Finishing/Aging Farmhouse Ale

[BlueberryHill]

I did a basic Extract Farmhouse Ale and added some local wildflower honey at flameout. Fermentation went well and a couple days after it was done, I threw the pail into my fridge and cld crashed it for 2-3 days. Then I racked it into a keg and set it at 12lbs. It's been in there for about 2 weeks. Carbonation is good now and the beer color & aroma is excellent. But the taste is not ideal. I guess it's a little "green". I don't want to say that I taste yeast so much as it just has a little bit of a bitter twang, not as smooth & crisp as I had hoped. (sorry I suck at the finer wording of beer tasting!) It's mostly an aftertaste thing, up front taste is good. All fermentation was right at 68 degrees and the cold crash was in a fridge around 38-40 ish.

I feel that aging it a bit might help. Not sure of the best way to do this? Should aging be done cold or at a warmer temp? Should I bottle it and stick the bottles in my basement for a few weeks? Should I just leave it in the keg (refrigerated or not?) for a few weeks?

I also have a buon vino super jet wine filter press. Never used it. Part of a bulk deal I got on craigslist. Not sure if it's too late to employ this or if it is even something that is beneficial for beer. Looks neat though.

So what would you do??

 

[BlueberryHill]

Shameless bump in hope of culturing some advice

 

[thehaze]

Bitter twang sounds like a bitterness problem, if any. It will mellow out with time. I would say leave it in the keg and age it a few more weeks.

I usually bottle, so 10 days for the carbonation to develop and then at least 2-4 weeks for the beer to come on its own.

A Farmhouse ale should have minimal IBUs. I usually stay under 20 IBUs for many beers, where I want the yeast to shine.

 

[azmark]

And it will definitely "age" faster at room temp.

 

[radwizard]

How long was your primary? What yeast? OG-FG? How did you know it was done?

 

[griffi]

Do a search for common off flavors in beer. Like a previous poster said, we need more info. But, what you are describing makes me think it could be acetaldehyde (bitter or green apple flavor). A little extra time in contact with active yeast frequently fixes the problem. Sometimes it will just smooth out in the keg with some age...

 

[BlueberryHill]

It was Wyeast 3724. I can't remember the OG anf FG, but they were right in line with the kits recommendations. Took 5-6 days? Good strong fermentation and there was nothing at all to indicate any contamination or anything. Tasting it again, I think it may just need to be aged. I really only have experience with IPA making, so therefore no aging experience, haha.

So from what I have read so far, I think I will just pull the keg out of the fridge and put it back into the ferm chamber at 68 degrees and leave it there for 2 weeks. Then do a test pour and if it's better at that point I will bottle it. Unless someone has a better suggestion. Thanks for all of your replies.

 

[mj1angier]

Yeah, I would get it son time at 70 or below.
I am finding that the more things going on in a brew, the better it does with some time.
I can make a SMASH and be drinking in 2 weeks. But if I give the ones with more ingredients more time, that taste smoother

 

[griffi]

This has been my experience with saison yeast - they may seem to be done but may need some time to clean up fermentation byproducts - I think resting it at 68 for a week or so is a good idea. I am not an expert by any means but I had a farmhouse type saison that was bad bitter apple shortly after bottling. A month later it was a winner. It just needed time for the yeast to clean it up.

 

[BlueberryHill]

Awesome, thank you. I have it back in the 68 degree ferm chamber now. Lets see if I can just leave it there for a couple weeks without messing with it (sampling until depleted )