Tasting at bottling

[Shawnstve]

So I just bottled my first beer, and had a little left over that didn’t fill a bottle. I gave it a taste and um..... it tasted quite bitter. Kinda harsh like a shot of vodka. I let it ferment for 3 weeks. Did I do something wrong? Or is that normal for it before bottle conditioning? It smells like a decent beer. Does taste a bit like a decent beer behind that harsh bitter and stringent kick.

 

[Ultryx]

Can you give us some information on your recipe and process?

 

[Shawnstve]

1 gallon batch, simple American ale recipe I found online. 2 row with caramel. A little hops (common one, I forgot the name, starts with a C), and mauribrew ale yeast. It bubbled up like crazy for the first 3-4 days. I did my best to keep the temps low. But my apartment is a constant 73-74 degrees, so I used the bucket of water and wet t shirt technique to keep the temps a little lower. I’m sure I didn’t do it perfectly, it probably was maybe 72 or 71 as I hear the t shirt thing only allows for a drop of 2-3 degrees

 

[VikeMan]

1 gallon batch, simple American ale recipe I found online. 2 row with caramel. A little hops (common one, I forgot the name, starts with a C), and mauribrew ale yeast. It bubbled up like crazy for the first 3-4 days. I did my best to keep the temps low. But my apartment is a constant 73-74 degrees, so I used the bucket of water and wet t shirt technique to keep the temps a little lower. I’m sure I didn’t do it perfectly, it probably was maybe 72 or 71 as I hear the t shirt thing only allows for a drop of 2-3 degrees

If you weren't measuring it, your fermentation may have got a bit warmer than you're thinking. Ambient temperature of 74F, plus heat generated by fermentation, let's say 6F, would give you a wort/beer temp of 80F-ish at peak, minus whatever the t-shirt did to reduce it.

 

[Shawnstve]

Would that give me a alcahol kind of taste?

 

[VikeMan]

Would that give me a alcahol kind of taste?

High fermentation temperatures can result in elevated esters (fruity and/or solventy) and/or fusel alcohols ("hot" alcohol). If fusels are an issue, they may diminish over time in the bottle, because yeast can convert them to (less objectionable) esters.

 

[Beernik]

Until you gain more familiarity, it’s difficult to judge the beer flavor when the beer is uncarbonated and hasn’t had a little time to mature.

If you fermented too hot, you could have gotten fusel (higher chain) alcohols. They are frequently described as “hot or alcoholic.” If that’s what it is, it may mellow some with time but probably always persist in the background.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

How much is a little bit of hops? And when did you add them?

 

[Shawnstve]

Ok, so consensus with this seems like it just was too warm. My local home brew shop said it would be fine at that temp, and he brews at that temp all the time and is able to drink the beer just fine straight from ferment not needing bottle conditioning. So I thought I did something wrong. Sounds like it just was too high of temp. I’ll work at figuring out how to lower the temp on my fermenting process. You live and learn right? Sooo, I let it sit and ferment for 3 weeks. Now that it’s in the bottle, how long should I wait to taste it?

 

[Shawnstve]

How much is a little bit of hops? And when did you add them?

It was cascade hops. I added 4 pellets at 60 and 4 pellets at 20, since the recipe called for .5oz for each. It was a recipe for 5gallon that I converted to 1 gallon. Here is the recipe. Easy Blonde Ale - All Grain Blonde Ale Homebrew Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend

.1 oz of hops at 60 and at 20 is like 4 pellets. Lol!

 

[VikeMan]

My local home brew shop said it would be fine at that temp, and he brews at that temp all the time and is able to drink the beer just fine straight from ferment not needing bottle conditioning.

LHBS Guy strikes again. Happens far too often.

Now that it’s in the bottle, how long should I wait to taste it?

Entirely up to you. Some people will crack one in 3 days, hear a little "phhht" when they do, and declare "fully carbonated." Personally, when I bottled, I never even tried before 2 weeks. But there are several factors that that go into how long it will take.

But if you're asking from a fusel reduction perspective (if indeed that's an issue), be patient.

 

[Shawnstve]

LHBS Guy strikes again. Happens far too often.



Entirely up to you. Some people will crack one in 3 days, hear a little "phhht" when they do, and declare "fully carbonated." Personally, when I bottled, I never even tried before 2 weeks. But there are several factors that that go into how long it will take.

But if you're asking from a fusel reduction perspective (if indeed that's an issue), be patient.

Yes the fusel alcohol... haha’. How much is patient. I don’t mind waiting, just don’t want to like over shoot it. Would you wait 2 weeks or like 2 months? Longer?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

That certainly doesn’t sound like it would be too bitter. And that will mellow with some time.

 

[Shawnstve]

That certainly doesn’t sound like it would be too bitter. And that will mellow with some time.

Yeah I don’t think it was the hops.... I drink IPA’s all the time. I know what a over hopped beer tastes like. It wasn’t that. Lol.

 

[VikeMan]

Yes the fusel alcohol... haha’. How much is patient. I don’t mind waiting, just don’t want to like over shoot it. Would you wait 2 weeks or like 2 months? Longer?

If I were pretty sure beer had a fusel issue, I probably wouldn't even think about opening one for a month. I'd also consider the fact that this is a one gallon batch, which would tend to make me more cautious about opening (limited) bottles.

But who knows? Maybe that's not the issue.

 

[Shawnstve]

Ok thanks. I just don’t know how long fusels tend to subside. Thanks for the info. I’ll wait a month or more

 

[Aki]

I have finished 2 beers so far and both of them tasted quite horrible on bottling day when measuring FG. Especially this last one 9,4% neipa had significant hop burn and booze flavour on bottling day, however after only 4 days of conditioning in room temperature and then cold crash in fridge it tasted delicious. Give it 2 weeks and taste, can still turn out great!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I’ll work at figuring out how to lower the temp on my fermenting process. You live and learn right?

There are a lot of "small batch" brewers who actively participate in this topic 1-Gallon Brewers UNITE! (start at the end and work backwards).

It's a good place for getting good advice that actually works with one gallon batches.

Sooo, I let it sit and ferment for 3 weeks. Now that it’s in the bottle, how long should I wait to taste it?

Typically it takes two weeks to carbonate. Sample a bottle each week. If it tastes good, drink at your normal rate. If it tastes bad, wait another week.