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Grinder12000

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
2,996
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50
Location
Columbus WI
I started brewing July 5th.

My first brew was VERY messy and I burned the crap out of the wort but I held high hope - NO WORRIES.

I have brewed a new beer every two weeks and have been waiting patiently.

The first brew tasted REAL bad and burnt and the #2 brew seemed to lack appeal but I continued to brew every two weeks and with each brew I had increased knowledge and technique.

LAST week I tried Brew #2 again (1 bottle a week) and it was flat and lifeless.

BUT - I brewed another batch.

Last night a friend came over to have some beer and just for the heck of it I poured #2 (I have dumped #1 completely - there really was no hope) and . . . . . . there was a beautiful head and . . . . it tasted GREAT.

My friend said "you brewed this one - it's GOOD".

After over 30 hours of brewing and bottling and cleaning - for the 1st time I have something that is pretty darn good!!

It WILL happen. It took 27 days of bottle carbing but I feel I can now brew DRINKABLE beer!!

Just be patient.

2 weeks in a primary
1 week in a secondary
4 weeks in the bottle.
 
I've been brewing for a while, but I'm still learning patience.

Brewing more is a great way to curb the desire to try some of my most recent batch and honestly, drinking green beer really isn't worth the worry it causes. When drinking green beer, I've tasted everything from over bittered beer, soured beer, tart beer, corn tasting beer, vegetable tasting beer... Bottle/keg that sucker, and brew more while you wait for your beer to ripen.

My methods are rather simple:

2-4 week primary (no secondary)
2-3 weeks in the bottle
1 week in the fridge
 
Thanks for the hope Grinder! I also burnt my first brew and let it sit for months in bottles, but it was never drinkable.

My second beer was any better, I tried a Kolsch and it fermented at 78-82 degrees. (I didn't know that it should ferment much cooler than that). So it was just as bad as my first.

I have since gotten rid of them both. On the bright side I am going to bottle my 3rd brew on Tuesday after 3 weeks in primary and secondary. I am holding on to some hope that this one will be the one that makes this hobby worthwhile!:)
 
I don't know how my first batch will come out. It's been 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and will sit 3 in bottles before I touch it. It's good to know the taste changes dramaically from this board--the must tasted ugly, but who knows on the first batch.

I've since brewed 2 more batches. On the second I tried using a yeast starter and used priming sugar instead of DME-- big mistake I now know. I am trying to decide now if I should put that #2 batch on the yeast cake of the #3. #2 is a American Real Ale and the #3 is a Stout Ale. The stout fermented well, the #2 Real Ale with the priming sugar starter didn't. The hydrometer reading on the stout is good- 1.025, but the real ale (from the priming sugar starter) is lagging even after 3 weeks in secondary- 1.012 or so. The stout was done with a more proper starter and it fermented quickly it seems. By the time I added the yeast it seemed well activitated from the Krausen (about 2 hours of bubbling before pitch- a 4 hour starter). So, should I put the #2 on the #3 yeast cake?
 
If anything, I'd just pitch a pack of dry yeast on it but I wouldn't transfer it over onto another yeast cake. You just risk oxidizing the beer if you do that. You said it's at 1.012 right now. This seems pretty good to me. Have you tried rousing the yeast to see if it helps get it any lower? What was the OG of #2?
 
Not sure who you are talking to eddie - I know I do the wet towek trick and normally ferment at 67ish - cooler probably in the winter.

I #2 batch is ACTUALLY a Porter but I THINK I over diluted it - still - as my wife who knows nothing about beer says "It tastes like beer'

VICTORY!!
 
Grinder, What is the room temp where you ferment? You said that the wet-t brings you down to 67, that is awesome.

Of course, I live in Texas and our temp is ridiculous in the summer. I used a tub full of water with a couple of frozen water bottles and I was able to maintain about 72-74 on my 3rd beer with our AC working overtime just to keep the house at 76.

Congrats on the porter, that is very exciting!:mug:
 
Not sure who you are talking to eddie - I know I do the wet towek trick and normally ferment at 67ish - cooler probably in the winter.

I #2 batch is ACTUALLY a Porter but I THINK I over diluted it - still - as my wife who knows nothing about beer says "It tastes like beer'

VICTORY!!

Sorry, I was directing that at Spitzbube.
 
I still have yet to try my first beer. I'm 4 batches in now so I'm getting a little anxious. It's been bottled for 1 week now. I wanted to try one but I want my first experience with my own beer to be a good one, not a green one.
 
I usually pop a bottle at the one, two and three week mark to check their progress and satiate my curiosity. If you can hold out for the whole three weeks, my hats off to you but there certainly isn't anything wrong with a little "sampling."
 
you have discovered the trick to good patience.....
Keep yourself occupied. Brew something every week or every other week. That way...if you screw something up (I too Dumped my first batch) you've got something in the works to keep you from getting discouraged.
 
I'm in Wisconsin. Normal temp in the basement is about 72 this time of year so I can drop it about 5 degrees.

It's not a lot but . . . .


I pop a bottle once a week just to see how things are progressing.
 
thanks for reply eddie. the OG on the #2 real ale was 1.010. it doesn't appear to have moved much, but i did see bubbling in the air lock 12 hours after i added the screwed up yeast starter with the corn sugar. Also, the yeast i originally used was a liquid yeast (white Labs English Ale). I shook it up bit last week to help it along, and I just took another reading-- more like 1.020 now with no foam on the top or edges of the carboy. It's very flat. The taste isn't on target with the real ale (#2) and recognizably beer like the stout (#3) is with a FG of 1.033 or so and tasting good even at this stage.

Humm. I think I will try your idea of just pitching more yeast unless someone comments that real ales work this way.

Thanks eddie and board.
Craig
 
wait a moment, did you say your original gravity was 1.010 and the gravity is now 1.020. Gravity should decrease as the yeast replace heavy sugars with light alcohol. recheck your gravity, things might be going better than you think due to an accidental mistaked hydro reading.
 
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