Many questions

[dpinette2]

Just bottled my 4th batch.

Pumpkin ale.

First 3 beers were attempts at a NEIPA. Each was better than the previous.

I’m doing all grain.

I tasted the pumpkin before putting it in the fermentor, tasted sweet, pumpkiny, lots of promise.

Used a starter. Seems like a really good fermentation. Krausen was about two inches high.

First question, there was spice in the beer, seems like maybe the spice(pumpkin spice) was dragged up with the yeast into the krause, so looked much different than i have seen before. Is this normal by any chance, looked like a cinnamon/nutmeg paste!

Second question, the first few days while smelling the beer ferment(through air lock, not opening) it smells great. But in all 4 batches, when i open fermenter(last 3 in buckets, 1st in water jug bottle) i get blasted with a gas. Not sure if this is the co2 smell? I seem to lose the great smells the beer originally had?

Third question, using a bottling bucket, it appears that when i’m siphoning(using tube from a picket) that i’m getting a lot of air in the transfer, is this normal or am i completely missing something.

Tonight’s beer tasted, ok. Not great, not bad, probably best of the 4.

Because of vacation, i bottled on day 11 today. my previous 3 i bottled on day 11,12,12. Is going two days early really killing me here? I checked gravity and i hit fg on day 4 and it never changed including today.

Aging, i’ve been drinking after two weeks, so i need to wait longer? I see many seem to drink very soon after bottling.

I use a few mini-keg growlers and have a bunch of flip top bottles and for the first time tonight used a cap bottler for 7 12oz beers to taste and see if everything is progressing right.

I’m starting to get a bit frustrated that i’m coming up duds on this.

Info about my equipment

16g ss kettle
use a converted cooler to mash in(seem to be getting 60ish % efficiency)
fermenting in bucket
using the cooler and a converted top to try and keep as consistent a temp as possible,63-68 in the water bath surrounding the bucket.
Condition in basement, temp is about 70degrees

Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

[IslandLizard]

Most you're doing seems fine, RDWAHAHB!

NEIPAs should be enjoyed early and fresh, 2-3 weeks for carbonation is OK, but any oxygen that got in after fermentation (racking, bottling) will start to reduce hop flavor and aroma quickly, and ruin the experience. If you can keg beers like those, by all means, do it!

The only thing you definitely need to fix is picking up air during racking (and bottling), it's very unwanted. Not sure what you mean with "tube from a picket." Please explain.

 

[dpinette2]

Yeah, sorry, typo

The bottling bucket has a spicket, I attach tubing to that. Do i need a bottling wand? Will this solve the problem.

When transferring i definitely see air bubbles in the line.

 

[IslandLizard]

Ah, spigot!

I get it, you're getting air bubbles when filling bottles, not when transferring from fermentor to bottling bucket.
Yeah, a spring activated bottling wand at the end of that tubing will shut off the flow, keeping the line full of beer. You'd leave the bucket spigot open.

 

[IslandLizard]

Most Pumpkin Ale recipes tend to be heavy on the spice. Some judgment on how much to use is advised, I've only used minimal amounts. Some of that spice will age out, fade, give it a few months. The spice flavor itself also changes during that time. My best Pumpkin ale had aged for nearly 2 years in a keg at slightly above cellar temps.

 

[dpinette2]

lol, yes spigot!
Thanks for information, much appreciated.

That smell i’m getting, is it co2? Not even sure co2 has a smell!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

If the tubing is a tight fit on the spigot, the gas you see in the tube may be CO2 coming out of solution, which is odorless.

 

[IslandLizard]

CO2 itself has no smell, but it does give you a bite in the nose when it combines with water in the mucous membranes into carbonic acid. This is also known as carbonic bite.
Aside from CO2, the fermentor's headspace also contains other byproducts from fermentation, aromas from hops and malt etc. Sometimes very pleasant (IPAs), more often, not so.

 

[dpinette2]

Great to know! Thanks for the information, it truly is appreciated!

 

[GPP33]

Don’t judge a beer by it’s smell while fermenting. Only once it is carbonated and cool. You have also chosen two difficult styles to start with. Absolutely nothing wrong with that but if you back off to something simpler you can focus on improving your process because you’ll reduce the variables.

Read the multiple active posts regarding oxygen exposure here and in the general forum, I’ll save you from rehashing them here.

At the end of the day, as time goes on you’ll start fine tuning aspects of your process and your beers will get incrementally better.

 

[TGFV]

For your NEIPAS if you are going to be bottling I would advise doing what I do, brew at 4-4.5 abv, bottle using a wand, and use 1l swing tops.

You can get 18 from most batches, plus a sample cup, you get minimal O2 interactions, and since it is more sessionable, you can drink all of them within a few weeks tops after carbonation, meaning oxidization is extremely limited.

As for pumpkin beers, as well as any beer really, the initial flavour is going to greatly change after active fermentation, clean up fermentation, pre carbonation and post carbonation. I would recommend sampling your hydrometer samples during these steps (if you take them) so you get a good idea about the changes that happen during the whole process.

Edit: and yes that is the spices coming up with the krauzen. It happens in all of my spiced ales, usually why I do a vodka tincture of the spices to add.

 

[JKenshi]

Most Pumpkin Ale recipes tend to be heavy on the spice. Some judgment on how much to use is advised, I've only used minimal amounts. Some of that spice will age out, fade, give it a few months. The spice flavor itself also changes during that time. My best Pumpkin ale had aged for nearly 2 years in a keg at slightly above cellar temps.

I agree here completely... it's been my experience that all spice and cinnamon have a tendency to hide early on during conditioning, then come back at you like a hammer later on. Don't overdue it and be patient. Too much of these spices can hide your delicate pumpkin flavor... you want the pumpkin up front or in the middle... you want the cinnamon and all spice to be hints that give you the impression of pie... not the sense that you're drinking one.