Aerated wort?

[MissionBrewer]

This is my first experience brewing beer! I just bottled a week ago, so I have one more week to wait before I can drink. I can't wait!!! But I have a question. I made a lot of mistakes during this process--some of them I know of, and there are probably many more I don't.

Here's one mistake I made that I'd like to know how it will affect the outcome of my beer:

I did the boil and then left the wort and yeast in the fermenting bucket for like a week, and then I needed to transfer the wort to the carboy and start the secondary fermentation. I knew from books and tutorials and things that the wort needed to stay as still as possible in order to be exposed to as little air as possible, but during the transfer, I started with the pouring end of the racking cane resting at the top edge of the carboy, so that the brew dropped the height of the carboy down to the glass bottom. Obviously, this agitated the brew and created a lot of bubbles. I realized my mistake before too long but there was still a significant froth on top of the brew, which was evidence that a considerable amount of mixing and sloshing happened before I realized the problem.

There are some pictures of the whole thing here: http://cooksquill.blogspot.com/2012/01/beer-brewing-first-try-secondary_29.html

So my question: how is this going to affect the final product? Thanks!!

 

[dbreienrk1]

Well since this is your first batch you really won't have anything to compare it to. Yes it's true that oxygen is bad once beer has been fermented, but many people have done far worse things to their homebrew and it turned out fine. It is actually fairly difficult to really screw up a batch of beer.

And, since you did make it yourself and it is your first batch ever, I imagine you will think it is amazing. Welcome to the wonderful world of brewing!

 

[MissionBrewer]

omg, I know I'm going to think it's amazing I think I would love it if it tasted like poison. I was just wondering, if it's going to affect the taste, in what way? I know i won't have anything to compare it to, but will the taste be sharper than it would have been otherwise?

This has been so much fun--and I already can't wait to do this again next month. I am looking forward to weaning myself away from buying the beer in these box-kit-things at the beer wine and cheese store, but they seem like a good starting point. I think I need to work out the kinks before I start to advance further.

 

[PoorBoy]

If you just bottled a week ago, I'd let it sit two more weeks, then put it in the fridge for a week before you drink it. You'll thank yourself.

Also, I think oxygenating more comes into play when you're aging your beer. Or at least not drinking it so quickly.

 

[mcwilcr]

You will most likely be fine but to ease your worries read this.

 

[damisnguy2000]

Drink it quickly and hopefully you won't notice! Seriously, though, in 4 years of brewing I've stuffed up many times, but the only time it truly ruined my beer was when I accidentally used an un-sanitized siphon to get wort out of the boiler.
You'll be amazed with what you can get away with.

 

[unionrdr]

Adding air after fermentation can make the beer taste like wet cardboard. Nothing to do but wait now. Next time,if your primary has a spigot,use it. All mine do & I use them everytime. But I also clean them & their mounting area everytime as well. soak a couple minutes in starsan before re-assembling. And clean/sanitize all your tubing auto siphons,etc before storing/use.

 

[MissionBrewer]

If you just bottled a week ago, I'd let it sit two more weeks, then put it in the fridge for a week before you drink it. You'll thank yourself.

Also, I think oxygenating more comes into play when you're aging your beer. Or at least not drinking it so quickly.

Is 2 weeks like the bare minimum? In what way will the flavor improve if I wait longer?

I'm not sure I can really wait another three weeks. I'm dying already. I have to know...

Thanks for the help everybody!

 

[unionrdr]

In other words,3 weeks total in the bottle at 70F is minimum time to carb & condition. 4 to 5 weeks is usally better. But the minimum of 1 week in the fridge is quite good indeed. 2 weeks gives thicker head,& longer lasting carbonation,since driving co2 into solution isn't a very fast process. Even though cold solutions absorb co2 faster. Trust me,this was a happy accident I had after labor day last year.
And if the cardboard off flavor is bad enough,carb & conditioning can make it worse,rather than helping it fade. Oxidation is like fire-alittle warms,a lot burns. A little bit,& the yeast will use it during eating the priming sugar to make co2 to get trapped in the head space. Too much,& some will remain to haunt you.

 

[dbreienrk1]

Their is no minimum. You are free to do whatever you like with it...it's your beer. There are recommendations that people tend to follow. I typically bottle and begin drinking after 2 weeks of conditioning. I typically have 3 or 4 batches bottled though so I don't have to plow through one before I can bottle the next. This allows me to see the change in flavor overtime.

I always set aside 3 bottles of beer and label them with the bottling date. I then drink them at the 3 month, 6 month and 12 month mark. This is when beer gets interesting. Some beers age amazingly well and others no change really occurs. Before drinking, give it 2+ days in the fridge. The lower temps allows the liquid to absorb more of the CO2.

What you should strive for in brewing is obtaining repeatability. Get your process down so a year after you brew something you can brew it again and have the same results.

 

[PoorBoy]

Is 2 weeks like the bare minimum? In what way will the flavor improve if I wait longer?

I'm not sure I can really wait another three weeks. I'm dying already. I have to know...

Thanks for the help everybody!

tell you what.
have a beer in a week.
have a beer in two weeks (allowing 3 weeks carb time at room temp), and at the same time, put one in the fridge.
the next week, have the beer you put in the fridge next to one you just put in there a couple hours ago
write your results and findings in your brew log

you get to drink your beer early, guilt free, and learn along the way. win

 

[unionrdr]

If you think there's no minimum.I've got a town to sell you. I've had two batches so far that carbed in 11 days flat. But the flavors/aromas didn't condition as fast. No way in hell! Conditioning always takes about two weeks longer than carbonating in my experiences. So don't be too eager to start guzzling. Patience & time can be your greatest friend. Without patience,it is your worst nightmare. Exercise some restraint & give it whatever time it needs to get as good as it can before drinking them. You'll be a whole lot more thankful. I don't bother saving pale ales,IPA's,& the like for 3,6,12 months or whatever. I know they won't have much hop flavor after two months in the bottles or so. Even my bigger beers that take a few months to get good don't have a lot of hop flavor left by the time the rest of the flavors catch up. Now I know why the Burton brewers used such a truckload of hops in their #3 ale,for instance.

 

[dbreienrk1]

If you think there's no minimum.I've got a town to sell you.

I'm going to chalk this up as either you not reading my entire post or you are unfamiliar with a term called sarcasm.

There is absolutely nothing that mandates a person to wait any period of time before drinking their beer. This is what some call "free will." I did state that there are certain recommendations that people tend to follow. The point I was trying to make is that new brewers need to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from both.

 

[MissionBrewer]

If the hop flavors don't save, then how do the commercial brewers do it? What do they do to the beer to retain the hoppy flavor--scary preservatives or something?

 

[PoorBoy]

they use tons of hops, and recommend that you drink it before a certain time.

 

[dbreienrk1]

Well, if you are talking about the large domestics (Miller, Bud, etc.), then yes they use preservatives. It is really about the methods used to get to a bottle. Brewers purge all oxygen from bottles prior to filling which greatly reduces oxidization. This allows hop flavors to last longer in the bottle. Also, when you buy a beer off the shelf its probably not any older than 2-3 months anyways.

 

[MissionBrewer]

For commercial beers, I've never noticed the hoppy flavor going away after any specific period of time. But maybe I've never had a bottle of beer last so long in my fridge that I would know. I hate to see beer sit in the fridge for any longer than a week

 

[unionrdr]

I'm going to chalk this up as either you not reading my entire post or you are unfamiliar with a term called sarcasm.

There is absolutely nothing that mandates a person to wait any period of time before drinking their beer. This is what some call "free will." I did state that there are certain recommendations that people tend to follow. The point I was trying to make is that new brewers need to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from both.

I've been having a pretty good couple of days,so I thought throwing back some sarcastic humor would be fun just for shizz & giggles. Anyway,after so many of us preaching these simple truths,it should be way easier to understand what we already know it'll be like & just wait. You know you will anyway kind of thing.
Experimenting is a whole nuther animal than learning what brewing practices need to be in place all the time. Why ask questions if you're just gunna do what you feel like anyway? We see a lot of that as well. Free will is quite another thing from stubborn.

 

[dbreienrk1]

I've been having a pretty good couple of days,so I thought throwing back some sarcastic humor would be fun just for shizz & giggles. Anyway,after so many of us preaching these simple truths,it should be way easier to understand what we already know it'll be like & just wait. You know you will anyway kind of thing.
Experimenting is a whole nuther animal than learning what brewing practices need to be in place all the time. Why ask questions if you're just gunna do what you feel like anyway? We see a lot of that as well. Free will is quite another thing from stubborn.

Touche...cheers!

 

[MissionBrewer]

By the way, when I said "is two weeks the bare minimum", I know that I'm allowed to do whatever I want but what I meant is, the bare minimum for like...the beer to be carbonated and be at least semi-ready in terms of taste. Hey, this is off topic (sorry this is bouncing around a lot!) but how do I get a picture to show up when I post? I have a picture uploaded to my profile but it doesn't appear! Do I have to have a paid membership?

 

[baddad]

One thing that may help the OP is to get a longer siphon hose ,(make sure it is sanitary) and lay it on the bottem of the secondary . That way no splash

 

[unionrdr]

You do have to get a premium membership to post pics & other stuff. 3 weeks minimum,some times longer for even APA/IPA's to be balanced in terms of flavor/aroma. And having the racking tube curve about half way around the bottom will induce some swirl,but no splash.

 

[MissionBrewer]

Oh, my hose is long enough! I don't know why I put the hose at the top of the carboy at first. I just...wasn't thinking. I have a lot to learn

 

[MissionBrewer]

Ah--K. I'm pretty broke... no picture for me I guess

 

[unionrdr]

There was a $5 off membership drive goin. That would've saved enough for a yeast packet...

 

[ScoRas]

Is 2 weeks like the bare minimum? In what way will the flavor improve if I wait longer?

I'm not sure I can really wait another three weeks. I'm dying already. I have to know...

Thanks for the help everybody!

I'm a n00batron too, and hey, it's only one bottle! Plus, that way we can see what changes occur during aging.