A Little Taste

[andy6026]

I just checked hydrometer readings on 2 beers that are fermenting. The first is a Pale Ale that's been fermenting for 2 and a half weeks. I was quite impressed. The original gravity was 1040, and is now down to 1014-16 (tricky to read with the bubbles), and although it still does taste a bit watery, the flavour was quite pleasant.

The other is a dark Ale that is only a week and a half old (I took off the blow-off and converted to air lock so I figured I might as well stick a turkey baster in there). It's gone from 1042 down to 1014 as well. It does indeed taste like a dark ale - also perhaps a bit watery, although it's flavor seemed a little more generic rather than the burst of flavor I got with the Pale Ale.

All in all I'm excited. These are my first babies and while I indeed made some errors along the way (and I'm sure to make more), it seems that I'm at least successful so far in making beer!

Cheers everybody!

 

[Jayhem]

Let em ride a bit longer. A beer that starts at 1.040 should finish below 1.014.

Watery taste at sampling is completely normal. The carbonation will bring back the body and flavor!

Patience is key!

Have fun!

 

[manisfive]

I sampled my beer at the one week mark (from a hydrometer reading) and thought it tasted very light, also. It's an Irish red. I'm excited to see how it taste on bottling day and going forward.

 

[andy6026]

Their fermenting temps are on the cool end of the yeast's preferred temp scale so I imagine the Pale Ale will need at least another week, if not longer. The ambient room temp is 59 F (unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on any stick-on thermometers yet), which I'm assured will churn out a cleaner tasting beer than at higher temps. The down-side is that it seems to be taking significantly longer.

But there's no hurry to bottle or drink these batches, and since time is it's best friend, that's what I'll give it.

 

[Jayhem]

Their fermenting temps are on the cool end of the yeast's preferred temp scale so I imagine the Pale Ale will need at least another week, if not longer. The ambient room temp is 59 F (unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on any stick-on thermometers yet), which I'm assured will churn out a cleaner tasting beer than at higher temps. The down-side is that it seems to be taking significantly longer.

But there's no hurry to bottle or drink these batches, and since time is it's best friend, that's what I'll give it.

I also like to ferment on the cool side for a clean tasting flavor profile. 59 ambient is ideal for a nice low to mid-60's beer temp during active fermentation but once the fermentation slows you will come down to about 60F which would definitely slow it way down.

I would wait until 21 days in the fermenter and then take another hydrometer sample. 21-28 days in fermenter is a good bet that any beer is finished, conditioned and settled out enough to bottle or keg it.

 

[andy6026]

Thanks for the advice. I turned the heat up in the basement a bit after I did that tasting. It's just a floor space heater I'm using but I'll aim for an ambient temp in the low 60s (possibly around 62) - this should hopefully speed it up a little without compromising the final taste.

 

[Jayhem]

Thanks for the advice. I turned the heat up in the basement a bit after I did that tasting. It's just a floor space heater I'm using but I'll aim for an ambient temp in the low 60s (possibly around 62) - this should hopefully speed it up a little without compromising the final taste.

The flavor profile is set once the active fermentation is finished. Once the krausen (foam) settles and the beer starts to clear up you can raise the temp to 70 without changing the flavor profile. In fact, yeast need warmer temps after the fermentation completes for them to stay active and clean up the fermentation bi-products.