"Harsh" taste after carbonation

Hello! I am brand new to the forum and beer brewing, but have been reading this forum for a few months and it has been very helpful. Onto my first question...

I have just began drinking my 3rd beer, an Irish Red Ale which was brewed from an extract kit from Northern Brewer.

The brewing seems to have gone well, but I have noticed that all 3 beers have had a harsher taste on top of the intended beer flavor. It's tough to describe, and seems to be inconsistent throughout the beer.

I tasted the Irish Red Ale when I bottled it, and it tasted great, so it seems something happened during carbonation. I used 3/4 sugar and waited a little over 2 weeks before tasting. Maybe carbonation hasn't completed yet? This taste has been consistent throughout all 3 beers however, and I waited longer on the 2nd one (I of course pushed my first one through in a month total, so I know why that one was rough).


A related question, does bottle clearing/carbonating time remain at 3 weeks if the beer has been in the fermenter for longer than normal? For this beer, I had it in the primary for a month, and in the secondary for 5 weeks. Does it still need to be in the bottles for 3 weeks before ready to drink?

Sorry for the long message, let me know what additional information may be helpful. Thanks in advance for any help.

Does the taste remind you of band aids?

The time that carbonation takes in bottle is regardless of the time in primary/secondary.

Do you have extra hard water? That can make the bittering from hops seem harsh.

Band-aids...no, not really that strong I guess. More like a bland flavor that blocks the actual flavor of the beer. I wish I could describe it better. It seems like if I shake the bottle a bit before drinking it helps out, although I am not sure if that is just in my mind.

Thanks for answer on the bottling time as well.

Missed the part about the hard water on my first reply...I have been buying spring water for brewing, so I don't think that is it.

was up bro. welcome to the forum! i am also pretty new myself. but as far as your question goes, i have gotten alot of help from the fellas that are on this forum and also read alot of the other questions. i am NO master brewer by no means !!! but not to long ago i ran across something similar to what your asking. i read that leaving the beer in the primary to long is not a great idea. 3 weeks at the most. i believe what happens is the hot and cold break that has been sitting in the primary starts to rot and release harsh taste to the beer. also reading that air space in the secondary should be little as possible. thats just a thought bro! i am sure some of the other VETERANS of this sport will help you further .hope everything goes well.

It's probably just "green" and needs more time in the bottle.

How carbed would you say the beer is. You can get a harsh taste from a beer that is overcarbed. Is it easy to pour, or do you have to stop half way through to let the head die down.

I know you said you used 3/4 cup priming sugar. Depending on some variables, it can still overcarb. 3/4 cup is a general guideline. You also need to factor in residual CO2. If you are like me, a 5 gallon batch never yeilds 5 gallons bottled. I loose some to the trub, racking etc. Ending up with less than 5 gallons and using the full amount of priming sugar can mess with your carbonation also.

WheaYaAt, thanks for the welcome. I thought that maybe I had left it in the fermenter too long as well, but it tasted great when I went to bottle, so I am not sure if that is it.

Eddie, maybe it just does need more time to bottle. I just wasn't sure if that type of taste is common if carbonation or conditioning hasn't completed yet.


Thanks for the advice guys.

The carbonation seems to be normal, but I have been pouring carefully. My first two batches, I used 5 oz., and I realized that possibly was too much, so I reduced to 3/4 cup which was around 4 oz.

What kind of guidelines do you use to judge the amount of sugar that should be used?

cool bro !!! but hey, check this out. this nomograph will help you on the priming - peace .How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming Solutions

Get brewing software, like Beersmith. It's free to try out for 21 days. It helps you figure out the exact amount of sugar for any volume of beer, and also has the style guidelines that will help you determine the correct amount of carbonation for the style you are brewing. And like the other poster said, too much carbonation can make a beer taste harsh, and I always find 3/4 cup is too much priming sugar for 5 gals.

Wow, looks like I was using way too much...sorry if this is obvious and I am missing it, but how do I know what volume of co2 I would want to achieve?

Smizak, thanks, I will give that a try.

You can use the Palmer nomograph if you don't want to get the software. But again, I highly recommend it. Beersmith's carbonation tool will tell you the amount of priming sugar to use to get whatever volume of CO2 you choose.

this beer is just green. leave it alone for a month, then chill and try it again. I know as a beginner it seems next to impossible to wait that long and promises of drinkable beer in one month from brew to drinking make you think you did something wrong, but the fact is that beer takes time. You WILL be rewarded for your patience. The only batches I've ever dumped were the result of trying to rush the process. If you wait, great flavours will come! BTW leaving a beer on the cake for several months is perfectly acceptable. My longest to date ale yeast primary is about 3 1/2 months and it turned out fabulous. I only did it because the pipeline was full and it took a while to free up a secondary carboy.

I did download Beersmith and am checking it out right now. Neat software, it is going to take me a little bit to get all of the information into it.

Any information on how I know what I want to use as a target volume for co2?

I was worried about leaving it on the cake so long, I tried to find others that said they had, but was having trouble finding examples. It is nice to hear you can leave it that long without issues. I'm hoping the beer is just green...but at least this will help me learn more about carbonation either way.

If you wait, great flavours will come! BTW leaving a beer on the cake for several months is perfectly acceptable. did u strain the wort. all the hot and cold break?

many people have said that leaving the beer on the cake to long WILL effect the beer.

WheaYaAt said:

did u strain the wort. all the hot and cold break?

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Sorry, I'm a newb, I'm not sure what you mean by hot and cold break. I did not strain the wort though.

No, i was asking "sharrpilot" if he strained the wort. he said he left his in the primary for 3 1/2 months. so wanted to know if he strained it. thas beaucoup' long for a primary. but anyway the hot break/cold break is the flocculation of proteins and other materials during the boil. it settles to the bottom and most people strain there wort when pouring into the primary to collect the majority of this. that way theres no issue later on with taste.

WheaYaAt said:

If you wait, great flavours will come! BTW leaving a beer on the cake for several months is perfectly acceptable. did u strain the wort. all the hot and cold break?

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nope. just a good whirlpool with about an hour to let it all settle. Plus I'm a brewer who is not afraid to "waste" a little beer for the sake of getting the best product possible. By that I mean i don't care about leaving a quart in the boil kettle to avoid picking up a bunch of trub.

I understand that leaving a beer on the trub for "too long" can be a dangerous concept... all I'm doing is relaying my personal experience. The real question that gets debated to death is what exactly is "too long"??? Some will tell you that one month is the absolute limit. Others will tell you that they've had barleywines and other high alcohol beers in primary for as much as six months. Personally, I feel it's totally safe and often beneficial to leave a beer in primary for a month or more. You know you're getting the hang of it when you throw away the calendar and start "listening" to the yeast. Primary fermentation is done when the SG stops dropping AND the bulk of the yeast have dropped out of suspension clearing the beer. Then you gently transfer to a secondary and leave it as long as you can stand it to allow the last of the yeast and other suspended solids to drop out.

summary:

1. green beer tastes nasty. let the beer mature and it'll be great.
2. a beer can stay in the primary fermenter (I'm assuming glass carboy or better bottle, buckets can have oxidation problems) for quite a bit longer than you think without any problems.
3. stop watching the calendar and let the yeast tell you when it's time for the next step.

shafferpilot said:

Personally, I feel it's totally safe and often beneficial to leave a beer in primary for a month or more...

Green beer tastes nasty. let the beer mature and it'll be great.

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+1 to both of those

On all 3 of my batches so far, they tasted great before bottling, but once I added the priming sugar and bottled, they got this sort of sour flavor. On my first batch it took about 3 weeks for that flavor to go away, on my second batch it took about 5 weeks and on my third batch it took 6 weeks. The first batch was around 4%ABV, the second was 5.4%ABV and the third was 6.4%ABV.

My guess is that adding the sugar and waking up the yeast caused them to put out some off flavors and the more alcohol in the beer, the longer it took for those off flavors to go away.

Give it time.