Flat beer...
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An infection could take a lot longer than days. They can take weeks, months, or in some cases years to develop. You may never know it's there. If you follow proper cleaning and sanitation, it likely will not be an issue. The reason people say that it's a risk is because more things to clean and sanitize means more things potentially not clean and sanitized enough. Like most things in life, the more variables involved, the more likely something is to fail.
The bigger issue is going to be oxidation, especially if you just funnelled from jars into a carboy, which will introduce a veritable asston of unwanted oxygen into your fermented beer. With talk of using k-meta for infection and ascorbic acid for oxidation, it sounds like you're reading about brewing (or perhaps it's more winemaking where those are used a lot more), but taking too much too fast and not seeing where things fit. That "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" kind of scenario. With proper care and proper procedure, you would never need to use either of those things in a finished beer, and if you were taking your time and not rushing to know everything right away, you'd have known as much. (I use k-meta all the time for treatment of my brewing water, but that's for removal of chloramine and has zilch to do with preventing infection). I don't know if ascorbic acid would help you here or not. My guess is that it would require so much that you'd be bound to have major off-flavors from it.
Now, it does take a lot more oxygen than you'd think to actually stale a batch and cause the liquid cardboard sort of oxidative flavor, so there's no guarantees. But once fermentation is done, essentially no oxygen is best and the more oxygen that reaches your beer the worse. Unless you've got a super fancy set up I couldn't even dream of, avoiding all contact with oxygen will be impossible, but you don't want to do anything that deliberately adds it (like, say, dumping fermented beer from a jar through a funnel into a carboy).
But as mentioned already, read Palmer's "How To Brew" before you think of starting another batch. I think you'll find things go much smoother if you wait to "be experimental" until you've got your fundamentals under control (which you don't at this point). Keep things simple at first, go by the book (pun intended) and your beer will thank you for it.
The bigger issue is going to be oxidation, especially if you just funnelled from jars into a carboy, which will introduce a veritable asston of unwanted oxygen into your fermented beer. With talk of using k-meta for infection and ascorbic acid for oxidation, it sounds like you're reading about brewing (or perhaps it's more winemaking where those are used a lot more), but taking too much too fast and not seeing where things fit. That "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" kind of scenario. With proper care and proper procedure, you would never need to use either of those things in a finished beer, and if you were taking your time and not rushing to know everything right away, you'd have known as much. (I use k-meta all the time for treatment of my brewing water, but that's for removal of chloramine and has zilch to do with preventing infection). I don't know if ascorbic acid would help you here or not. My guess is that it would require so much that you'd be bound to have major off-flavors from it.
Now, it does take a lot more oxygen than you'd think to actually stale a batch and cause the liquid cardboard sort of oxidative flavor, so there's no guarantees. But once fermentation is done, essentially no oxygen is best and the more oxygen that reaches your beer the worse. Unless you've got a super fancy set up I couldn't even dream of, avoiding all contact with oxygen will be impossible, but you don't want to do anything that deliberately adds it (like, say, dumping fermented beer from a jar through a funnel into a carboy).
But as mentioned already, read Palmer's "How To Brew" before you think of starting another batch. I think you'll find things go much smoother if you wait to "be experimental" until you've got your fundamentals under control (which you don't at this point). Keep things simple at first, go by the book (pun intended) and your beer will thank you for it.
COEBRA
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Well perhaps it will turn out just fine...... before I put it in the carboy the flavors were perfect..... as for whether or not it will be now, who knows. Who cares its still fun and I have plenty of good wine to drink if it doesn't.... Ill just give them some of that....
Just bottled all my Irish Stout
Luckily the taste changed very little! I primed the batch by boiling 65g of turbinado cane sugar in 2c water which I promptly added to the batch and then added a packet of Saflager s-23 to be sure the beer would ferment further(was told it was the best to use to prevent the addition of unwanted flavors). I stirred in all the yeast and sugar thoroughly, sanatized my 24 24oz longnecks and bottled my beer! Lets hope it turns out in several weeks!
Any advice at this point??
Luckily the taste changed very little! I primed the batch by boiling 65g of turbinado cane sugar in 2c water which I promptly added to the batch and then added a packet of Saflager s-23 to be sure the beer would ferment further(was told it was the best to use to prevent the addition of unwanted flavors). I stirred in all the yeast and sugar thoroughly, sanatized my 24 24oz longnecks and bottled my beer! Lets hope it turns out in several weeks!
Any advice at this point??
CanAusBrewer
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Sounds like best thing to do now it's store them in a dark cupboard and wait a couple weeks to see what you end up with.
Not as critical as when fermenting. If you can keep it 70is you're fine. In the 60s is ok but will take longer. If you go below the 60s, you may have problems getting carbonation in a reasonable amount of time, if at all.
3 weeks at 70F is the generally accepted rule for proper carbonation, followed by a few days in the fridge before consuming.
3 weeks at 70F is the generally accepted rule for proper carbonation, followed by a few days in the fridge before consuming.
There's nothing wrong with accessing a quick resource like this...... Perhaps you should dig your home brewing books out of your ass.... I'm sure you were where I am once. Everyone else has helped make screw ups fun and valuable lessons. It's my first batch ever and I'm not gonna take it too seriously yet.... Turned out pretty well thus far anyways considering a few mistakes and lack of patience haha thanks for the help guys!
Well that certainly oxidized the beer. In 2-3 weeks you might have a drinkable beer. If so drink it up pretty fast, this one is going to go "cardboard" taste quite quickly..
Don't have much hope for this one. Read up, then start a new brew.
Well let's hope the ascorbic acid did it's job.... I don't doubt it got oxidized but let's pray it'l be good for a bit
You're right tho.... I have a lot to learn haha I'll try another around Christmas when I come back from school
You're right tho.... I have a lot to learn haha I'll try another around Christmas when I come back from school
hunter_le five
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That's actually some very good advice you are ignoring.
Don't get me wrong, this site is great, but reading a book or two will help you learn a lot very fast, and help you avoid learning "the hard way" when you can just do it right the first time.
I'm all for experimentation, but there is a major difference between being "experimental" as you call it, and just keeping yourself in the dark about things that everybody else already knows.
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Quick thread hijack, but it seems semi-relevant:
Anyone have a line on where you get one of those "Y U NO RTFP" shirts? I must have one, even if I need to get it shipped from Brazil. Hah. Failing that, I suppose I could make one myself.
boydster
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Look, I'm glad you're having fun with this and all, but REALLY? Frankly, you've done some things over the course of this brew that you wouldn't have even considered if you had done a little reading in advance, and you've almost done some things that were foolishly dangerous even after being told by several people that it was a bad idea. Perhaps you should take the advice to read a book or two graciously, lest someone respond to your comment in kind by requesting that you remove your head from a very dark and smelly place. That would be a shame.
You'll learn a lot here. Searching.will help you find answers to most of your questions, some of which have also been addressed in this thread. If you can't find an answer, posting will almost always get you a fast response from lots of experienced brewers who are willing to take the time to help.
Maybe it's because you're new here, but saying what you said is generally a reason for a ban. I suggest you go away for a day or two, and think if this is a good community for you, as insulting people is not tolerated here. There are other forums where saying such things is fine- maybe you should go find them. You have been treated with respect, tolerance, and given one-to-one good advice that is priceless.
Or, find online books to read where you don't have to post comments that are not appropriate. Either way is ok. But comments like those above will NOT be tolerated in this forum. Ever.
COEBRA
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I thought we weren't being "smug"... Good luck bro, but I'll be keeping my 0.02 when it comes to this post... Just don't let an admin or moderator catch you talking like this or they will send you down the road...
Beer turned out quite well
not completely done but I cracked open my first cold one yesterday and was very good! Did have a very slight cardboard taste but the bold flavor is still present! turned out great for a first batch
Sprangs
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Glad it turned out for you! I've been following this thread, simply for the amusing puzzle, and I honestly didn't see it turning out for you. I'm not one to judge though, seeing as I've only been brewing for a few years now, but anyways, I'm glad it at least turned out as well as it did.
"I would rather die of passion than of boredom" -Vincent Van Gogh
"I would rather die of passion than of boredom" -Vincent Van Gogh
As mentioned earlier, oxidative off flavors take some time to develop. If you're already tasting some cardboard, it will only get worse from here on out. Best bet is to consume these all fairly quickly once they're fully carbonated, before it gets worse, and advise your friends to do the same.
Glad to see it at least ended up carbonating.
Glad to see it at least ended up carbonating.
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