First batch

[rollinred]

I finally got to the point of taking a finishing gravity reading on my first batch. OG was a 1.035 and FG 1.010. This was from a coopers real ale can. I dont know what the gravity should have been to start, but I did add a few cups of corn sugar to the boil.

Now when I got the hydrometer sample and read it, I dumped it into a glass and smelled first, And I definatly have a little bit of a vinegar or even a cydery smell to the brew. The taste is quite bland though. I know that a little aging in the bottle could cure the bland taste but being a first brew I dont really know what to expect.

My real question is how strong would the infected type beer smell like vinegar? This is not strong enough to make you cringe but I definatly smell it. Doesnt smell like beer a whole lot. But again like I said it really almost smells like cider more than vinegar.

Anyway I guess I will let it sit in the fermenter for a while longer and then take another hydro reading to see if the gravity changes. By that time if there really is an infection I think it will be a lot more pronounced.

 

[Professor Frink]

If it doesn't taste bad, then it's probably not infected. Beers can have all kinds of different smells, you may just be smelling the yeast, depending on which type you used. As far as it being bland, the beer out of secondary often tastes watery and bland before it's carbed .

 

[GloHoppa]

How long have you allowed fermentation to occur?

 

[malkore]

Young beer smell isn't always an indication.

Hell, I about knocked myself out tonight inhaling a bunch of CO2 when I went to sniff my blonde ale...and CO2 makes an acid that has an acrid kind of odor.

I'm not a real big fan of Cooper's either, and that corn sugar addition will thin out the body and mouthfeel of your beer. A couple cups shouldn't be a problem for cidery flavors...usually you need to go over a pound of raw sugar to get that off taste.

I think its just too young to be evaluated objectively.

 

[rollinred]

For the record, I wasnt trying to be the new guy that worried about his first brew excessively. I am almost positive it will turn out good (well, at least drinkable); however, I was just double checking to see if I was getting really bad signs or if this could be normal.

I do highly suspect that fermentation is finished though. It has been exactly 5 days to almost the minute since the yeast was pitched.

But I think it will sit for 2 or 3 more days yet to let it settle out a bit and then it is going in bottles. Of course I will check the hydro reading again to see if there is any big change first, if not, on comes the priming.

 

[WhyTee]

Hey there,
I had a similar experience with my first beer. Can of extract and 2 lbs of corn sugar. It came out almost exactly as you described it. Tasted from sample and first thing I thought of was that the beer tasted like wine or vinegar, cidery and it finished with a flavor not entirely unlike that of beer. To be totally honest, I've had the beer in bottles since October and while it's certainly a lot better than the original sample it's still not exactly great. I'm not the best person to give advice on the subject, but I would suggest buying a kit that doesn't use corn sugar for anything but priming.