bottles, then a followed the instructions and blended exactly 3/4 cup corn sugar into 2 cups boiling water. I thought I was going to get a white-ish mixture but the sugar quickly desolved and looked like plain ole water. So, I stir the water mixture into my bucket wit the beer in it, then siphon into about 18 bottles, accounting for loosing some during all the transfers and all, I thought I should get more though. Anyway, I sampled a bit, and it tasted like a 50/50 mix of beer and cider. Smells like old flat, stale cheap beer. Is this normal? Is it ruined? Is this just green beer? I was planning on letting it bottle condition for 2-3 weeks or so. Am I doing this right? Any tips are appreciated. I'd be super dissappointed if all my hard work turned out a crap batch... I got it all sitting in a cool dark basement right now.

Welcome!! :mug: Transfering to the 2ndary after 3 days seems a little early. Most folks would wait a week before transfering and I might try ten days next time. I'm not sure what a "Coopers wheat beer kit" is. Did you add hops or any grains? Relax, your beer is probably fine. 3 weeks bottle conditioning at about 70F is usually sufficient for carbonation. Then you can chill em. 18 bottles seems a bit low. I got 40 out of my 1st batch but now I top up to 5.25gals in my primary and regularly get 48+ bottles. Let it age. You may be pleasantly surprised.:D
'
 
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