First Brew in 20 Years Drinkable That's All

[nlavon]

I had posted here earlier about taking up brewing again after a 20-year hiatus. I brewed an ale from an early edition of the Charlie Papazian Homebrew book. The batch was started in mid-July and and then sat in the fermenter for about three weeks while I was out of town. I bottled when I got back and let condition for three weeks.

I should have waited until the fall as the ale conditioned okay but because I could not control the temperature during fermentation (it ended up being fairly warm in the basement bathroom where I put the fermenter)I think there are lots of off-flavors. I can't taste the hops although there was a decent head and at least, it's drinkable, not awful.

I'll try again in the fall--maybe the same recipe to see how it turns out, or something else. I'll also look into building one of those styrofoam cooling containers to keep a more constant cooler temperature. I really think that is what happened here.

Anyway, cooler weather is not that far away, and by then, I should have gone through the bottles of what I have. One always learns from one's experiments!

 

[thed163]

I had posted here earlier about taking up brewing again after a 20-year hiatus. I brewed an ale from an early edition of the Charlie Papazian Homebrew book. The batch was started in mid-July and and then sat in the fermenter for about three weeks while I was out of town. I bottled when I got back and let condition for three weeks.

I should have waited until the fall as the ale conditioned okay but because I could not control the temperature during fermentation (it ended up being fairly warm in the basement bathroom where I put the fermenter)I think there are lots of off-flavors. I can't taste the hops although there was a decent head and at least, it's drinkable, not awful.

I'll try again in the fall--maybe the same recipe to see how it turns out, or something else. I'll also look into building one of those styrofoam cooling containers to keep a more constant cooler temperature. I really think that is what happened here.

Anyway, cooler weather is not that far away, and by then, I should have gone through the bottles of what I have. One always learns from one's experiments!

Going through the same with my basement and temperatures... I feel your pain.

Not sure how my batch turned out, it's in bottles now sitting in the basement. HOpefully it turns out well.

 

[kh54s10]

Post the recipe. It may be outdated.

Look into different methods of fermentation temperature control. There is no reason you should not be able to brew year round, even on a meager budget....

"swamp cooler" for one. Using ice bottles you should be able to achieve good temperatures even in a heat wave.....

 

[Mismost]

Bottled a brown ale a few months back...it was a gagger at 3 weeks in the bottle! Boxed it up and hide it.

Brother was coming to town, and I knew he would want to try my beer. Thought I would gag him out as a joke, so i put a 6 pack in the fridge for about a week. Gave him one and he loved it! I tried one, it was really good...I was shocked by the difference in taste. Three months in the bottle, totally different beer.

Stash it and try it again in a few months.