Honestly I am so f*&#ing pissed about my beer right now

Good advice here, and I have only a little to add. Don't feel bad about doing the learning curve. Brewing a good beer isn't rocket science. But it can be a bit unforgiving.

Starting with what we know is wrong: Controlling fermentation temps is absolutely crucial for good beer. Especially for the first 3-5 days. An active fermentation generates heat, So the inside of your fermenter will be higher than ambient at high krauzen. And fluctuating temps are guaranteed to make the yeasties unhappy. The basement is probably your best bet.

Be sure your cleaning process is attacking the hidden crud you can't see. I tend to favor at least one full soak with a Clean In Place (CIP) cleaner, like PBW or Oxyclean before sanitation. It only takes one small particle of hidden crud to thwart sanitation and ruin a whole batch.

Use a flat paddle to stir your wort. If you run the paddle across the bottom of the pot and it comes up with malt extract syrup on it after you think it is stirred in, it may be scorching.

Hang in there and keep the forum posted. Things will turn around.

I may be a n00b, too, but there's one obvious thing you really need to do: get an indoor thermometer. If you can't be sure what temperature you're fermenting at, then troubleshooting your brew is going to be a crap-shoot.

I picked up a nice digital thermometer with humidity readout for $15 at a local supergrocery, and it even has a low/high memory, so I can see how the temp/humidity change over a 24-hour period (very important for the winter months in Michigan, with the furnace turning on and off).

As for reading, I bought Palmer's How To Brew, and love it, but I also picked up some old issues of Brew Your Own magazine, which I love, as it has some great recipes every month for both extract and all-grain brewing.

Also, look around on YouTube, there are several videos which quickly give you the low-down on brewing. One I remember seeing was from [ame="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9F44B8CBFF3584F5&search_query=austin+homebrew"]Austin Homebrewing Supplies[/ame].

OK I'm going to let it ferment in primary for three weeks, then bottle those suckers.


I actually found a room that keeps the ferment temp at 70, which I'll take.


Will let you know what happens and THANKS! I can already tell I'm going to be a member of this forum for a long time.

young beer does have a lot of flavors that'll age out.

making beer is like baking bread...it often takes trial and error at first, and even veterans have the occasional hiccup.

Since malkore posted I was just thinking if you have a hard time with patience check out the cider, wine, and mead threads here. There you are talking half years, years, to decades before it is ready.
I am really trying to learn patience, I just don't have the time to study.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

if you have a hard time with patience.....

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actually... if you have a hard time with patience, just buy a couple more buckets or carboys and brew like mad... get three or four batches going and you'll have one "coming of age" every week or so. It's really easy to forget about a young beer when you have a properly aged one ready to pour....

... so you open the bottles on one that is at the right age... and start another batch.

So I bottled the beer yesterday and tried one today. It still has a HINT of rancid taste, but it's certainly a lot better. I guess that funky taste is just the taste of too-young beer, like you boys said. I'm going to do another all-malt kit (this time with real hops though) and then I hope to get into the grain stuff. Any suggestions for easy recipes there?

Thanks again so much pals; I'll let you know how the beer tastes in 2 to 3 weeks.

ledhed2222 said:

Any suggestions for easy recipes there?

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Try Austin Homebrew for their extract kits. Midwest Supplies has some good extract kits also.

As far as a recipe, try shooting for a beer style that you enjoy. If you pick a style that you know & like, you're going to have a better time knowing what should or should not be present in the taste.