kingludwig01
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- Joined
- Sep 9, 2021
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I began fermenting my first ever beer, a Saison, on September 14th, it has:
1 packet of T-58 Saison Yeast
5lb Light Malt Extract
1lb table sugar
2oz Mosaic hops
3.75lb mini mash
5 gallons water
This is my first beer I've made, and clearly I didn't do enough research. Here's my story of problems:
1. My yeast's maximum fermenting temperature is 68 degrees, and the closet I fermented it in is around 75 degrees. I figured since Saisons are generally warm-temperature friendly this yeast would be, but producer says 68 degrees.
2. When I was boiling my grain mash, the temperature was nearly 20 degrees too high (180 degrees) for about 30 minutes of the hour long process.
3. My beer fermented rapidly in about 3 days despite the recipe I was roughly copying saying it should spend 2 weeks in primary. I suspect this is due to the far warmer temperature, addition of 1lb of sugar I made to bump up the ABV, and very high temperature I had while steeping the grains.
3. I posted an article 9 days into primary fermenting (September 23rd) and the initial responses I got said my beer must be done fermenting since my gravity measurements weren't changing for over three days, and I was very excited and took this to mean I was good to bottle. Some people said I could bottle, others said they let it sit in primary longer for clarity, reducing sediment in bottles, etc.
4. While bottling I decided to taste the unfinished brew, as I read that this can reveal some glaringly obvious flaws, but that it wont give a good idea of what the final product will be like. The most glaringly obvious thing was that the smell of bananas was incredibly potent. Not a hint of banana, I'm talking straight up a chimp's wet dream. It smelled great, don't get me wrong, but it still doesn't seem like to me breweries are supposed to smell like a Nicaraguan plantation in the summer. As for the taste, there was no banana taste, but rather a sharp and astringent alcohol-forward bite, led by a nice slightly hoppy after taste. My roommates tried it too and swore it was good, but they're probably just being nice and encouraging. I'm worried that the astringency and alcoholic bite is a result of the many failures I've listed above, but I've one, never made beer before so cant know for sure, and two, have hope that it will improve in the bottle and taste at least somewhat good as the final product.
Im a broke college kid who decided to make beer all bright eyed and hopeful, and Its dawning on me that I may have just wasted $40 in ingredients making watered down rubbing alcohol. Is there any hope in my brew? Does bottle-conditioning drastically change the brew and take away most of the rough edges? How long should I condition this thing? Am I just overreacting?
1 packet of T-58 Saison Yeast
5lb Light Malt Extract
1lb table sugar
2oz Mosaic hops
3.75lb mini mash
5 gallons water
This is my first beer I've made, and clearly I didn't do enough research. Here's my story of problems:
1. My yeast's maximum fermenting temperature is 68 degrees, and the closet I fermented it in is around 75 degrees. I figured since Saisons are generally warm-temperature friendly this yeast would be, but producer says 68 degrees.
2. When I was boiling my grain mash, the temperature was nearly 20 degrees too high (180 degrees) for about 30 minutes of the hour long process.
3. My beer fermented rapidly in about 3 days despite the recipe I was roughly copying saying it should spend 2 weeks in primary. I suspect this is due to the far warmer temperature, addition of 1lb of sugar I made to bump up the ABV, and very high temperature I had while steeping the grains.
3. I posted an article 9 days into primary fermenting (September 23rd) and the initial responses I got said my beer must be done fermenting since my gravity measurements weren't changing for over three days, and I was very excited and took this to mean I was good to bottle. Some people said I could bottle, others said they let it sit in primary longer for clarity, reducing sediment in bottles, etc.
4. While bottling I decided to taste the unfinished brew, as I read that this can reveal some glaringly obvious flaws, but that it wont give a good idea of what the final product will be like. The most glaringly obvious thing was that the smell of bananas was incredibly potent. Not a hint of banana, I'm talking straight up a chimp's wet dream. It smelled great, don't get me wrong, but it still doesn't seem like to me breweries are supposed to smell like a Nicaraguan plantation in the summer. As for the taste, there was no banana taste, but rather a sharp and astringent alcohol-forward bite, led by a nice slightly hoppy after taste. My roommates tried it too and swore it was good, but they're probably just being nice and encouraging. I'm worried that the astringency and alcoholic bite is a result of the many failures I've listed above, but I've one, never made beer before so cant know for sure, and two, have hope that it will improve in the bottle and taste at least somewhat good as the final product.
Im a broke college kid who decided to make beer all bright eyed and hopeful, and Its dawning on me that I may have just wasted $40 in ingredients making watered down rubbing alcohol. Is there any hope in my brew? Does bottle-conditioning drastically change the brew and take away most of the rough edges? How long should I condition this thing? Am I just overreacting?