Bad beer

I had got a kit from midwest when i ordered some other supplies. I got the liberty cream ale, on brew day i got OG of 1.040. It set in primary from 5-28,till 6-26, then in secondary till now. I tasted both samples when checking SG, which ended up 1.01, and its not good at all. I cant explain the taste, but its a lingering taste like when mama used to wash my mouth out with soap.

what went wrong?

Sounds like either a water or fermentation temperature issue.

Whats wrong with 1.01? My first extract kit finished about there and there werent any off flavors. The flavor would concern me not the FG.

Ya, I read an extra 0 into that in my mind, I was seeing 1.001. Deleted.

Kaz said:

Ya, I read an extra 0 into that in my mind, I was seeing 1.001. Deleted.

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Understandable people usually express gravity with 3 decimal places but it's mathematically correct to leave off the 0.

I wouldn't base anything off samples tasted during fermentation. I've had a couple beers that went from tasting normal to Gnarly and astringent a week later in the bucket to tasting great after bottled

Bottle it, let it condition and then decide if it's bad. I've had a beer or two that tasted off during fermentation, but 2-3 weeks in bottles cleans up those tastes. RDWHAHB

Beezy said:

Whats wrong with 1.01? My first extract kit finished about there and there werent any off flavors. The flavor would concern me not the FG.

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I apologize, i wasnt saying the FG was bad, but the taste.

If it tastes bad I'd go with fermentation temps and the water you used. What were the temps during fermentation and were did you get your water from?

its not bottled and carbonated yet.. you don't know it is bad yet.. it may wind up ok.. just bottle and let sit at 70F for 3 weeks, chill a couple overnight then try it and see what you have RDWHAHB

AR-Josh said:

If it tastes bad I'd go with fermentation temps and the water you used. What were the temps during fermentation and were did you get your water from?

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the temps in the closet stay 70ish, the hottest daytime temp i saw was 72. the water i used is tap water i boiled.

hitecgmblr said:

the temps in the closet stay 70ish, the hottest daytime temp i saw was 72. the water i used is tap water i boiled.

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Some will tell you 72 is way too high. After brewing several beers that crossed the 70 degree line my opinion is that 70 is the highest I want to see my fermentation go. I just brewed a cream ale and went to 73 during fermentation. While the yeast I used is pretty good about not giving off flavors at that temperature I still noticed a little bit of an off flavor. It's not horrible but I can taste it. Other yeasts I have used would have given off tons of off flavors at that temp.

I have a dumper sitting in a keg right now that got up to 75 with muntons ale yeast and to me it's nasty. I've had non home brewers taste it and think it was OK but not great.

All that to say fermentation temps are key. If I can help it I won't let the temp of the fermentation vessel get above 68 or 70. I'm going to be building a fermentation chamber to handle it.

You may also want to get a report on your local water. It may have some stuff in there that isn't great for beer. Or you could just buy the 6 gallons or so of bottled water for around 6 bucks. Good luck. You'll get it figured out and you'll make better beer.

hitecgmblr said:

the temps in the closet stay 70ish, the hottest daytime temp i saw was 72. the water i used is tap water i boiled.

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Fermentation is an exothermic process, so it generates heat, I have seen 10+ degrees higher than ambient during fermentation, so if you were at 70-72 degrees, then it is possible that your beer fermented around 80 degrees. Too hot for an ale and could be the cause of your off taste. my brew partner had issues with off flavors, I helped him convert a used dorm fridge to hold a carboy and once he was able to keep fermentation temps in the mid 60s his beer improved dramatically.

I would look into making some sort of fermentation chamber or use a water bath to keep your temps in check, your beer will thank you.

When I first started, I had my beers fermenting in temperatures of 70-72°. As a result, I almost always had noticeable acetaldehyde issues.

Thing is, if you let your beer ferment in a 72° room, the wort itself can easily reach a temperature of 80° (and maybe even a little higher) when the yeast is at its most active. Which is, incidentally, the same time that it happens to be creating the vast majority of the flavor compounds.

When an experienced brewer talks about fermentation temps, they are talking about temperatures of the beer INSIDE of the fermentor, not of the air outside it. So when you hear of ales frequently being fermented at 68-70 degrees, merely keeping the fermentor somewhere with a comfortable (70-72°) room temperature is actually going to be WAY too warm.

Honestly, spending $80 on a temp controller and a used chest freezer is the best $80 you can spend in this hobby. The increase in quality of your beer after introducing some precise temperature control is so enormous, that it's really difficult to comprehend until you just do it.

emjay said:

When I first started, I had my beers fermenting in temperatures of 70-72°. As a result, I almost always had noticeable acetaldehyde issues.

Thing is, if you let your beer ferment in a 72° room, the wort itself can easily reach a temperature of 80° (and maybe even a little higher) when the yeast is at its most active. Which is, incidentally, the same time that it happens to be creating the vast majority of the flavor compounds.

When an experienced brewer talks about fermentation temps, they are talking about temperatures of the beer INSIDE of the fermentor, not of the air outside it. So when you hear of ales frequently being fermented at 68-70 degrees, merely keeping the fermentor somewhere with a comfortable (70-72°) room temperature is actually going to be WAY too warm.

Honestly, spending $80 on a temp controller and a used chest freezer is the best $80 you can spend in this hobby. The increase in quality of your beer after introducing some precise temperature control is so enormous, that it's really difficult to comprehend until you just do it.

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Thanks for adding that, I forgot the minor detail of the temp being the fermenter, not the room temp, I have a thermometer in my fermentation fridge, in addition to the probe for the temp controller, I put the probe directly on the side of the better bottle and insulate it with a folded up towel velcroed in place to keep it reading the fermenter and not the fridge temp. I just brewed my APA and the target temp was 62 degrees, the actual temp in the fridge dropped to 54 degrees to maintain the set 62 of the fermenter due to the heat being given off.

Thanks for the help!