Beer sometimes tastes and looks different

[IEpicDestiny]

Hi

I have made a Coopers Lager kit and it has been bottled for over 8 weeks or so now.

Sometimes the beer is perfect from this batch and has a very good head (lasting over 10 or so minutes) and not loads of fizz and doesn't taste yeasty. But most of the time there is a lot of fizz, fizzy head goes away in seconds and tastes quite yeasty.

I have done a test by pouring it the exact same way and into the exact same glass to see if any of those things were the problem but it is still having this issue in most of my beers and it is really frustrating.

Please help me out with this!

Thanks

 

[grampamark]

OK, some questions.

Did you prime the entire batch before bottling or did you prime each bottle individually?

When you pour into a glass do you pour the entire contents of the bottle or do you leave the last half inch, or so, in the bottle?

 

[Sebastian Weetabix]

Also, are the bottle caps Grolsch style, screw top or hand capped?

If Grolsch, you probably need to replace the seals.

If screw top, I’ll bet you bought new caps, but forgot to cut the old cap bands from the threaded
part of the neck. Don’t ask how I might know this.

If hand capped, you might have an older capper that is inconsistent with capping pressure.

Hope this helps.

 

[coonmanx]

Yes, how do you prime? I always moved the siphon hose around in the bottling bucket to make sure that the priming syrup I had cooked up would get evenly distributed. Put the priming "syrup" in first and siphon the beer on top of that while gently stirring with the siphon hose.

 

[IEpicDestiny]

OK, some questions.

Did you prime the entire batch before bottling or did you prime each bottle individually?

When you pour into a glass do you pour the entire contents of the bottle or do you leave the last half inch, or so, in the bottle?

I used 2 carbonation drops per 750 ml as instructed by the Coopers instructions and from researching on this forum.

I pour it into a pint glass with about an inch of head and making sure I pour without it glugging so that it doesn't pick up the yeast from the bottom. I drain the whole rest of the bottom part of the bottle (Which is a lot but I find that it tastes better if I don't add that in) and for 750ml bottles I'm wasting about 250ml worth of beer. So basically my 40 pint beer kit has left me with 30 pints of drinkable beer.

 

[IEpicDestiny]

Also, are the bottle caps Grolsch style, screw top or hand capped?

If Grolsch, you probably need to replace the seals.

If screw top, I’ll bet you bought new caps, but forgot to cut the old cap bands from the threaded
part of the neck. Don’t ask how I might know this.

If hand capped, you might have an older capper that is inconsistent with capping pressure.

Hope this helps.

Yeah they're screw top bottles from Coopers but they are brand new and I screwed them on as tight as possible. If they're new this shouldn't even be a problem right? And some of the beers taste perfect just most of them don't

 

[IEpicDestiny]

Yes, how do you prime? I always moved the siphon hose around in the bottling bucket to make sure that the priming syrup I had cooked up would get evenly distributed. Put the priming "syrup" in first and siphon the beer on top of that while gently stirring with the siphon hose.

I didn't syphon this and just did it by the tap as instructed from the video and the kit they gave me. What is priming syrup? Is that something you buy? I'm about to syphon up my wine but I'm wondering how it works because it looks like people put the syphon tube down to the bottom of the fermenter where all the yeast cake is and syphon from there. Is that true? Wouldn't that pick up the yeast stuff at the bottom?
and if not then how do you tell where to put the tube to be above the yeast? How do I know where the yeast sediment is exactly?

 

[grampamark]

It sounds like you’re getting more yeast in some pours than in others and like you may have had a lot of yeast in suspension when you bottled. Did you dump everything from the fermenter into the bottling bucket, or bottle directly from the fermenter? It doesn’t take much active yeast to carbonate a bottle of beer. You may have had more than enough.

Edit: You were replying to another question while I was typing. You want to leave the visible gunk at the bottom of the fermenter. There’s enough yeast suspended in the clear beer above the gunk to carbonate the bottles.

 

[IEpicDestiny]

It sounds like you’re getting more yeast in some pours than in others and like you may have had a lot of yeast in suspension when you bottled. Did you dump everything from the fermenter into the bottling bucket, or bottle directly from the fermenter? It doesn’t take much active yeast to carbonate a bottle of beer. You may have had more than enough.

Edit: You were replying to another question while I was typing. You want to leave the visible gunk at the bottom of the fermenter. There’s enough yeast suspended in the clear beer above the gunk to carbonate the bottles.

Ah I see, that could be it. I did bottle straight from the fermenter as instructed in the Coopers guide and kit. The part I'm confused about is that all homebrewers get yeast sediment at the bottom of their bottles so isin't it normal to have some yeast in the bottle?

Ah okay, but when I looked into the fermenter when it was ready to bottle I was not able to see the yeast at the bottom until I got closer to it, the bucket I used is quite dark too so I can't see the yeast from the outside either. How do I know how far down to put the syphon? or do I put the syphon down until it hits the bottom of the fermenter?

 

[grampamark]

You want to keep the siphon up above the yeast and trub at the bottom of the fermenter. You just have to eyeball it as you go and hold the siphon up a couple of inches. There’s enough yeast in the clear beer above the trub to carbonate the bottles.

 

[IEpicDestiny]

You want to keep the siphon up above the yeast and trub at the bottom of the fermenter. You just have to eyeball it as you go and hold the siphon up a couple of inches. There’s enough yeast in the clear beer above the trub to carbonate the bottles.

Okay awesome, thanks a lot for all your help. Just to be clear though, I remember seeing a lighter coloured liquid as I got closer down to the trub (yeast cake). Should I also siphon this lighter coloured liquid also?

 

[grampamark]

Okay awesome, thanks a lot for all your help. Just to be clear though, I remember seeing a lighter coloured liquid as I got closer down to the trub (yeast cake). Should I also siphon this lighter coloured liquid also?

The liquid at the bottom is beer, too. It looks lighter because there’s less of it which allows more light to pass through it.

 

[IEpicDestiny]

The liquid at the bottom is beer, too. It looks lighter because there’s less of it which allows more light to pass through it.

Okay awesome, thanks!

 

[coonmanx]

With a proper racking cane it can sit right on top of the yeast because the end that is on it only allows downward flow into the racking cane. So that prevents a whole lot of sediment from getting sucked up. Did you use a proper racking cane?

 

[coonmanx]

By "priming syrup" I meant either dry malt extract or corn sugar dissolved in some water and brought to a boil. Then the beer is siphoned into a bottling bucket after the "priming syrup" is poured in. The beer mixes with the priming syrup and now has something for the yeast to eat so that carbonation will happen. A hose is attached to the spigot on the bottling bucket and then a bottle filler is attached to that. The spigot is opened and the primed beer now flows down into the bottles through the bottle filler. The bottle filler fills a bottle when pressed down and stops filling when lifted up. I hope that makes some sense.