First batch- really bad

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Toothman

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I just tasted a mild ale that's been in the fermenter for three weeks. Was really bitter. I know it's supposed to get much better after bottling and aging but I was expecting a better taste than that at this point. Is this common to be that bitter? My kit supplier assured me that this would be a mild low bitter beer when I ordered it. Will crushing the specialty grains too fine cause bitterness? I didn't squeeze the bag when I was done steeping. I see no signs of infection. I've held a very steady ferm. temperature of 65-66 degrees. Kept fermenter in the dark. Hopefully it will melow out with aging. Here are my ingredients. thank you
Specialty Grain- .125 lbs. Simpsons Chocolate
.25 lbs. Crisp Amber Malt
.25 lbs.Crisp Brown Malt
Fermentables- 3.15 lbs. Amber Malt Syrup
1 lbs Amber Dry Malt Extract
Hops and Flavoring- 1 oz. Kent Goldings
Yeast- Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale
 
Again, even though you say you "know" it's going to "supposed to get much better after bottling and aging" you still started and is my beer ruined thread? :D

Just relax, you beer still has got a loooooooooooonnnnnngggggggg journey to go on before it will be drinkable.

The thing to remember though is that if you are smelling or tasting this during fermentation not to worry. During fermentation all manner of stinky stuff is given off (ask lager brewers about rotten egg/sulphur smells, or Apfelwein makers about "rhino farts,") like we often say, fermentation is often ugly AND stinky and PERFECTLY NORMAL.

It's really only down the line, AFTER the beer has been fermented (and often after it has bottle conditioned even,) that you concern yourself with any flavor issues if they are still there.

I think too many new brewers focus to much on this stuff too early in the beer's journey. And they panic unnecessarily.

A lot of the stuff you smell/taste initially more than likely ends up disappearing either during a long primary/primary & secondary combo, Diacetyl rests and even during bottle conditioning.

If I find a flavor/smell, I usually wait til it's been in the bottle 6 weeks before I try to "diagnose" what went wrong, that way I am sure the beer has passed any window of greenness.

Fementation is often ugly, smelly and crappy tasting in the beginning and perfectly normal. The various conditioning phases, be it long primary, secondarying, D-rests, bottle conditioning, AND LAGERING, are all part of the process where the yeast, and co2 correct a lot of the normal production of the byproducts of fermentation.

Lagering is a prime example of this. Lager yeast are prone to the production of a lot of byproducts, the most familiar one is sulphur compounds (rhino farts) but in the dark cold of the lagering process, which is at the minimum of a month (I think many homebrewers don't lager long enough) the yeast slowly consumes all those compounds which results in extremely clean tasting beers if done skillfully.

Ales have their own version of this, but it's all the same.

If you are sampling your beer before you have passed a 'window of greeness" which my experience is about 3-6 weeks in the bottle, then you are more than likely just experiencing an "off flavor" due to the presence of those byproducts (that's what we mean when we say the beer is "green" it's still young and unconditioned.) but once the process is done, over 90% of the time the flavors/smells are gone.

Of the remaining 10%, half of those may still be salvageable through the long time storage that I mention in the Never dump your beer!!! Patience IS a virtue!!! Time heals all things, even beer:

And the remaining 50% of the last 10% are where these tables and lists come into play. To understand what you did wrong, so you can avoid it in the future.

Long story short....I betcha that smell/flavor will be long gone when the beer is carbed and conditioned.

In other words, relax, your beer will be just fine, like 99.95% of any buddy else's who panicked tasting their beer in the fermenter.

:mug:
 
Revvy, it's posts like yours that got me brave enough to get into this whole hobby (lifestyle) to start with.

I just bought a second primary today so that I'm not tempted to screw with my first batch that I just brewed Saturday. :cross:
 
what beer are you used to drinking? my dad only drinks bud light, so all of my homebrew is too heavy, too thick, and too bitter for him.
 
I'll echo Revvy here and say give it three weeks in the bottle (at least) then come back here if it still tastes bad. I think we'll be more able to diagnose your problem then.
 
Jbyer, I sent you a PM of my first adventures in homebrewing. They weren't pretty, mainly because I spent too much time second guessing myself. Two batches went by and things started clicking...as they will for you, I am sure.

Hang in there, brew some, learn some and enjoy making something really good that your buddies are going to love. As Charlie Papazian, the guy who wrote the first real handbook of homebrewing famously said, "Don't worry...have a homebrew!"
 
I think it's done fermenting. The kit instructions called for 2 weeks and it's been 3. Specific gravity is stable. I'm used to drinking light beer, that's why I ordered this kit. The only reason I asked is because I've read how some guys here sampled their beer just before bottling and said the taste was pretty good already. I'll be bottling in two days so I'll let you guys know how it tastes in 3-4 weeks. thanks for the replies
 
Just curious, what was the style of the beer supposed to be? It should basically be the name of the kit.

Only thing I know is that it definitely isn't going to be much like a light beer.
 
I just tasted a mild ale that's been in the fermenter for three weeks. Was really bitter. I know it's supposed to get much better after bottling and aging but I was expecting a better taste than that at this point. Is this common to be that bitter? My kit supplier assured me that this would be a mild low bitter beer when I ordered it. Will crushing the specialty grains too fine cause bitterness? I didn't squeeze the bag when I was done steeping. I see no signs of infection. I've held a very steady ferm. temperature of 65-66 degrees. Kept fermenter in the dark. Hopefully it will melow out with aging. Here are my ingredients. thank you
Specialty Grain- .125 lbs. Simpsons Chocolate
.25 lbs. Crisp Amber Malt
.25 lbs.Crisp Brown Malt
Fermentables- 3.15 lbs. Amber Malt Syrup
1 lbs Amber Dry Malt Extract
Hops and Flavoring- 1 oz. Kent Goldings
Yeast- Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Ale

Per your recipie this should be a very mild beer. I would ask at what temp did you steep your grains as tannis could be an additional source of bitterness.

Bottle and let it age a couple weeks and try again, I'm sure it will be better.
 
Just curious, what was the style of the beer supposed to be? It should basically be the name of the kit.

Only thing I know is that it definitely isn't going to be much like a light beer.

It's a mild ale kit by Northern Brewer. Alcohol content 3.1%.Here's how they describe it - Mild ales are very light-bodied with low bitterness but dark in color and full of malty flavor, striking a nice balance between quaffability and character. A special blend of malts imparts a nutty dryness with roasty undertones and a rich deep-ruby color, with subtle fruitiness from the yeast. A great session beer (which means you can have a few pints instead of one) that tastes best at cellar temperature.
 
Wow, I don't think I've ever had one of those. I didn't even know that was a style. Anyway, here's something for you to do while you wait. Go out to the stores and see if you can find any of the following:

Moorhouse Black Cat, Gale’s Festival Mild, Theakston Traditional Mild, Highgate Mild, Sainsbury Mild, Brain’s Dark, Banks's Mild, Coach House Gunpowder Strong Mild, Woodforde’s Mardler’s Mild, Greene King XX Mild, Motor City Brewing Ghettoblaster

Those are all commercial examples listed by BJCP of that style. See how those taste to you.

EDIT: If anyone knows of a commercial example that would be similar to his recipe, please chime in!! Looks like Mild Ales can run the gamut.
 
Moorhouse Black Cat, Gale’s Festival Mild, Theakston Traditional Mild, Highgate Mild, Sainsbury Mild, Brain’s Dark, Banks's Mild, Coach House Gunpowder Strong Mild, Woodforde’s Mardler’s Mild, Greene King XX Mild, Motor City Brewing Ghettoblaster

Never heard of any of these. But I wouldn't touch "Ghettoblaster" with a 10 foot wine thief
 
Per your recipie this should be a very mild beer. I would ask at what temp did you steep your grains as tannis could be an additional source of bitterness.

Bottle and let it age a couple weeks and try again, I'm sure it will be better.

I steeped ( following kit instructions) starting at 150F with temperature rising to about 168 over a period of 20 min. I'm wondering if I crushed the grains too fine and released tannis. Some of the crushed grain was like a powder and was fine enough to come through the mesh bag before dunking.
 
I'm used to drinking light beer, that's why I ordered this kit.
I would guess that your hops give about 21 or so IBUs. International bitterness units. The real number depends on the %A.A. of that hop. I guessed your Kent Golding hop was 5AA and boiled for 60 minutes. Light beer has a lot less! So it might be bitter to your as-yet-untrained palate.
I agree with those that say wait until it is finished before judging it; and, I also agree you should try commercial examples of a Mild.

When it is all finished, you just might not like that beer style! That is fine. I find Mild beers don't have enough hops for me. :)

You did not ask this-- but for your next recipe I would first try a bunch of light/blonde/kolsch beer made by craft brewers; and, then decide which is your fav and then buy that beer style for your next homebrew to make. Whenever I venture into a new style I like to buy commercial brews and figure out what I like best in each one and blend it into my own. My two cents.

Cheers!
Wendy
edit:
Alternatively, you can look in the recipe section and read the comments. Here is a nice blonde recipe that i like: BM's Centennial Blonde. He gives the partial/extract rundown in this post.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/#post426430
 
Never heard of any of these. But I wouldn't touch "Ghettoblaster" with a 10 foot wine thief

Why you gotta be hatin' on ghettoblasters? They cool, yo! Check it!

20051213-ghettoblaster1.jpg


LL Cool J approves of Ghettoblasters.

:off: Sorry, couldn't resist :fro:
 
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