I have 10 gallons of **** beer.

[BrewBalls]

My golden ale still tastes as if I opened a bottle after 4 days when it really has been in the bottles for 5 weeks. Weird odor I can't explain. Not very drinkable. Not getting better.

Pale ale in fermentor smelled great for the 1st 2 weeks, now has the same odor. I'll bottle it and see what happens, but not expecting anything good.


There were no physical signs of infection in either beer. If i transfered infections into 2 bactches. idk. i thought I sterilized well enough. The problem with both beers could be high yeast pitching temperatures, though they did ferment. both finished with an sg of 1.080 and both beers had the problem of lots of floating yeasts bits with the golden ale being worse than the pale ale.

how much do yeast pitching temps effect flavor in the end?

 

[darknova306]

The important thing is what temp was the yeast fermenting at during the first 2-4 days? That's the more critical time for yeast temp, the initial vigorous fermantation. What kind of yeast did you use? Did you make a starter for that 1.080 beer? That could have something to do with it. Making starters was one of the easiest, yet most significant, ways to improve my beers.

 

[darknova306]

And it would help if you explained what the odor is like. I know that's kinda difficult sometimes, but if there's any insight you can give on it, that might point us toward what's wrong.

 

[android]

you say you sterilized, did you use a sanitizer like starsan or iodophor? you also say they finished at 1.080, which sounds more like a high starting gravity. what kind of yeast did you use? is there excessive carbonation?

 

[iron_city_ap]

If both batches have the same odor, check out any/all of the common equipment and ingredients (same type yeast, etc...)you used. Could be something in a scratch in the brew pot or something along those lines.

 

[Eigenmusic]

Haha, I sure hope you meant a final sg of 1.008, not 1.080. O-O

 

[GroosBrewz]

I have noticed that when I pitch my yeast when the wort temp is too high, my beer develops off flavors (kind of a rubbery/smoky aftertaste).. I believe (though I cant back it up scientifically) that yeast pitching temps can and do affect flavor..

 

[KYB]

If you don't feel like waiting longer you could try putting some fruit flavor in there to cover the bad taste. When I was new to brewing I tried a blonde ale to appeal to BMCers which backfired and turned out pretty bad. I added some strawberry extract and it turned out fairly drinkable. Girls seems to like it quite a bit.

 

[darknova306]

I have noticed that when I pitch my yeast when the wort temp is too high, my beer develops off flavors (kind of a rubbery/smoky aftertaste).. I believe (though I cant back it up scientifically) that yeast pitching temps can and do affect flavor..

That would explain a couple batches that tasted pretty rubbery and nasty last year.

 

[XXguy]

Give it time, give it time....

One of the first brews I did tasted just absolutely nasty at 4 weeks... couldn't finish a bottle. I never thought it would be any good, but I kept reading all the advice to let the beer take care of itself. I knew I hadn't done anything terribly wrong in my process, but maybe my fermentation temps weren't the best, maybe I didn't aerate enough, maybe I didn't let the yeast rehydrate long enough, yadda....yadda.....

Anyway, after 3 months, I tried a few more. One friend said he actually liked it, but I still thought it had enough off flavors that I was never going to drink it all. I kept it on the back shelf. After 6 months, I went looking for a few more beers to finish, and put one in the back of the fridge. Sat there for 2-3 weeks before I decided it was worth trying..... Damn, was that the same beer? It was actually decent.

Moral of the story? wait it out.

 

[firerat]

Give it time, give it time..............................

............Moral of the story? wait it out.

This is what I'm doing with my very first batch.

3 weeks bottled. Tastes horrible. But it tastes better than week 1. (I couldn't wait)

So i'll continue to let it age and try one each week, noting the improvement and changes week to week.

Meanwhile, batch # 2 gets bottled tonight!! :rockin:

Cheers!!

 

[BrewBalls]

I'm thinking i could have had a false reading when taking wort temp before pitching. after taking the temp off the top of the wort and pitching the yeast, the bucket felt warmer to the touch at the bottom than what the thermometer read. i use idophor sanitizer.

i just opened the pale ale fermentor and it has what I guess has a rubbery odor to it. it has a hazy film on top with white bubbles, and white flaky specs around the top edge. this looks very wrong. I'm thinking twice about even bottling it.


maybe the odors of the 2 beers are different. the other beer is not as bad, and I can wait that out.

 

[XXguy]

The hazy white film on the top is nothing to get worried about. Just rack out from underneath it & leave the pond scum behind.

Pitching at high temps won't give you the best award winning beer ever made (at least not for a Pale Ale) but if you didn't kill the yeast, you made beer. Bottle it & drink it. You'll thank us in 6 months.

 

[GroosBrewz]

The hazy white film on the top is nothing to get worried about. Just rack out from underneath it & leave the pond scum behind.

Pitching at high temps won't give you the best award winning beer ever made (at least not for a Pale Ale) but if you didn't kill the yeast, you made beer. Bottle it & drink it. You'll thank us in 6 months.

I agree that the haze is PROBABLY nothing to worry about it.. However if it looks kinda oily (like an oil slick on the water), then that is a sign of infection.. If it's just hazy/cloudy, then I would rack out from underneath it like XXguy says.. I also have had nasty beers improve with age.. It's amazing how they do take care of themselves if given enough time..(usually )

 

[BrewBalls]

So I bottled the pale ale today. I siphoned from underneath the top film. It wasn't oily, but a hazy film. I had a stronger stench today that I was worried about, but all the odor seemed to be in the film since all the beer in the bottling bucket didn't have the same smell. It smelled mostly fine.

I didn't mention that I racked this pale ale to a secondary to filter it away from the loose floating yeasts that seemed to be a problem with the previous brew. I re-arated the beer and all the loose/floating yeast bits that were left over eventually did drop out and make a yeast sludge on the bottom of the bucket

 

[WillPall]

You aerated the beer after the yeast had already fermented the sugars? Probably not going to be much of a problem, but aerating after alcohol has been introduced can sometimes cause it to form a "cardboardy" taste.

Again, probably nothing to worry about, but for future reference...

 

[ekranzusch]

are you using steeping grains and if so what temp are you letting them steep at?
I got a similar sounding smell/offtaste once from tannins.

 

[GroosBrewz]

You aerated the beer after the yeast had already fermented the sugars? Probably not going to be much of a problem, but aerating after alcohol has been introduced can sometimes cause it to form a "cardboardy" taste.

Again, probably nothing to worry about, but for future reference...

+1 on this.. you should ALWAYS strive to keep your finished beer as oxygen free as possible, which is why we carefully fill the bottling bucket.. So if you develop off flavors, this could be one of the reasons...