Did my beer autolyze?

[Bosh]

Make my first homebrew with LME and left it in my primary fermenter (I don't have anything that I can use for a secondary) for exactly 2 weeks before pouring it into bottles to condition.

However the green beer that I have now has a very distinctive/bad bitter taste all through it that tastes a lot like the trub smells.

Did I leave the beer in primary too long? Will time reduce any of the bitter taste?

 

[Alamo_Beer]

2 weeks? no way your a long long way off from autolysis...

how long has it been in bottles? it's probubly just green...needs AT LEAST 3wks in bottle before drinking

 

[Bosh]

Great!

Well what happened that I took a hydrometer sample (drank it) and then bottled all of it. Then (to not waste anything) poured some of the beer sitting on the bottom of the primary with the tun into a mug and drank that too. The stuff in the hydrometer sample has a bitter taste that was a bit similar to the tun dregs, so I'm worried some wierd flavors from the tun got into the rest of the beer somehow.

If that's not the case then I am very happy since the beer still is VERY green and just got stuck in the bottles two days ago. How much can I expect the beer's flavor change from sitting in the bottles?

 

[Bosh]

Hmmm could this be the problem:

This website (http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html) says:

"Astringent
Astringency differs from bitterness by having a puckering quality, like sucking on a tea bag. It is dry, kind of powdery and is often the result of steeping grains too long or when the pH of the mash exceeds the range of 5.2 - 5.6. Oversparging the mash or using water that is too hot are common causes for exceeding the mash pH range. It can also be caused by over-hopping during either the bittering or finishing stages. Bacterial infections can also cause astringency, i.e. vinegar tones from aceto bacteria.

The brown scum that forms during fermentation and clings to the side of the fermentor is intensely bitter and if it is stirred back into the beer it will cause very astringent tastes. The scum should be removed from the beer, either by letting it cling undisturbed to the sides of an oversize fermentor, or by skimming it off the krausen, or blowing off the krausen itself from a 5 gallon carboy. I have never had any problems by simply letting it cling to the sides of the fermentor."

I think what might have happened is that I kept on moving my fermenter back and forth between the bathroom and the veranda to keep the tempt right (don't have a basement). I think this might have results in beer slopping around the sides of the bucket and washing that brown scum back into the beer. Would bottle conditioning get rid of any of that taste?

 

[Richard]

Patience Bosh, patience. I'm sure your beer will be fine.

 

[Bosh]

Yeah I know. Its just that the beer is my baby

 

[Evan!]

Yeah I know. Its just that the beer is my baby

Yes, it is your baby. And to further the analogy, would you consider your 3-month old child to be retarded because he couldn't do long division? Of course not. Expecting your newly-bottled beer to taste like the finished product is no different.

 

[Dude]

Yes, it is your baby. And to further the analogy, would you consider your 3-month old child to be retarded because he couldn't do long division? Of course not. Expecting your newly-bottled beer to taste like the finished product is no different.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

haha thats a perfect analogy Evan!

thats awesome

 

[olllllo]

None of my beer can do long division... Is my beer ruined?

 

[jpsloan]

I've said it before... one thing I've learned from homebrewing is that yeast is far more intelligent than I am.

 

[Willsellout]

None of my beer can do long division... Is my beer ruined?

I can't do long division when I drink my beer...am I ruined?



Dan