First batch tastes strange

[alb]

My first batch tastes strange. It has a yeasty taste to it. Could it be the dry yeast.

 

[davcar74]

What kind of dry yeast did you use?

 

[Snicks]

How long has it been in bottles? Is it still very cloudy?

If its bottled wait at least a couple weeks, then at least a few days in the fridge and try again.

 

[drhookmec]

Could also be the water you used.

I remember my first batch tasted sour because of highly chlorinated water.

 

[alb]

Nottingham dry yeast. It has been in the bottles for at least 3 weeks and yes it is still cloudy.

 

[birvine]

Cloudy could mean suspended yeast.

How long was primary?

B

 

[alb]

This was my first batch and I only did a single fermentation. It was in the fermenter for 2 Weeks. It tasted like my wife's dinner rolls that weren't fit to eat. She blamed bad yeast. Could it be that I messed something else up.

 

[badbrew]

Did you:

-have minimal exposure to the atmosphere?
-drain the fermenter into a bucket while leaving the trub behind and no bottom sucking?
-check og and fg?
-taste sugar sweetness in the final product?

 

[alb]

I could have pulled some of the trub off the bottom.

 

[Yooper]

I could have pulled some of the trub off the bottom.

Usually nottingham forms a tightly compacted yeast cake, and is very neutral flavored anyway.

I wonder if either the fermentation temperature got too warm (above 70 degrees for Nottingham), or if for some reason the yeast was otherwise stressed. Nottingham is one of the most neutral "non-yeasty" strains there is, in normal conditions. It does like to be kept cool, though- low 60s is best but it's ok up to about 68-70 degrees. Above 70 degrees, it gets not-so-pleasant tasting and above 72 it can get pretty funky and foul.

 

[birvine]

Usually when beer is just bottled it is not very tasty. With time, though, it improves quite a lot. So... let it condition in a warm room for a few weeks, then put one in the fridge for a few days for the co2 to dissolve into solution and if it is not clear at this point, the cold might clear it.

See what it's like and if it's better keep doing it one-by-one. I think you'll be pleased. A recent Irish Red that I made was as you describe but with time has become an excellent brew.

B

 

[H-ost]

Its your first brew, is it the first Home Brew you have ever tasted? Maybe you are unfamiliar with bottle conditioned beers.

 

[davcar74]

I Did an Irish Red with Nottingham and experienced a similar tatse to what you are describing. I fermented that at about 71...too high. I also fermented a pale ale with Nottingham at 72 and it had a funky peppery taste to it at first, but I wouldn't describe it as yeasty...the off flavor in my pale ale dissipated after about 6 weeks in the bottle and the off flavor in my red mostly dissipated in about 8 weeks after bottling, but was always there a little bit (although it might have only been apparent to me at that point) and, at that level, was actually kind of pleasant. Mine were both in primary for 3-4 weeks, so I had a headstart on conditioning as compared to you. Put it away for four weeks or so, then try again. As u will read on here, time fixes a lot. It is interesting as a new brewer to taste your beers here and there through the aging process as others on here will suggest....you do learn a lot about flavors, etc. Also, I have learned to pay a lot closer attention to to my fermentation temps. My basement is 68 throughout the year, but, off the groud on a shelf, my first few fermentations were above 70 in the bucket. I have since moved my fermentation buckets to the basement floor (this works in my climate might not in yours) which keeps them between 64 and 68 depending on time of year, ground temp, etc. Good luck.