Under carbbed and slight bitter taste

[ncoutroulis]

This is my second brew. It was to be a Brekle's Brown Ale (English Brown Ale)

5 gallon carboy, one fermenting—yielded only about 36 bottles. Primed with correct amount, 1 cup water with sugar.
been in bottles 2.5 weeks, and just took one from the fridge that's been in there 4 days now.

the carbonation is OK, but seems maybe a little low. not much head, and didn't last very long.

taste is OK, but has a similar bitter taste to the first home-brew i did, a Belgian Pale Ale. (two different yeasts BTW) this one was a Wyeast 2112, the Belgian was Wyeast Belgian ale yeast.

Curious why the taste may be bitter (not in the good hoppy kind of way)

and, why the under carb when I had less volume than the priming mixture called for

cheers

 

[Kent88]

Can't tell you much about the bitterness, even if I knew the original gravity and the hop additions.

As for foam retention, I'm trying to get that figured out too. A beer can be sufficiently carbonated but still have issues with foam retention. Are you keeping a close eye on fermentation temps? Yeasts working in improper temps are stressed and apparently produce foam reducing compounds. What temp are you leaving your bottles at to carb them? When you pour a bottle is there plenty of foam that dissipates quickly, or is there little to begin with? How full are you filling your bottles?

The best advice I can offer right now is to give the beer some more time (another week or two) to condition. add just a little bit more priming sugar next time and get the carbonation level to your liking, after that start asking the above questions and get your foam figured out.

 

[beerkench]

Was the priming solution mixed in well, and at what temp are you bottle conditioning?


Sent from hell
using Home Brew

 

[ncoutroulis]

thanks

fermentation temp could have been a factor, since it was high and low, but mostly it was kept between 68-72, maybe lower at times, but nothing crazy.
Bottles are now carving at room temp, which is in the mid 70s id guess. Should they be lower?

when poured, there was a little bit of foam, then it dissipated. As i drank it, the beer wasn't flat, and it was "drinkable', just had a slightly bitter aftertaste, same as my first brew.

the priming solution was mixed well, and was bottled also at room temp, around 70 or so.

thanks

 

[zippy84]

In my very limited experience, it could be any number of things from over-steeping grains or squeezing grain bags releasing tannins, over-hopping, infection. There are also off flavours associated with using extract kits, which is what I assume you've used? Many people describe that 'kit' taste, that frankly I'm not sure what it is, maybe oxidation or staleness?

2 & 1/2 weeks is not a long time to have it bottled either, might just be green and not ready?! Also, for priming they recommend using 2 cups water for 1 sugar to properly mix it with the batch.

You should read up on this to try and differentiate between off flavours: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Edit: another good resource for description and cause of off-flavours: http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2011/08/common-off-flavors/

 

[BigFloyd]

Set it aside in a box at room temp (70-75*F). Give it 4-6 weeks, chill one a few days and try it again. See if there's a difference.

 

[zippy84]

Set it aside in a box at room temp (70-75*F). Give it 4-6 weeks, chill one a few days and try it again. See if there's a difference.

I've often done this, and tbh it's quite hard to tell whether it's actually improving or whether it's just my taste buds becoming accustomed to it and accepting it? Probably a bit of both.. what do you think?

 

[wolves63]

The largest problem is that since we can't taste it, it is hard to diagnosis the problem. But I am willing to give it a shot based on personal experience. I do all grain batches now, but started out the same way you did.

Are you using distilled water or tap water?
If you are using distilled, I would make sure to add some yeast nutrient with the last 15 minutes of the boil. This is a personal opinion, but I feel it helps to get them off to the races better.

If you are using tap, buy some campden tablets, sodium metabisulfate powder or potassium metabisulfate powder. There is a slight bitter taste that chlorine can cause that is unpleasant, almost tastes like a band-aid.

Also most beer really isn't ready when the kits state they will be. I would suggest doing a primary fermentation for 3 weeks, ignoring a secondary fermentation (unless you are adding fruit or some other aging flavoring). Then dissolve your priming sugars in water, let it cool to room temp, and transfer your beer to the secondary bucket and bottle. Once in the bottle, let it sit for 1 month at room temp. This will give the remaining yeast the time needed to carbonate your beer.

In my opinion, the sweet spot for beers is about 8-12 weeks from brew day.

Finally, your flavors are always going to be a little off until you can get fermentation below 68, but those off flavors won't typically be bitterness. Also, the yeast produce heat during fermentation and so if you had the primary at 74 degrees the yeast could have had the temperatures up to 77-78 during peak fermentation.

 

[zippy84]

Are you using distilled water or tap water?

This could be another issue causing bitterness/metallic taste, up until now I have always used tap water in my brews. It's fine for drinking but recently I did a test. I boiled some tap water and let it sit to cool. On tasting the water after cooling the metallic/bitter taste is fairly prominent. If it's in my water it's in my beer right?!

So I brewed my first partial mash last week with bottled mineral water. Can't wait to try it, fresh grains, hops and decent water!

 

[wolves63]

Yes, your pipes or the cities pipes could be leeching metal into the water or it could be coming from mineral deposits in the ground. If that is the flavor you are getting I would suggest starting to use distilled water or getting a water filter to help clean up the water.