Never dump your beer!!! Patience IS a virtue!!! Time heals all things, even beer!

[skw]

One of my early AG attempts never came to a full boil, just 60 minutes of simmering. Came out extremely cloudy.

After 5 months in the cold basement, the bottles are crystal clear with a thick sediment at the bottom.

 

[ncbrewer]

I just made my first batch ( bsg saison kit) and I bottled after 6 days, the SG was at intended range ( 1.010, and instructions said 3-7 days).
It's not clear at all, perhaps more time will help. I tasted it and it was good just flat and smells good. But my question is; does longer bottle conditioning improve all beers of just most?

It's recommended to check the gravity 2 - 3 days apart to make sure it's stable. If it's still dropping, wait and check again later. If it keeps fermenting in the bottles, you could get bottle bombs. It's more about safety than beer quality.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

I brewed my first beer one year ago. It was a simple extract recipe but I screwed it up. It was nearly undrinkable for me. I didn't dump it, but I gave almost all of it away to some heavy drinkers I work with. They would drink other beer first and once they were buzzed then the awful taste of my beer didn't matter and they would drink it.

I kept 2 bottles stashed away for the hell of it. I had some friends over a couple weeks back and decided to break out one of these bottles. I wanted to show them how far I had come in my brewing--give them a taste of this awful beer, and then a taste of one of my good beers. Well to my surprise this beer that I couldn't stand almost a year ago was really good. I don't mean just drinkable, but actually good.

I'm amazed that time can do that! I wish I would have taken this thread to heart a year ago--I would have 50 more bottles of beer in my stash now.

 

[Dangeruss]

My brew buddy and I had some problems. We did about 3 or 4 batches and all had this terrible taste. At first he thought we didn't clean the kegs good enough. Then he notice a scratch in a couple of plastic fermenting buckets and thought it was those. He bought a new conical and that beer had the same taste. Turns out one time he was brewing he took a drink out of the newly purchased rv/marine hose we started to use. It tasted the same as the beer profile was giving off. You think time will cure this off flavor?

 

[RPCidery]

I made a SMASH with two year old (sealed) Cooper's lite extract and three ounces of Saaz, just to see what it would turn out to be. Three days in primary, 10 days in glass, then kegged. For the first couple of weeks, it was undrinkable, tasted like Worcestershire. During the third week, the off taste subsided pretty rapidly. Now in the fifth week, I'm thinking about making it again, as it is getting pretty darn tasty. Either time healed it, or I've developed a taste for drinking meat marinade.:cross:

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This is an inspirational story - thanks for sharing, and for the lesson in patience!

 

[Talbotway]

So real quick question. I am new to brewing and have had 2 great IPA's brewed on my first 2 at bat. Then I became sloppy, I was drinking as much of my brew as I was brewing an all day session,(3 5 gal batches) and I got sloppy. On one batch I got all the way to bottling before I relized I had added no priming sugar, so in my dazed state I boiled up a simple solution, opened each cap and added (various) amounts of sugar water then recapped and stored. This was 7 months ago now. I have noticed a little (drying out) less sweetness in some that I have tasted, of course I believe that they are are all different levels of syrup added. I have since had bottle explode mear moments after moving one from the garage to the kitchen counter.

My question is, If I chilled these down,, could I still dry them out without risking more bombs ,, or is opening the caps and resting 30 min and recapping a better idea. Im sure you guys have heard it all before,, and I simply don't have the heart to throw this beer away.

Lesson learned,, don't try and drink as much as you are making and always,, always respect the process!!

Thanks

 

[RPCidery]

It takes a lot of training to be able to brew and drink at the same time.:cross: More practice is probably in order for you. Chilling them will slow the yeast to a crawl, and may stop them completely, depending on which yeast you used. It will also prevent carbonation.
Having the bottles primed in an uneven way just ain't good. Were it me, I would put them in a box somewhere that will be easy to clean in the event of broken bottles (Rubbermaid totes are pretty cheap) and let 'em go. The other alternative would be to open them all and dump them into you bottling bucket, but you are going to get a lot of aeration and likely ruin your beer with that option.

 

[Rotor_Head]

This is great gouge, Revvy. While I'm only on the first batch ever, I think the process of brewing is more fun being able to focus on making the beer and less of being nervous of ballin' it up. And now I'll think twice about dumping a beer.

 

[BadBeagleBrew]

I finally get to join this thread. Made a stout Og 1.063, fermented with Notty for the first time in a while, I completely forgot how active that yeast is, well my ferm temps must have got high. The taste coming out of the fermenter was completely overwhelming of a hot alcohol taste that I could only think of as a cheap whisky. So I kegged it with some priming sugar and a shot of CO2 and have sent it into the depths of my basement to be forgotten about. I also bottled four 500ml bottles and primed with a little maple syrup that I made from our trees. Hopefully in a few months I can report back with a success story, hopefully headache free.

 

[slym2none]

I have a feeling I may need this advice in the weeks to come... so glad I saw this thread!

 

[Kent88]

I'm going through some temptation to dump a Bier de Garde right now. I read that it was like a bock that you pitch a saison yeast on, so I made a fairly strong beer with pilsner and dark munich malt (OG should have been a little over 1.075), pitched a dry saison yeast on it, racked to secondary after 2 weeks, lagered it in secondary for another 2 weeks, bottled it in some heavy-duty belgian bottles with corks and added some saflager 34/70 and put it in the cool garage, and I justed cracked into one after 2 weeks carbonating and it tasted like my NB 1-gallon pumpkin ale kits, but less alcohol heat and a little peppery.

It isn't that I need the fridge space or bottles right now, I just can't imagine this improving. Will the saison 'peppery-ness' ever mellow? Not even sure that would make it better.

 

[Artifishal]

I brewed a ten gallon batch of IPA with my neighbor. We are to split it when it's done in a few days here. I have it in a temperature controlled chamber, except when I left the light on, or something bumped the switch to on, it heated up to 92 degrees f. It must have been heating up to that over a period of 24 hours or so.

We were going to bottle his and keg mine. Should I just bottle mine too in case there are off flavors and I need to let it sit for six months to a year?

Should I not worry about it because it had been in there for a week and a half and fermentation was close to complete?

What effects could this have?

Thank you for your time.

 

[kombat]

If it was a week in, you're likely out of the woods. I'd taste it to make sure, but the real risk of off-flavours is in those first 3-5 days.

 

[BadBeagleBrew]

I finally get to join this thread. Made a stout Og 1.063, fermented with Notty for the first time in a while, I completely forgot how active that yeast is, well my ferm temps must have got high. The taste coming out of the fermenter was completely overwhelming of a hot alcohol taste that I could only think of as a cheap whisky. So I kegged it with some priming sugar and a shot of CO2 and have sent it into the depths of my basement to be forgotten about. I also bottled four 500ml bottles and primed with a little maple syrup that I made from our trees. Hopefully in a few months I can report back with a success story, hopefully headache free.

Well this is much sooner than I expected to be reporting back on this but, having a vasectomy tends to make one drink FAST and HARD. The first bottle ended up being cracked last week out of pure necessity, to my surprise it was purely amazing. No hot whiskey taste, just wonderful chocolate caramely stoutness. So I decided after a few beer tonight to connect the picnic tap to the warm keg and see what she delivers. It is almost 100% clean of any off flavours, in another week this will be hitting the kegerator for sure. It is turning into everything I imagined it to be, if it wasn't for this thread it may have ended up in the gutter.

 

[Cheapo]

Hey all. I've just finished drinking a batch that I thought was cooked for sure.

What happened was this - I was brewing, and drinking a few while I brewed. Well, I popped the top off one and never heard the lid land. Didn't think much of it, finished up the batch, set it outside in the brew cave to start fermentation and left it for a couple weeks. I go back to check it and there's this weiiiird stuff on top. I took a sample for a reading, 1.005. Good enough right?

I decided to try the sample - weird. Metallic. I figured a major infection. My first infected batch, damn. Well, having read this thread, I bottled it anyway, and what do you think I found in the bottom of the pail, my missing bottle cap! I left it in the bottle to clean itself up for A YEAR. It cleaned up perfectly, came out a perfect Canadian Blonde, and might have been close to my best batch.

Good thing I read this thread prior to that or I might have dumped it.

 

[user 83772]

Cheapo - sounds like you should write it into the recipe for future batches. Call it "Bottle Cap Blonde".

 

[Cheapo]

Hahaaaaa! Awesome!

 

[Bosh]

I'm going through some temptation to dump a Bier de Garde right now. I read that it was like a bock that you pitch a saison yeast on, so I made a fairly strong beer with pilsner and dark munich malt (OG should have been a little over 1.075), pitched a dry saison yeast on it, racked to secondary after 2 weeks, lagered it in secondary for another 2 weeks, bottled it in some heavy-duty belgian bottles with corks and added some saflager 34/70 and put it in the cool garage, and I justed cracked into one after 2 weeks carbonating and it tasted like my NB 1-gallon pumpkin ale kits, but less alcohol heat and a little peppery.

It isn't that I need the fridge space or bottles right now, I just can't imagine this improving. Will the saison 'peppery-ness' ever mellow? Not even sure that would make it better.

Six weeks isn't too old for a big beer, give it some time. Also two weeks primary for a 1.075 beer sounds pretty short to me...

 

[Kent88]

@Bosh I tried another bottle not to long ago and it improved a little. I also found a small brewery that had a Bier de Mars on tap so I tried that and now I think the issue is more my own taste buds. I haven't had many beers that turned out that dry before. Besides a few attempts at milk stout, some bockish lagers, and my pumpkin ales most of what I've brewed has been pale, light stuff that probably isn't far off from mass produced commercial beer.

Might enter it in the contest at the fair, just to get an unbiased opinion from people who should have a broader palette than I do.

 

[Metal_Militia]

Hey guys was gonna make a thread but maybe I'll ask for help here..

So I brewed my 2nd ever beer, a stout last Thursday. The first 6-12 hours it was going crazy in the fermenter but ever since, pretty much nothing.

Is this normal or what? I did take the OG and haven't taken it since but I will probably tomorrow. How will I know if its good / done or not? Will 1 reading be sufficient at this point or still take 2+ ?

Thanks guys! Glad I took the OG this time bc first time I didnt.

 

[iijakii]

I've got my first potential dumper in the works after probably a hundred batches. Was trying really hard to have a batch ready for a certain date, rushed a Blonde too quickly and I believe it's got acetaldehyde. Was odd because before I cold crashed the samplers were fine but yeasty, while at bottling it was way off. Never tasted that before, but I'm perceiving green apple. It also used US05 at a tad too cold, which I hear can lead to fruity esthers. Three weeks in the bottle and it's diminished a tad, but not much. Going to give it another month probably. Need the bottles.

 

[brisboy]

Sounds like you need more bottles!

 

[iijakii]

Sounds like you need more bottles!

I'm doing an honest day's work and drinking as many as I can to build up, I tell you hwa'.

 

[Cheapo]

Haha hey guys, another case of Let It Sit, and RDWHAHB! Brewed a pilsner extract kit, and while I was putting in the airlock my lid cracked badly, enough to have huge open cracks in it. I put the airlock in as loose as I could to keep the cracks as small as possible, but by the time a week and a half, two weeks had passed, I went to bottle and it was getting the thin white skin and had a real sour smell to it. I bottled it anyway. I cracked one (now two ) and it's beautiful, a month later. Hang on to that brew guys, you worked hard for it!

 

[thirty37seven]

brewed an all grain bitter based on northern brewer 'the innkeeper.' went from primary to bottling bucket after about two weeks (very early) and the transfer was super dirty.....lots of stuff in suspension in the bottle. I got anxious and tried it two days after bottling and could not finish it.

I did NOT pour it out, but let it condition for a couple weeks. Cold crashed it for a few days and tried it again. It turned out pretty darn tasty; toasty, a little fruity, good hop balance and clean finish. Only issue was that I had to leave about an inch in the bottle to avoid the trub and junk.

never give up.

 

[wtaylor3]

I brewed the "common room" esb recipe here back in January or so. It had gotten way too warm for s-04 at a few points even with trying a swamp cooler and he beer ended up with a sour apple flavor that is overpowering. It's carbed nicely and looks great just has that flavor, my plan is to periodically try them until January and if it isn't better by then I'm dumping it.

 

[ejf063]

What about a band aid or medicine flavor? Brewed a batch about a month ago and my IC sprung a leak. Water from the hose-in sanitized of course- got in the half chilled wort. I figured I would just go with it but when in tasted it..... Puke. NyQuil. I haven't dumped. I haven't even pulled it from the yeast cake. I am hoping against hope that this flavor will fade. Anyone have any success with waiting that flavor out? Cheers!

 

[izzie]

first started diluting and conditioning my tap water a couple months ago. Used a cheap scale and realized during the mash that the scale was not accurate with measurements that low. I now have a wonderful fall spiced brown with a nasty salt water aftertaste. First batch so bad that I probably have to dump it.

 

[Yooper]

What about a band aid or medicine flavor? Brewed a batch about a month ago and my IC sprung a leak. Water from the hose-in sanitized of course- got in the half chilled wort. I figured I would just go with it but when in tasted it..... Puke. NyQuil. I haven't dumped. I haven't even pulled it from the yeast cake. I am hoping against hope that this flavor will fade. Anyone have any success with waiting that flavor out? Cheers!

No. Those flavors probably won't fade. Chlorophenols (from chlorine in the brewing water) don't go away.