First Brew, What Happened?

[jmtonkin]

Hey everyone! For my birthday, my parents got me a basic home-brewing setup, and I recently tried the fruits of my labor. It was Brewer's Best Belgian Golden Ale.

I, unfortunately, was maybe a little too excited before I got it, and immediately jumped into it before doing any research. It was alright, because I had my self-proclaimed "expert" of a brother there to help me. BAD IDEA. He told me to just go ahead and brew it with regular tap water, insisted that it had "boiled long enough", and that I HAD to rack it to a secondary fermenter.

At some point, something went wrong. I didn't know enough at that time to take a hydrometer reading, so I don't know my OG, but my FG was 1.005. This can't be right! Well, after transferring it to my secondary and letting it sit, I went to bottling.

I just opened one last night, and it definitely has something wrong with it. There is a very distinctive cough syrup flavor. I read that it could be a result of chlorine in the water. Do you think that's the problem?

Luckily, it's not TOO unbearable, and I can still drink it. I'm just a little bummed that my first batch was a flop.

 

[jmtonkin]

Oh, I forgot to mention this part! When I fermented it, it ended up in the very high 70°s for two days. I moved it to the basement where it finished it's fermentation at 65-70°. That's where it sat for the entirety of it's fermentation, and it's bottle conditioning.

 

[AaronTX]

How long was it in primary? Secondary? Bottles? My first batch is still sitting in primary, and I have my fingers crossed it turns out good!

 

[unionrdr]

The basement at 65-70F would've been better to start with. Mid 60's is a good average ale temp. Letting it sit for 3-7 days after FG is reched gives the yeast time to clen up by products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. 3-4 weeks at romm temps of 70F or a lil more is good for carbonation & conditioning as well. Then a week in the fridge to clear up any chill haze that forms & get the yeast/trub compacted more on the bottom of the bottle for a cleaner pour.

 

[ncbrewer]

This link - http://www.bjcp.org/faults.php covers medicinal flavors. It includes chlorinated water and bleach sanitizers.

 

[jmtonkin]

I didn't realize it was that high at first, and that's why I moved it. That was definitely a lack of paying attention.

It was in the primary for a week, and in the secondary for about two and a half weeks. I bottled it on December 26, and I just opened one. I put it in the refrigerator three days ago, so it had been in there for two days.

 

[Upthewazzu]

My first brew was pretty terrible, too. It was drinkable but, uh, that's about all I can say about it. You learn a lot about the details of the process on this forum. Frankly, the details are what matters most, IMO.

 

[kombat]

Oh, I forgot to mention this part! When I fermented it, it ended up in the very high 70°s for two days.

Bingo!

I'll bet that "cough syrup" flavour you mentioned is fusel alcohols, characteristic of a too-hot fermentation.

The first 3 days of a fermentation are absolutely the most crucial. That's when the bulk of the esters and flavour compounds are produced. If your yeasties were partying it up in the high-70's during those first few days, they'd have left a ton of undesirable byproducts in your beer.

Chalk it up to a learning experience, and next time use a swamp cooler.

 

[unionrdr]

^^Exactly why I always preach about 1) Using the wort chill (ice bath,whatever) to get it down to 75F or so. Then use top off water that's chilled one or two whole days in the fridge to top off with. This'll get the wort down to about 65F pretty quick. 2) 5-7 days fridge time minimum after 3-4 weeks at room temp. You'll get clearer,crisper beer this way. 3) Also the reason I preach about giving the beer 3-7 days after FG is reached to clean up by products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty. The bad flavors & smells get eaten by the yeasties while it settles out.