Need to mellow out harsh alcohol

[snipper_cr]

So 3 weeks ago I brewed my spiced Christmas ale which I want to be able to start drinking beginning of December. I made it a little bigger because I wanted a touch of alcohol warmth. Based on numbers I got and what beer smith spits out, the ABV is 7%. It is also rather heavily spiced with various christmasy spices.

During a gravity check, the spices came through but the thing that worried me was there was a really strong alcohol harshness to it. Is that something that could mellow out with time or will I be serving Listroine for Christmas? It has been in the primary for 3 weeks and I need that bucket soon so I was thinking about transfering it to a secondary fermenter for another month or so before letting it sit in bottles for a month.

Is there anything I could do differently to help mellow out the harshness? Should I leave it on the yeast longer or take it off now?

Thanks!

 

[northernlad]

Another brewing commandment to add to the list...
Thou shalt not judge a beer still in it's bucket.
Leave it one more week in the primary, bottle and leave it alone until Christmas.

 

[GroosBrewz]

I would transfer it to the secondary and let it mellow, like you said, for another month or so. Chances are that it will mellow out and become pretty good by Christmas time. I have seen this in my own spiced beers and that's what I did. It worked for me. Are you sure that the harshness came from the alcohol and not the spices? It's really easy to overdo it on the spices, as I found out one year when I made a ginger beer...

 

[Nurmey]

Time mellows all beers. Your plan is a good one using a secondary for a while before bottling.

 

[ChshreCat]

Bulk aging tends to work faster than bottle aging so I agree with using a secondary for a few weeks and/or keeping it in primary for a while.

 

[snipper_cr]

Well I transfered it to the secondary fermenter cause I needed the primary for another batch. Even a week later the harshness is going away. I am a big fan that time heals all when dealing with beer. I just didnt know if time would have worked with this because I know there are some things it DOESNT work on (like oxidation).

Now I just need to deodorize the fermenter because it smells of cinnamon and ginger. Last time I brewed a beer right after a christmas ale it tasted fine, but carried the aroma for a while. We ended up calling it "Christmas 2 IPA". Any suggestions? I tried backing soda and vinegar but that didnt help much.

 

[djinn88]

May be cost prohibitive, but, maybe keep that particular vessel for spiced ales only. I would try the baking soda and vinegar you mentioned for neutralizing the odors first though. Good luck.

 

[Bentpirate]

Well I transfered it to the secondary fermenter cause I needed the primary for another batch. Even a week later the harshness is going away. I am a big fan that time heals all when dealing with beer. I just didnt know if time would have worked with this because I know there are some things it DOESNT work on (like oxidation).

Now I just need to deodorize the fermenter because it smells of cinnamon and ginger. Last time I brewed a beer right after a christmas ale it tasted fine, but carried the aroma for a while. We ended up calling it "Christmas 2 IPA". Any suggestions? I tried backing soda and vinegar but that didnt help much.

I would let it sick with Oxy-free. Warm slightly hot water, rinse well. If it doesn't clear after a day or two, fill it again and let it sit for a day or two. Rinse well and it should be free of you odor.

 

[joeldp144]

I brewed a Belgian Tripel in the spring that was 9.8% abv, and it was pretty harsh at first. I came to my consultants here at HBT, and everyone reassured me that it was going to mellow. Several months later, and that beer is as smooth as can be. No alcohol hint or burn at all, really.

Let it sit, and it will mellow out. Something about carbonation that also tricks the tastebuds a little as well, so that should help too.

You could try a bleach water solution for the soaking. That may help.

 

[snipper_cr]

As everyone indicated, and as I was pretty sure would happen, the beer has mellowed the heck down! Took my first taste of it and the harshness is all but gone and all that is left is a subtle warmth of alcohol which is exactly what I aimed for. The complexities of all the spices and sugars are amazing! Nothing super overpowering but everything getting its own chance to "dance" on my tongue.

I'm just giddy as a school girl over this one. I am glad I gave this years christmas ale MUCH longer time to mellow (2 months more!). Last years was good but I think it needed more time, too bad it all got drunk.

One thing to think about: I bottled it 1 week ago and I use a 1 plastic bottle to monitor carbonation (bottle is soft, not enough. bottle is hard, beer is carbonating). Well the bottle was really hard which told me carbonation was occurring. So I took one bottle and tried it (again, AMAZING taste). The thing is, the carbonation level is PERFECT. However, that makes me worried, since normally it takes 2-3 weeks. All my beers that turned out to have perfect long term carbonation were still flat as can be at week 1 (often week 2 as well).

 

[dotnetdotcom]

Now I just need to deodorize the fermenter because it smells of cinnamon and ginger.

Try cleaning thoroughly several times with a strong bleach solution and a sponge. You will have to rinse it a lot too. If that doesn't work, try Dawn dish soap. If that doesn't work, soak in Oxyclean. If that doesn't work, you have to use fire

 

[syd138]

I bottled a Belgian Tripel 2 weeks ago.

Just cracked one open and it is very strong alcohol smell and malty.

Im really hoping that it mellows out by christmas, but from what everyone is saying, it needs 6 months.

So, maybe by Easter.

 

[jfr1111]

I know some people on here say that three weeks is the minimum for natural carbonation, but there isn't any magic going on in the bottle. The yeast eat the sugar, they produce CO2, the CO2 goes into slution because your bottle is an hermetic vessel and you have carbonation. Some yeast will work faster than others on the priming sugar, depending on wether they were dormant, the temperature at wich the bottles were cellared and the amount left in the bottles. When the sugar has been consumed, unless you have an infection, the bottles won't carb no more.