First beer: no foam and syrupy

[jascarver]

So I made my first batch here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=6859745#post6859745

It's an oatmeal stout.

I had a few problems during the making (thread in the link) but now I have a few problems with the beer itself.

First it has no foam at all, which is weird. What could be the cause?

It has a very syrupy texture and taste a little bit like it. It's very concentrated and hard to drink. What could be the cause?

Carbonation is weak after 10 daysbut I'll see later if it is ok.

Next beer is going to be pale, refreshing and easy to brew.

Thank you

 

[Frilock]

At what temperature are you carbing and how long are you leaving it in the fridge?

 

[Puddlethumper]

The link didn't give all the information that might be good to know. So here's a few questions that may help people fill in the blanks for you:

1. What yeast strain did you use and did you pitch it dry? Rehydrated? Starter?
2. What temperature was the wort when you pitched the yeast?
3. How long did you let the beer ferment and at what temperature?
4. Did you use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of the wort at the end of the boil and then again at bottling time? If so, what were your readings at those points?
5. Did you add priming sugar at bottling time? If so, what kind of sugar and how much?
6. And, as above, how long did you let the bottled beer carbonate and at what temperature?

If you'll take a minute to answer each of these questions I think someone here can probably help you sniff out the answers.

Cheers!

 

[jascarver]

At what temperature are you carbing and how long are you leaving it in the fridge?

I am carbonating at room temperature in the bottle. I put it in the fridge 2 hours before I want to drink it

 

[jascarver]

The link didn't give all the information that might be good to know. So here's a few questions that may help people fill in the blanks for you:

1. What yeast strain did you use and did you pitch it dry? Rehydrated? Starter?
2. What temperature was the wort when you pitched the yeast?
3. How long did you let the beer ferment and at what temperature?
4. Did you use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of the wort at the end of the boil and then again at bottling time? If so, what were your readings at those points?
5. Did you add priming sugar at bottling time? If so, what kind of sugar and how much?
6. And, as above, how long did you let the bottled beer carbonate and at what temperature?

If you'll take a minute to answer each of these questions I think someone here can probably help you sniff out the answers.

Cheers!

1. I used 1 pack of dry yeast. I rehydrated it for 30min in room temp boiled water and a hint of wort. It was put in the fermenter when it was between 25-30 deg C before closing it and storing it for fermentation. (Didn't wait to reach room temp a little lower)

2. About 25-30 deg C. Didn't wait for room temperature

3. Fermented 4 week in a primary. Temperature fluctuated from 16.5 deg C to 19.5 deg C. Average was 18 deg C and most of the time was spent at 18 deg C.

4. I took at 1.08 or 1.075 reading at the end of the boil (target specific gravity). I didn't bother measuring the gravity at the end of the fermentation because I broke my hydrometer and I figured that after 4 week it would be ok

5. I added dextrose at bottling in a bottling bucket. I followed the graph here and aimed for a well carbonated stout. http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

6. 10 days at room temp (about 18-19 deg C) before I first tasted it. Carbonatation was somewhat weak but present.

thanks

 

[invictusbrew]

A lot of your problems come from brew day, and there were some good comments from others made in the other thread you mentioned about how to fix that... however, it seems that you didn't pay much attention to those, instead choosing to pretty much bull through this and try and force it to work. I would caution that you are jumping in at a level that doesn't make much sense for a beginner. Keep it simple, get the basics down, and then work on making it bigger and better. The path you're currently traveling on has been done and usually ends up in people who get frustrated with the hobby and stop brewing. Don't make it complicated up front, you've got plenty of time for all of that. Instead, buy a kit (preferably extract for the first one or two - most of these make great beer these days) and follow the instructions to the letter.

A house built on a foundation of sand can not stand the test of time. So too you must build a strong foundation in the basics of brewing before attempting to complicate matters.

 

[beerbaker]

At 30c you probably killed a lot of yeast right away. So it likely didn't ferment very well. That would explain why it is syrupy and not carb'ing. (Though 10 days isn't long enough to fully carb a big beer) Also 2 hours in the fridge isn't enough, it should be at least 2 days. (I often start drinking them after 1, but I like to leave them for a week if I can control myself). Hydrometer readings a couple of days apart before bottling are so important.. and hydrometers cost like $6.. buy 2.

 

[Yooper]

At 30c you probably killed a lot of yeast right away. So it likely didn't ferment very well. That would explain why it is syrupy and not carb'ing. (Though 10 days isn't long enough to fully carb a big beer) Also 2 hours in the fridge isn't enough, it should be at least 2 days. (I often start drinking them after 1, but I like to leave them for a week if I can control myself). Hydrometer readings a couple of days apart before bottling are so important.. and hydrometers cost like $6.. buy 2.

30 C wouldn't kill any yeast cells- more like 50C would be required to kill yeast (or higher). Yeast LOVE warm temperatures and I would expect a violently active fermentation at 30C (but not great tasting beer).

10 days is not long enough for the beer to carb up, so even a beer with lots of mistakes made during the brew process would be hard to judge right now.

 

[ol-hazza]

The carbonation is purely due to it not having had enough time in the bottle. Basically we all do that with early batches, no worries.

The syrupyness I would say comes from missing you beta-amylase rest. At 70° the mash has favoured alpha amylase production and the creation of unfermentable sugars over beta amylase and fermentable sugars. These unfermented sugars can cause syrupyness.

A lot of home brewers do a single infusion mash at 67° which works within the range of both enzymes, however as you can do a multi step I would recommend a beta rest at 64° and alpha at 71° and mash out at 77°. Hopefully you took good notes of your last infusion amounts and can adjust accordingly.

Also the lower temp mashes are generally considered unnecessary these days depending on the quality and type of malt. I have not brewed with oatmeal so wont advise you for or against these.

 

[MuddyCreek]

Yeast LOVE warm temperatures and I would expect a violently active fermentation at 30C (but not great tasting beer).

Like a really really hot girl with mascara running all down her face...

 

[slym2none]

Like a really really hot girl with mascara running all down her face...

...she would be violently active, but not taste great?

 

[Puddlethumper]

To me the description "syrupy" says "didn't ferment out the sugars". So first suspect is the yeast. I'd look at either the viability or quantity of yeast. We don't know how old the yeast was or if you pitched enough for the OG you were working with. Lets assume these are not the issue. You pitched it too warm but that would have enhanced yeast activity. But then you mention the temperature dropping to 16.5C (62F) which is way too cool for most ale yeasts (aside perhaps from Nottingham). If the temperature dropped that low and then averaged 18C (64.4F) I would think the yeast never really took off and did their job. Most ale yeasts won't mind starting at 17-18c but need to be held at the 19-20C range during fermentation.

I suspect that the beer that came out of your fermenter was only very slightly fermented wort. But the absence of an FG reading leaves a big hole in trying to pin it down to this.

If you try to bottle unfermented (or terrifically under-fermented) beer you are simply putting very sweet liquid into those bottles. What little yeast is present may be woefully inadequate to carbonate that syrup. Worse yet, if there was enough yeast pitched but the actual fermentation only starts up after you've left them in the bottle for several weeks you may have some bottle grenades on your hands. So use caution handling them the older they get.

You still following this discussion Yooper? Your thoughts?