Off flavor question

[bassassassin772]

Ok so I have a few questions. 1 I read tons of posts about off flavors how do you know what an off flavor is and how do you distinguish between them second question is what the best way to store beer after bottle carbed. I have a temp controlled ferm chamber should i just leave it in there and throw a six pack in the fridge at a time or throw the whole brew in the fridge? Im on my third beer, it's a whiskey barrel porter a lot of time is invested and i want it to be the best it can be

 

[venquessa]

Off flavours:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

 

[scottedk]

Best to let bottles age at around room temperature and then put them in the fridge an hour or two before you want to drink them.

 

[AmandaK]

If we were all made of money, we would be storing our brews at "cellar temperature", 45-55*.

However, I just store mine at room temperature and haven't had issues. Temperature SWINGS is what you want to avoid, that can cause oxidation (see How To Brew link above).

 

[unionrdr]

After the beer is bottled,temp swings only matter insomuch as the beer carbonating & conditioning fully. I've never gotten oxydation from that. And it takes a lot longer to get the co2 in the head space into solution than a couple hours. It's a slow process. An average gravity ale can be really good at one week fridge time. But great at two weeks time with thicker head & longer lasting carbonation. Bigger beers will need 2 weeks or better fridge time to have decent head & carbonation. And that can be months after the bottles sitting at room temp. My Burton & Whiskely ales are 2 examples. Or a RIS. Darkness & gravity seem to effect how quickly they carbonate & condition.

 

[bassassassin772]

thanks for all the help looks like i will just store in ferm chamber until i put a few in fridge the link also helped a ton thanks a lot

 

[unionrdr]

Just keep in mind that bottled beer should be carbonated & conditioned at about 70F for at least 3 weeks. 4-5 weeks will usually be better for pale ales & the like. Longer for darker &/or bigger beers.

 

[bassassassin772]

Yeah these are sitting at 70 degrees with a .3 degree C difference my ferm chamber heats and cools. the instructions say to bottle condition for 4 months I figure i will pop 1 a month just to see the different flavor changes.

 

[Bmorebrew]

I have a finished basement which tends to be low to mid 60's year-round, I keep beers under the stairs there. But to get there, I wait the 2-3 weeks for full carbonation, then I like to let them "cold-condition" in the fridge for a couple of weeks before I drink them. Also this allows more CO2 to dissolve, just like uniondr said.

 

[unionrdr]

What kind of beer is it that the instructions say to bottle condition 4 months? Are you sure it didn't say weeks?

 

[bassassassin772]

it's a whiskey barrel porter from AHS and yes im sure it's not weeks. it spend 3 weeks in primary 10 days in secondary with oak barrel chip addition and then i bottled. I added half a bottle of whiskey when i bottled.

 

[unionrdr]

A half bottle of whiskey will likely be too much. I let 4oz of medium toast French oak chips soak in 5 jiggers of Beam's Black for the whole time my dark ale fermented. Then poured all through a hop sock into secondary,racking the dark ale onto it all. In 8 days,the bourbon flavor was pretty dominant. I had to condition it 9 weeks & 6 days before 2 weeks fridge time before it mellowed. That's why I say half a bottle is too much.

 

[bassassassin772]

yeah instructions say 350 ML of whiskey when i tasted it tasted like a whiskey and water which is ok cause i like that drink Im sure it will mello after its been in the bottle for a while

 

[unionrdr]

It's fine when whiskey & water is desired as a drink. But not when lending flavor complexity to an ale. It completely overpowers the malt & hop profile to the point where watered whiskey is all that can be percieved.

 

[bassassassin772]

Im hoping that with it being a porter those flavors will be strong enough

 

[unionrdr]

That's the flip side of the equasion. The more whiskey/oak flavor you add,the stronger malt & hop flavors you need to be percieved over all that oak &/or whiskey. The porter will make this easier,but only to a point. Your senses will have to be the ultimate judge of the amounts used.

 

[bassassassin772]

That's why I went with a Porter. Time will tell Me being new my brews are all over the place. It sucks waiting to see if your labor results in a good or bad product