Noob Alert!! Good start, bad after taste.

I made an English Brown Ale, I followed the directions and it seemed fine but it has a strange after taste kinda yeasty. Can any one tell me what I did wrong?

Also recommend a good book on brewing.

Thanks.

How to Brew - By John Palmer

It's a fantastic book and the entire first edition is available to read online for free. Also pick up "Brewing Classic Styles" by Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff. It's full of great extract recipes with all-grain conversions if you choose to go that route. You can also check out the Home Brew Wiki at the top of the page.


What was your recipe and process?

butterscotch or yeasty??? butterscotch would be diacetyl(high fermentaion temps). that's been a lot of my problems this summer. just thought i'd share.

the brewmasters bible is a good one as well!

At what point are you judging the taste as being problematic... If any of you are judging the taste of the beer BEFORE it has been in the bottles for 3 weeks @ 70 degrees, then there is nothing wrong with your beers, only that they are GREEN and need more time to carb and condition...

READ THIS https://www.homebrewtalk.com/558191-post101.html

And this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/preventing-diacetyl-hold-butter-please-70438/

ANd this....http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Time_heals_all_things_even_beer/

Id post up the recipe and your timeline from brew to bottle to drinking. It may just be a green (young) brew.

EDIT: Revvy sneaks one in!

1. Without knowing how long it fermented and how long it bottle-conditioned, it's impossible to answer your why-does-it-taste-yeasty question.

2. As mentioned, read John Palmer's "How to Brew." In fact read it at least twice and brew at least two batches before you even expect to understand a lot of this stuff.

3. All of us on this forum who know a little bit are torn between giving tons of advice and urging questioners to search for answers on their own. In the end, search out what you can. It's fun to discover.

4. Why does it taste yeasty? Dunno, probably needs more time.

gimmebeer said:

1. Without knowing how long it fermented and how long it bottle-conditioned, it's impossible to answer your why-does-it-taste-yeasty question.

2. As mentioned, read John Palmer's "How to Brew." In fact read it at least twice and brew at least two batches before you even expect to understand a lot of this stuff.

3. All of us on this forum who know a little bit are torn between giving tons of advice and urging questioners to search for answers on their own. In the end, search out what you can. It's fun to discover.

4. Why does it taste yeasty? Dunno, probably needs more time.

Click to expand...

True Enough, but I NEVER hesitate to give information. If I have a link to a Big Discussion on a topic, I'll give that, but if the OP was a master searcher, or a master Brewer, they wouldn't need to ask the question....I'm here to answer the questions I can, and Learn from others on the questions I can't.

Google is for searching....But if you come here, and I've got the answer to your question...and I'll give it to you...Free of charge and Harassment.

***Edit***

WELCOME TO HBT! Look forward to seeing you around.

Revvy said:

ANd this....http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Time_heals_all_things_even_beer/

Click to expand...

SHAMELESS Self Promotion...and on a N00b thread... :rockin:

3.3 lbs Plain Amber Malt Extract
2 Lbs. amber dry malt extract
8 oz. Crystal Malt
1 oz. Willamette Hops bittering
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops finishing

1 week to ferment, 1 week in secondary, 3 weeks in bottle.


Thanks for the info and suggestions.

Kevolution said:

3.3 lbs Plain Amber Malt Extract
2 Lbs. amber dry malt extract
8 oz. Crystal Malt
1 oz. Willamette Hops bittering
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops finishing

1 week to ferment, 1 week in secondary, 3 weeks in bottle.


Thanks for the info and suggestions.

Click to expand...

Did you take a hydro reading before racking to secondary? Betcha that you racked too soon, then didn't leave it long enough in secondary for the yeast to totally fall out of suspension...so it still has yeast bite, and probably will still couple of weeks to lose that taste....nothing serious, just overly green....

What yeast did you use?

My guess is that it's still a bit "Green"...meaning that you need to let it have another week or so. Also make sure that you are carefully pouring the beer off of the yeast in the bottle.
Are you familiar with NON BMC beer? They do taste a bit different...better...IMHO...but different.

Go get a mixed 6 to get you by, then come back to this one in a few weeks...and I'll bet you'll be one happy camper.

P.S. Do you have your next batch on yet??? You better get going!

I bought a kit and followed it's instructions, I guess I should have listened to the beer. The Hydro readings matched what the recipe said. next time I'll try the 1,2,3, method.

Type of yeast....um it's says Beer Yeast....

It's not "Satan's anus" bad, I'll give it a couple more weeks. Still it's drinkable.

I'd go three weeks in the primary and skip the secondary then do three weeks at 70F for bottle conditioning. Leaving the beer on the yeast cake for three weeks allows the the yeast time to clean up after themselves which results in lower diacetyl (tastes sort of like butter) and other yeasty off flavors while allowing excess yeast to settle out. Secondary is only really needed if you intend to lager or otherwise age the beer for an extended period of time after primary fermentation is complete.

eddie said:

I'd go three weeks in the primary and skip the secondary then do three weeks at 70F for bottle conditioning.

Click to expand...

I actually do 2 and 4.....I like to get the fermentor emptied out for the next batch! :rockin:

But you are on the right track!

Some strains flocculate out (settle) quicker than others. A hefe is ready to drink early because the yeast stay in suspension.. it's part of the style. Some beer styles made with low flocculation strains can take a few months to clear. As you gain experience, you will learn the characteristics of each yeast strain.. what temps it likes, how long the lag time is, the flavor it gives you, how fast it flocculates out. Yeasty taste always means the yeast haven't settled, which means next time you should give it more time in the fermenter. Keep good notes, relax, and have a microbrew.

1 week in primary is good if you have a very active primary fermentation, as in the krausen forms and drops in three days. Every brew is a little different, I use a large 6 gal+ glass carboy as my primary so I can be yeast voyeur. Usually I do roughly one week in primary, 1 week in secondary/conditioning, then one week in the kegerator crash cooling. I adjust the primary / conditioning time depending on the brew / yeast / fermentation. Yeast do not punch a clock and they don't seem to give a hoot about calendars or my brew schedule. I adjust to them, not the other way around.

Try to stay away from kits that have metal cans of liquid extract. Try kits that use fresh malt extract from bulk.