Fizzy beer drinks like a soda

Last night I tried my first home-brewed beer and it was terrible. The beer had zero head retention and kept fizzing until it had a flat taste/feel to it in about 10 minutes. It was very thin and had an almost sour aftertaste. I got the Northern Brewer 1 gallon small batch starter kit with the White House Honey Porter. I Sanitized all my equipment thoroughly and followed the brewing instructions very closely. When I was chilling the wort I forgot to cover the brew pot until about 15 minutes into the chill. Once I got the wort into the fermenting jug a krausen was forming within a couple hours. A steady visual ferment was consistent for 2 days and then it was calm with the bubbling done at about day 5. This worried me and checked the directions of the kit and they said a ferment can take between 1-2 weeks. The temp in my house was varied between 68-73*F during the week. I impatiently bottled after 1 week of fermenting. The beer was bottle conditioned with the priming charge that came with the kit for two weeks. Anybody have ideas on how to prevent this with my next batch?

I have since purchased the book how to brew by John Palmer, and noticed a few thing to do differently.

jmorter1 said:

Last night I tried my first home-brewed beer and it was terrible. The beer had zero head retention and kept fizzing until it had a flat taste/feel to it in about 10 minutes. It was very thin and had an almost sour aftertaste. I got the Northern Brewer 1 gallon small batch starter kit with the White House Honey Porter. I Sanitized all my equipment thoroughly and followed the brewing instructions very closely. When I was chilling the wort I forgot to cover the brew pot until about 15 minutes into the chill. Once I got the wort into the fermenting jug a krausen was forming within a couple hours. A steady visual ferment was consistent for 2 days and then it was calm with the bubbling done at about day 5. This worried me and checked the directions of the kit and they said a ferment can take between 1-2 weeks. The temp in my house was varied between 68-73*F during the week. I impatiently bottled after 1 week of fermenting. The beer was bottle conditioned with the priming charge that came with the kit for two weeks. Anybody have ideas on how to prevent this with my next batch?

I have since purchased the book how to brew by John Palmer, and noticed a few thing to do differently.

Click to expand...

I am thinking this and the fact it is still got a week to go to carb proper.

2 weeks to ferment and 3 weeks to carb and then a few days in the fridge might change things.

You'll need to wait about 6-8 weeks from the time you pitched before making conclusions on recipe.

Definitely, a 1 week primary is part of what you are tasting - sour green apples is the harbinger. Low carb just means that you did not wait long enough (3 weeks) or that you have stored it below 70 degrees for the carb phase.

Now is the time to sit back, not worry, buy some commercial craft beers, and wait it out. And it is time to start more brew.

Let it sit in the fermenter longer--the yeast make a mess while working and need time to clean it up. Let it sit in the bottles for three weeks. One thing about the head and the constant off-gassing--check your glass for cleanliness.

Thanks for the replies and advice! I have a brown ale that will be at two weeks fermenting tomorrow. Its covered in a towel dipped in water to keep it at a consistent cool temp. I will definitely let that one condition for 3 weeks. Also I still have some bottles of the Honey Porter conditioning so I will try those ones in week.

jmorter1 said:

Thanks for the replies and advice! I have a brown ale that will be at two weeks fermenting tomorrow. Its covered in a towel dipped in water to keep it at a consistent cool temp. I will definitely let that one condition for 3 weeks. Also I still have some bottles of the Honey Porter conditioning so I will try those ones in week.

Click to expand...

And hey you did two good things. Got a brewing book and joined the forum. There is a ton of knowledge on this site

I let my beers ferment for two weeks even if they hit their FG after a week. I rushed the first couple that I did and have definitely noticed an dramatic improvement in quality by giving it an extra week.

nestar:

jmh286 said:

I let my beers ferment for two weeks even if they hit their FG after a week. I rushed the first couple that I did and have definitely noticed an dramatic improvement in quality by giving it an extra week.

Click to expand...

I second this. My beer has been much better sitting for 3 weeks in primary before I bottle. Then letting the bottles sit 2 weeks. They can be decent and drinkable earlier but usually get better with age.