Rancid Taste

I just tried a sip from my first ever beer and have to be honest, it tastes a bit rubbish so wondered what I might have done wrong.

I started off with a John Bull tin for wheat beer. boiled that all up in my plastic bucket, waited for it to cool then added yeast and shoved it in the cupboard. 2 weeks later i cyphoned it off, added sugar and shoved it back into the cupboard. 10 days later and the after taste in my mouth is that of a long night vomiting.

i'm assuming this means the batch is ruined and needs pouring down the drain but just wondered where i might have gone wrong so as to avoid the same fate next time i sip an eagerly anticipated brew

thanks in advance

Revvy has written a nice "Article" for lack of better terms that explains how and why beer changes as you AGE IT.

I'd say you are definitely tasting "Green Beer" and it will be appreciably better in a few more weeks.

ah that sounds like good news. where would i find this article?

Edit: maybe that link in your reply will lead me to the article....

RyanL said:

ah that sounds like good news. where would i find this article?

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http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Of_Patience_and_Bottle_Conditioning/
Or click the work ARTICLE in my first post

Hey...Welcome to HBT.com....Glad to have ya here!

Yeah I think it may need some more time. Usually the 1, 2, 3 week rule is a good guide. 1 week in the primary, 2 in the secondary and 3 in the bottle.

kman6234 said:

Yeah I think it may need some more time. Usually the 1, 2, 3 week rule is a good guide.

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The 123 can be a useful tool. But like many good beginners tools, I think you will soon abandon that in favor of extended period of time on the yeast, or making beer that finishes much more quickly.

slight problem with the 1 2 3. i had ben advised at the store when buying my kit that i wouldnt need the bottles as i was buying a keg (the king keg)

was that utter tosh or can i still do it going from bucket to keg to lips?

RyanL said:

from bucket to keg to lips?

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Words to live by!...and my exact procedure!

so what timeframe do you usually work by?

apologies if i'm covering things that could easily be found elsewhere with minimal searching...

I've tasted all my beers during all stages of fermentation and conditioning just to get an idea of whats "green" and get a better handle on aging and its effects. At no point has a beer ever left a taste in the mouth of 12 hour old vomit. Not to be a debbie downer but after three and a half weeks your beer shouldn't be THAT green. If it was me I'd wait as long as possible and hope it gets better, but wouldn't delay my next brew date on hopes that it will.

RyanL said:

boiled that all up in my plastic bucket, waited for it to cool then added yeast and shoved it in the cupboard.

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Just a thought - it sounds like maybe you just let it cool naturally, or did you actively cool it down somehow? Most of us try to get our wort down to 70 degrees (F) or less as quickly as possible, for instance by using an ice or cold water bath or other methods, to reduce the possibility of an off flavor called DMS. I haven't experienced it, but it's supposed to be a vegetable like taste.

Also fermentation temperatures that are too high can cause some weird flavors as well. I have tasted these and while they were not nearly as bad as vomit, they were definitely not pleasant. As long as I keep my temperatures below 70 degrees (F) I haven't had this problem.

You didn't mention your sanitization procedure, but some household things like bleach can also contribute nasty flavors if they're not rinsed off well.

Just throwing out a couple of ideas here. Regardless I'd give it another couple of weeks and try it again, you might be surprised at the improvement. Then again you might not, but it's worth a try.

RyanL said:

so what timeframe do you usually work by?

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14 days in Primary....21 days in bottle or keg. Then I usually make it wait about another 2 weeks or so before I really hit it.

RyanL said:

apologies if i'm covering things that could easily be found elsewhere with minimal searching...

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It's all good. You need help...that's part of why I hang out here.
Plus...it's your thread...ask what you want.

i bottled a few of this and threw them in the fridge to see if it would help.

the flavour has calmed down but it sure as hell aint gone away. basically there is a very sharp/harsh taste to the back of the tongue and not a lot else. also theyre dead-flat. we gave one to a friend as a stitch up. he wasnt happy

been re=reading and thinking about this one and have come to a conclusion as to what it must have been...

having got my wires crossed about aeration, we made sure to froth the whole thing up as much as possible when siphoning from primary to secondary, thinking this was the right thing to do. i held the tube at a height above the beer-;ine and let it drop in there and foam right up.

NOW i know you dont do that! so my question is why? what does it do? and is it possible that whatever it does would have caused those flavours?

have any of you done the same thing? or something equally dumb?

RyanL said:

i bottled a few of this and threw them in the fridge to see if it would help.

the flavour has calmed down but it sure as hell aint gone away. basically there is a very sharp/harsh taste to the back of the tongue and not a lot else. also theyre dead-flat. we gave one to a friend as a stitch up. he wasnt happy

been re=reading and thinking about this one and have come to a conclusion as to what it must have been...

having got my wires crossed about aeration, we made sure to froth the whole thing up as much as possible when siphoning from primary to secondary, thinking this was the right thing to do. i held the tube at a height above the beer-;ine and let it drop in there and foam right up.

NOW i know you dont do that! so my question is why? what does it do? and is it possible that whatever it does would have caused those flavours?

have any of you done the same thing? or something equally dumb?

Click to expand...

Nope that's not the problem. The problem from that wouldn;t show up for a couple months. It will taste like wet cardboard when the oxidation effect hits.

OTOH, the fact that you said it was flat tells me that you are drinking very young unfinished beer. It needs to condition and carbonate before the taste will improve. If you bottle it it will take 3-4 weeks before it is drinkable.