Hello from Minnesota!

[MNBrewDad]

Life events have kept me from updating sooner but I wanted to let everybody know that my stout is finally drinkable!! It carbed up nicely but it took about six weeks in the bottle before the flavors finally melded nicely. You were spot on HopsMan! There is still a slightly off flavor to it but overall it's a very drinkable stout.

I ended up leaving the Copper Ale in the primary for a month before bottling it. I tried one last week after 3 weeks in the bottle @ 60 degrees and it was just barely carbed. I plan on swirling the settled yeast in each of the bottles and moving them to a warmer location for a week to see if that helps. I stopped the siphon before any of the trub transfered to the bottling bucket. Should I have let some pass through to make sure enough yeast got transfered or does it matter?

 

[HopsMan]

Glad to hear the stout is coming together, congrats! As far as the off flavor thats lingering, I've found my stouts and porters have that as well. I can't pinpoint it, but the only thing I can come up with is that my water here is geared much more toward lighter styles of beer. This last batch of a Black IPA I did, the 5th time I've brewed it, I did some changes to the water, so hopefully there will be some noticeable result with it. It may or may not be the issue, but we'll see I guess!

Your plan for the Blonde is exactly what I'd do, swirl it and warm it a little. It still may take some time, some batches just do for some reason or another. I would not let trub through the next time you bottle though, or you may just end up with some nasty/yeasty tasting beer after a month or two. There should be plenty of yeast still in suspension to do what needs to be done as far as carbing goes. Good luck!

 

[MNBrewDad]

Figured I would post a final update on my first two batches of beer for anyone who might be interested. I had one of the stouts this past weekend and it was actually pretty tasty. All of the off flavors have disappeared and although it isn't exactly a dry stout it is very enjoyable and flavorful.

I continued to have issues with the copper ale bottles carbing. After opening many low carbed ones and a couple of gushers I did some research and think I figured out where I went wrong. I racked the beer into the bottling bucket on top of the priming sugar solution but I never stirred it prior to filling the bottles. I had read somewhere that the simple act of racking the beer onto the sugar solution would be sufficient to mix them together but from now on I will be gently stirring the mixure in the bottling bucket to avoid the uneven carbonation issue in the future. The beer itself tastes good even with lower carbonation levels but I'm sure it would be even better properly carbed.

I'm going to brew Midwest's Honey Weizen on Saturday if all goes well. Got my first yeast starter ready and will be trying out my new DIY wort chiller Man this hobby is addictive!