Problems with my first blonde ale

[moicel]

Hi people,

I just brew my first blonde ale 2 weeks ago, and yesterday when I was preparing to keg my beer and measured my alcohol level it was off by 1%, I was expecting to get 5% alcohol content and it came out only with 4%. Aside from that as O tried my the beer the flavor was way to sweet and it had an orange juice kind flavor, you could barely notice the hops flavor( I think that is normal because my hop content was low). I am afraid my beer has been contaminated can someone help me with this? thanks!

 

[d3track]

Sounds more like stalled fermentation a little more than contamination. What was the FG vs what you expected?

 

[jdauria]

Couple questions...

What was your starting gravity and your final gravity? Did you confirm that the gravity had not changed several days in a row, so that you know it was fully fermented?

Dry or liquid yeast? If liquid, I assume you pitched 1 pack/vial? Sweetness could be that you did not pitch enough yeast to eat all the sugar (and thus should have let it go for longer that two weeks as the yeast in there would take longer to do the job). It's important to check the age of your yeast when purchasing as the older it is, the less viability it has and you would need to use more yeast or make a starter. Wyeast dates are on the front of the pack and White Labs are on the vial but they use "best by" so you have to subtract 4 months from the date on the vial.

Many of us experienced brewers don't always hit the right final gravity and thus the expected ABV. Besides pitching the proper amount of yeast, fermenting the beer at a proper and consistent temp is important too. If your temperatures were all over the place that could screw up the beer too. Again harping on yeast, each yeast style has an appropriate fermenting temperature.

Lastly, I can assume you cleaned and sanitized everything before brewing? Anything that touches your beer after you boil it needs to be sanitized and if you put it on a counter or it drops on the floor, it should be sanitized again.

Other than that, not sure what else to tell you. Welcome to brewing and keep at it, once you get the process down you will be fine!

 

[max384]

Hi people,

I just brew my first blonde ale 2 weeks ago, and yesterday when I was preparing to keg my beer and measured my alcohol level it was off by 1%, I was expecting to get 5% alcohol content and it came out only with 4%. Aside from that as O tried my the beer the flavor was way to sweet and it had an orange juice kind flavor, you could barely notice the hops flavor( I think that is normal because my hop content was low). I am afraid my beer has been contaminated can someone help me with this? thanks!

We need a bit more info. What was FG and OG? And what was your expected FG and OG? Did you take more than one FG reading over a period of time, to ensure that it was not still fermenting?

If the FG is high, I'd let it sit another week or two and check it again then. Two weeks is not a long time.

 

[TheGambler87]

Likely not infected since you didnt mention any mold or bad smells. Id say it was a fermentation issue...too cold, not enough yeast, old/bad yeast etc.

As far as the hops, what was the recipe you used, and when did you add them? The flavor/aroma hops (the ones that get added at the end of the boil) add the majority of the hop flavor, and if you aren't able to chill rapidly after the boil, those flavors essentially get 'cooked' away.

 

[moicel]

Original Gravity was 1.054 and Final Gravity 1.026. did not checked the gravity, until 2 week in fermentation.

I made a 1 gallon starter for 10 gallon batch with one vial of California yeast from whitelabs and stirred the yeast for 24 hours using, used yeast nutrient and oxygenated the wort, ( same process i've used for other 10 gallon batches, with no problems at all) . I used the yeast 2 weeks after the "best used by" date. And yes i cleaned everything thoroughly.

It will be impossible for me to leave my wort to ferment more time, because i've already kegged the beer, and its been cooled now to be forced carbonated tonight

 

[cjbalough]

Why not just pull it from the cooler, and let it "secondary" at room temp for a few weeks....may finish fermenting or at least improve.

 

[max384]

Original Gravity was 1.054 and Final Gravity 1.026. did not checked the gravity, until 2 week in fermentation.

I made a 1 gallon starter for 10 gallon batch with one vial of California yeast from whitelabs and stirred the yeast for 24 hours using, used yeast nutrient and oxygenated the wort, ( same process i've used for other 10 gallon batches, with no problems at all) . I used the yeast 2 weeks after the "best used by" date. And yes i cleaned everything thoroughly.

It will be impossible for me to leave my wort to ferment more time, because i've already kegged the beer, and its been cooled now to be forced carbonated tonight

Your beer is not done fermenting. You should be well below 1.026, probably another 15 points lower.

There is no reason you can't just move it to a warmer place and let it ferment in the keg and purge CO2 every once in awhile, or transfer it from the keg to another fermenter. With such a high FG for such a light beer, it will never be good as it is. You need to let it finish fermenting.

Let this be your lesson to ensure fermentation is done before kegging/bottling. Be happy you made this mistake with a keg, not bottles.

 

[billl]

" I used the yeast 2 weeks after the "best used by" date. "

That's likely part of your problem. It's not that the yeast is bad by that date, but the viability certainly has dropped. You should have stepped up that starter to make sure you had a proper pitch.

Anyway, have you tasted it? If you like it, don't worry about the numbers. If you don't like it, get it out of the fridge. It may finish on it's own, but I bet you'll have to repitch a bit of yeast to get it back going. You can leave it in the keg for that - the yeast don't mind.

 

[moicel]

How long should i leave the keg out of the fridge? and how much yeast should I pitch?

 

[billl]

"How long should i leave the keg out of the fridge? and how much yeast should I pitch?"

How long? Till it's done. The yeast get to make that call.

How much? The best thing would be to take a scoop of krausen from an actively fermenting batch. If you aren't ready to brew something, a pack of dry yeast would be plenty for 10 gallons.

 

[moicel]

So I left my blonde ale to continue fermenting on the kegs. The gravity went down, from 1.026 to 1.019. I plan to leave my beer ferment for 5 more days and take another gravity test. I did notice that rhe sweetness is reducing, but i can taste a funkyness. Is this normal?

 

[billl]

Odd flavors are pretty normal mid-fermentation. You just need to let it go until it's done and then let it sit at room temp until those flavors clean up. It happens pretty quick on the yeast cake, but might take a little while for this batch since you've already removed most of the yeast.

 

[moicel]

So the gravity went down to 1.008. The sweet flavor reduce but i can taste a funky, soury,pineapple citrusy flavor. Also the keg is extremely carbonate. And i have been purging the kegs for 2 weeks now. Did my beer went bad?? Should i continue to leave my kegs at 68 f , or should i put the kegs in the fridge??

 

[billl]

Just leave it sit at room temp and the sour/green taste will go away. If the keg is overcarbonated, just keep venting it.