Taste of Russian Stout wort @ 1 week?

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
godrick

godrick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
66
Reaction score
6
Location
W.Mass
Yep? Another dumb newbe question.
True Brew Irish Stout Kit.
Followed the directions carefully - but:
My Russian stout has been in the fermentor for a week. Just opened it and took a reading and got 1.021. I tasted the wert sample before discarding it and whew - it was black and bitter, bitter, bitter. It tasted nothing like beer. WTF? Please tell me that it's going to improve with conditioning and taste way better.
Godrick
 
Stouts take a good bit of time to age and develop their flavor. One week isn't enough time for ANY beer to do that. Leave it in the fermenter for several more weeks (at least two more and preferably 3 more) and then bottle it. Leave it in the bottle for at least 4 weeks and preferably 6. It will be delicious :)
 
I'd expect a one-week-old RIS to taste like absolute crap. So, congratulations. ;)

(Is it a RIS or an Irish stout?)
 
Welcome to HBT!
The problem with your stout is that it is 1 week old and not finished fermenting. Never judge a beer until it is finished, aged, and carbonated. This process can take 6 to 12 weeks.

Did your instructions tell you that it would be finished in a week and ready to bottle? What does it give you as an expected final gravity? The gravity of 1.021 concerns me a bit. It should be several points lower than that.
 
Nurmey said:
Welcome to HBT!
Did your instructions tell you that it would be finished in a week and ready to bottle? What does it give you as an expected final gravity? The gravity of 1.021 concerns me a bit. It should be several points lower than that.
Click to expand...

Yep. Instructions said bottle after 7 days. Expected FG = 1.012.
The fermentating was strange to me. Bubbled like heck for the first day and then slowed way, way down. Seems to be still activly fermenting even after 7 days.
 
I would like to take whomever wrote those instruction out back and beat the crap out of them. Yeast takes its own time doing its job and it's usually longer than 7 days.

Yeast doesn't just ferment sugars but it will clean up its waste (off flavors) and clear your beer given enough time. Many of us routinely leave our beers on the yeast cake for 3 to 6 weeks. If this is your first batch, that will be very hard. It gets easier after you have a pipeline full of beer. ;)

Now, the gravity. It really needs to get a little lower than it is. It's possible that the yeast that came with the kit wasn't that good. You have a couple options to get a few more points. The first is to give your primary a gentle swirl (don't splash) to try to get the yeast back into suspension and finish. In my experience this method works about 50% of the time.

The second is to re-pitch another (better) yeast. Do you have access to more yeast? Something like Nottingham or Safale S-05 are pretty standard "all around" yeasts. I do not recommend Munton's as it tends to stop at 1.020. This method sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. :eek:

In any case, don't bottle that beer for a couple more weeks. We do not want you to make bottle bombs!
 
Nurmey said:
Yeast doesn't just ferment sugars but it will clean up its waste (off flavors) and clear your beer given enough time. Many of us routinely leave our beers on the yeast cake for 3 to 6 weeks. If this is your first batch, that will bevery hard. It gets easier after you have a pipeline full of beer. ;)


Yes, it will be hard to wait that long. What about all the talk about it being bad to leave the wort in the same fermenter? Should I rack it if I'm going to wait that long? Wondering if I should try something simple and easier for my next batch.


[Now, the gravity. It really needs to get a little lower than it is. It's possible that the yeast that came with the kit wasn't that good. You have a couple options to get a few more points. The first is to give your primary a gentle swirl (don't splash) to try to get the yeast back into suspension and finish. In my experience this method works about 50% of the time. ]

I'll give it a stir first and test it in a few days. If that doesn't work I'll spring for some more yeast. I used the Muntons that came with the kit and I'm hearing lots of bad reports on the stuff.

Thanks for the helpful advice Nurmey,
Godrick
Click to expand...
 
@godrick.... what I do if I have to let my beer sit for more that 1 week in a carboy, is rack it to another carboy, that way my beer dosnt sit on the s*** at the bottom for 3 weeks. I made the mistake of leaving my lager alone once for 3 weeks and it absorbed all the nasty flavors from the bottom giving it a really bad aftertaste. I made a second batch and transfered it after 1.5 weeks in the first carboy and let it sit another 1.5 weeks in the second carboy. That did it! Some brewers may not agree with this, but it worked for me so.... yeah. Anyway....

Ive also brewed using coopers stout 3 times now, and im on the forth batch as we speak... Coopers stout is nasty s*** if not diluted. When it says 23L batch I make a 25L batch n add more sugar.

Dont let your temperature fluctuate... keep it steady.

26c -7 days in the primary
26c -5 days in the carboy (I check readings every 2nd day n drink the vile)
26c -7 days in the bottle for a secondary. (I don't use to much sugar)

Simple, heavy, tastes like f'n stout. This is what works for me and I like it. opinions may vary.

Also, :off: , my current batch was made with 1kg of surgr and 500ml of honey (pasturized of course). Taste tested it today while takin my readings... awe man is that good heavy stout. Some ppl belive stout should be like dark ales.
Rememer, stout is not a freakin drink, it's a meal! lol :rockin:
 
I noticed that if I add either roasted barley, chocolate malt or carafa to my grain bill, my beer usally will be drikable after 2-2.5 months of aging/conditioning. Before that I can taste astrigency, or harshness of these darkly kilned malts. Time will mellow out the flavors
 

Similar threads

4_Sons_Brewing
12 Beers of Christmas - 2023 Edition
11 12 13
Replies
512
Views
20K
passedpawn
passedpawn
luckybeagle
Need help with a Russian Imperial Stout on Oak Cubes
Replies
16
Views
4K
beer-me-now
B
Mizamook
Advice Request: Russian Imperial Stout slow finish and Oak Aging
Replies
24
Views
2K
Mizamook
Mizamook
TBC
12 Beers of Christmas 2022 Edition
6 7 8
Replies
281
Views
18K
wetmk
wetmk
vortura
Stuck Stout - What to do next?
Replies
9
Views
780
sleev-les
S
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top