2 questions

1. Had a Mr. Beer kit (don't hate). Let it ferment for about 2 weeks at approx 75 F. (its the regular American Pale Ale that comes with the kit.) Bottled it on sunday. Last night I wanted to see how it was progessing so i popped a bottle open. Slight hiss. poured into a glass. Barely any head. Had a cidery/vinegary taste and also some yeast flavors. I am conditioning in the fridge (I have no idea what temp). My question is. Should I leave the beer in the fridge for a couple more weeks, or can I remove from the cold and let it condition at room (appartment temp is 70) temperature and will these flavors mellow out as the carbonation progresses?

2. Im brewing a 5 gallon extract (Emmanuel Adams Ale). Started on sunday. Monday night everything was bubbling away nicely. Tuesday morning, no more bubbling (only slight bubbling of airlock). Wednesday morning (today) I lifted the lid to peek in and there is still a lot of foam (with hops debri). So much that I cannot see the actual liquid. Does this foam go away? I don't want to keep looking, and was planning on taking a hyd reading on sunday to see if im at my OG.

Thanks ahead of time

-Ian

iswenson said:

1. Had a Mr. Beer kit (don't hate). Let it ferment for about 2 weeks at approx 75 F. (its the regular American Pale Ale that comes with the kit.) Bottled it on sunday. Last night I wanted to see how it was progessing so i popped a bottle open. Slight hiss. poured into a glass. Barely any head. Had a cidery/vinegary taste and also some yeast flavors. I am conditioning in the fridge (I have no idea what temp). My question is. Should I leave the beer in the fridge for a couple more weeks, or can I remove from the cold and let it condition at room (appartment temp is 70) temperature and will these flavors mellow out as the carbonation progresses?

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Don't condition in the fridge. You need to condition ~70 degrees (dependingon the yeast) for at least 3 weeks. You probably put all your yeast in the bottle to sleep and are tasting green beer. Take the bottles out of the fridge, shake em up some to distribute the yeast and let them sit for a few weeks.

2. Im brewing a 5 gallon extract (Emmanuel Adams Ale). Started on sunday. Monday night everything was bubbling away nicely. Tuesday morning, no more bubbling (only slight bubbling of airlock). Wednesday morning (today) I lifted the lid to peek in and there is still a lot of foam (with hops debri). So much that I cannot see the actual liquid. Does this foam go away? I don't want to keep looking, and was planning on taking a hyd reading on sunday to see if im at my OG.

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That's the krauzen. It's perfectly normal and expected. It should go away in a few days. Although I'm told sometimes it doesn't (hasn't happened to me), in which case you just rack from under the krauzen.

Awesome, Ill take them out and give them a shake when I get home. thanks for the advice

In the future you may want to lower your fermentation temperature. You are currently producing more esters and phenols than intended.

Also if it tastes vinegary/cidery, you probably have a bacteria infection

bonzombiekitty said:

That's the krauzen. It's perfectly normal and expected. It should go away in a few days. Although I'm told sometimes it doesn't (hasn't happened to me), in which case you just rack from under the krauzen.

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I would not rack the beer out from under the krausen. I've never seen a krausen that would not drop. You just need to give it more time.

Even after the foam drops the yeast are still working to clean up the beer. I'd give them several extra days before moving the beer off the yeast.

dcp27 said:

In the future you may want to lower your fermentation temperature. You are currently producing more esters and phenols than intended.

Also if it tastes vinegary/cidery, you probably have a bacteria infection

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I agree on the fermentation temps.

What is Mr Beer made with? If it's a high % of simple sugar then that will leave a cidery taste and very little body. Never done a mr beer so I just don't know.

My first batch was the same Pale Ale that came with Mr Beer kit. I had the same cidery taste. I wouldn't have described it as vinegar though. I thought it came from me adding table sugar to up the ABV.

seems like a VERY high % of simple sugar! Similar results here.. except I decided to combat the common problem of under carbonation by bottling slightly sooner then I should have (I know bottle bombs and all) and it turned out much better in the end. Very strange though, when you pour it into a glass it looks perfect but the initial smell is not good at all, but it tastes fairly decent with a slight mead-ish flavor which is probably from replacing 3/4 cup of activator with 1 cup of honey.