Effects of Bottling Too early...

... other then bottle bombs.

I have a suspition that I had a stuck fermentation and bottled a little too early. I'm not concerned with bombs at this point (it's been 2.5 weeks). My 2 week sample still has an off taste. I could get used to it, but...

in this case being bottled already, will time heal this mistake. I have no problem letting them condition in my basement another month if neccessary. Or am I doomed to having a first batch with poor flavor because I bottled early? I did notice a slightly differenct flavor from week 1's sample to week 2's sample bottle. Carbonation and head look good, I'm very happy with that... it's just the flavor for now.

Brewing batch #2 tommorrow... will definetly employ more patience this time around for my porter.

What was your O.G. and F.G.? What was the recipe and how long did you let it sit in the fermenter before you bottled? 2.5 weeks in the bottle is hardly long enough for it to be properly carb'd let alone long enough to tell if or what off flavors are present.

It was a brewer's best american amber ale kit. It had 1 can of lme and I think a 4lb bag of dme with a specialty grains. I had an experienced brewer help me, so we followed directions to a 't'. OG was 1.05 (supposed to be 1.045) the FG was 1.18 (supposed to be between 1.010 and 1.014). This was in the fermenter for 2 weeks and it had a 24-36hr lag time. I got a consistent reading for 3 days so I bottled. This fermented at a steady 69 degrees in a closet.

I read all the 'is my beer ruined' threads and am poised to wait this one out, but I was just a little concerned if I bottled too early and if so will that do damage to my beer that can't be undone with time conditioning.

The good news is that if you gravity was consistent, then you won't get bottle bombs. The other good news is that just about of everyones "first beer" out there was bottled too early. Mine was, I know that for a fact. There are some benefits to letting it sit for 3-4 weeks.

What you should do is get another beer brewed soon. My biggest mistake when i started brewing was to wait until I was finished drinking a batch to start another one. Start one now, and leave it in the primary for at least 3 weeks.

I think you're gonna be just fine here. I'd say let em sit in the bottle for another week/week and a half, then pitch a couple in the fridge for 48 hours before drinking.... You are going to be enjoying a beer soon....not just getting used to a weird flavor.

johndeere said:

It was a brewer's best american amber ale kit. It had 1 can of lme and I think a 4lb bag of dme with a specialty grains. I had an experienced brewer help me, so we followed directions to a 't'. OG was 1.05 (supposed to be 1.045) the FG was 1.18 (supposed to be between 1.010 and 1.014). This was in the fermenter for 2 weeks and it had a 24-36hr lag time. I got a consistent reading for 3 days so I bottled. This fermented at a steady 69 degrees in a closet.

I read all the 'is my beer ruined' threads and am poised to wait this one out, but I was just a little concerned if I bottled too early and if so will that do damage to my beer that can't be undone with time conditioning.

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1.018 is a tad high, but not terribly high. Many extract kits finish a bit high due to unfermentable sugars in the malt extract. That shouldn't be giving you any off-flavors. It might be a bit sweeter though. What type of off-flavor are you tasting. You also say that you fermented it at 69 degrees. Is that ambient tempature or actual fermentation tempature? Usually fermentation temps are around 5-10 degrees above the ambient temp. That could cause the yeast to produce some esters and "hot" fusel alcohols. What yeast did you use by the way?
I'd say keep trying the beer and noting any changes in flavor. I think a couple weeks/months in the bottle will do you wonders.

That would be 69 ambient. I didn't know about the fermenter being 5-10 degrees warmer until it was too late. My basement is 65 ambient constant, I'll leave it down there next time. I couldn't tell you what yeast I used, whatever was with the brewer's best kit (i have a porter kit now that has nottingham with it, so maybe it was that).

I can't describe the off flavors, but it isn't sweet. Maybe it's just "green" yet, it just tastes weird to me. I was gonna stash a case away for another month anyhow. It appears that time may heal my noob error.

100% agreed with what Newbeerguy about extracts having a slightly higher FG.

I remember well your feeling about "off-flavors" I couldn't put my finger on when I was using extracts. The beer was good, but it just wasn't quite what I was looking for.

In fact, that "extract tang" was the #2 reason I ditched that and went all-grain -- I now control my mashing and wort production and thus get the flavor profile I want. With extracts, well, there was a "tang" I could never, ever get rid of no matter what I did. It is completely and totally absent when I do my own mashing.

johndeere said:

That would be 69 ambient. I didn't know about the fermenter being 5-10 degrees warmer until it was too late. My basement is 65 ambient constant, I'll leave it down there next time. I couldn't tell you what yeast I used, whatever was with the brewer's best kit (i have a porter kit now that has nottingham with it, so maybe it was that).

I can't describe the off flavors, but it isn't sweet. Maybe it's just "green" yet, it just tastes weird to me. I was gonna stash a case away for another month anyhow. It appears that time may heal my noob error.

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I did the exact same thing on my very first batch. I saw that it needed to stay between 70-75 and I made sure the keep it there.....not understanding they meant fermentation temp.....well needless to say it wasn't very good, but still drinkable. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and don't dwell on it. FWIW, the longer that batch sat the better it tasted. Let us know how the porter goes!