Ok so my first beer turned out bitter. Not from hops, but just a funky aftertaste bitter note. It was not great, but sitting longer in the bottle it’s improving. Anyway, today I bottled my next try. Actually two beers. A stout/porter and a pale ale. I could barely stomach the first batch when I bottled it. Just tasted horrible! Like licking a battery! Anyway, this one was great! Well both were great! I imagine after bottle conditioning it will get only better. Oh I’m so happy I finally figured it out. The only thing I changed was the temp I fermented at. I actually put ice cubes and frozen bottles in a bucket with water and had the 1 gallon brewing jugs sitting in the ice water for the first 3-4 days. It stayed roughly 64-65 degrees the whole time. Used safale 05 for the pale ale. And safale 04 for the porter. Porter should be close to 5% alcohol, the stout should be close 6.5% or so.
Finally!
- Thread starter Shawnstve
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The wait after bottling is the hardest part. I’ve been making pale ales over the last year and they’re OK at 1-2 weeks in the bottle, but most have been amazing after 5-6 weeks.
There’s a grassy ’edge’ to the newly bottled ones.
I always pop one open after 5 days at room temp to check if it’s going to be OK and celebrate the ‘nouveau’. Then condition them for at least 2 weeks at room temp and another 5-14 days in the fridge to settle out the chill haze.
Patience pays off!
There’s a grassy ’edge’ to the newly bottled ones.
I always pop one open after 5 days at room temp to check if it’s going to be OK and celebrate the ‘nouveau’. Then condition them for at least 2 weeks at room temp and another 5-14 days in the fridge to settle out the chill haze.
Patience pays off!
I don’t remember putting dry hops in. So I’ll be ok.
mad for the1st batch, I bottled them on 5-9, so it’s been almost a month and still this weird bitter taste. Really annoying. I think it has to do with temp of ferment
mad for the1st batch, I bottled them on 5-9, so it’s been almost a month and still this weird bitter taste. Really annoying. I think it has to do with temp of ferment
AJinJacksonville
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I did the swamp cooler to ferment the first few batches I made. Get yourself set up with some type of temperature control and you'll notice how much more control/less worry you have over the fermentation side of things. If you're doing strictly one gallon brews, a small used dorm fridge hooked up to a temp controller would work out nicely.
AJinJacksonville
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Hahaha. I hear you! I have a large enough house and still not enough room for brewing stuff!
I think it all depends on the wife and what they feel is ok. Hahaha! My wife is a good woman, I used to have an entire room dedicated to me tying flies (I’m into fly fishing). But we had to move and dump the nice house. Some time soon we will get back to it and I’ll be making better beer. Until then, these one gallons are ok.
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