troubleshooting

[liftedtrucks4me]

New to this site but have been brewing for a few months.

I have a dark ale with a tart taste to it at first but the after taste is normal. What does it sound like I did wrong during the process.

The latest one I did was a lager and it has a bubbly taste to it. Sort of like champagne(believe I spelled that right).

Both of them I used the Thomas Cooper ingredients kits and just followed the directions.

Thanks for the help

 

[apratsunrthd]

Your dark ale: Best-case scenario is cold fermentation bite. Worst case, you got a little wild yeast in there and need to reevaluate your sanitation procedures.

On your lager, not sure what to tell you. I've not done any lagers. I'm sure someone will chime in quickly and hopefully my post will give you a bump. If you were talking about ales, I'd ask you if you used a lot of cane sugar, but I guess we'd still have no real idea what was in the kit.

 

[liftedtrucks4me]

cold fermentation bite, explain this to me better, does this mean that i left it in too cold of a place?

I am starting a new batch tomorrow morning. I am making a copper ale and when I put it in the bottling bucket I am adding raspberry flavoring to it to make raspberry ale. I went to the local supplier for this and he set me up with a book and all the ingredients to make this batch perfect.

I think it might have been when i was cleaning it before I did the ale. I used regular dish shop and then used a powder to eliminate all the yeast left over from the previous batch. I never used the bleach formula and let everything soak.

 

[apratsunrthd]

How cold was your fermentation? Ale yeasts work best at the temperature marked on the package. I've never fermented ale below 65.

Not sure about your last sentence. It sounds like you're saying you didn't sanitize. Liquid dish soap helps but it definitely doesn't sanitize surfaces.

You're worrying me here.

 

[liftedtrucks4me]

I boiled all the ingredients and 2 gallons of water, after boiling for 20 minutes i mix the 2 gallons with the 3 gallons of cold water in ther fermenter. At 78 degrees I mixed the yeast that came with the kit and put it in my basement for 2 weeks. This was in late november and early december.

I didn't do the bleach santize before the lager, I did it every other time but I just forgot before that batch. I learned my lesson on it now and I'll never do a batch without properly cleaning and santizing, rookie mistake.

 

[apratsunrthd]

My basement stayed around 55-60 in November and December. Possible yours was lower. I've experienced bite from ales that I fermented at 65. I try to stay closer to 68-70, depending on the yeast. Out of curiosity, was this the kit you used? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D6MQCU?linkCode=xm2&tag=invihand-20

Not sure what type of bittering hops are in there, but you might just be more sensitive to hop bitterness. Though, there really shouldn't be much in a nut brown.

You might consider fermenting in a temperature controlled environment. I bought a chest freezer and a digital temp controller long ago. My beers have improved since. I realize that's not an option for everyone. If I didn't have that, I'd definitely just ferment in my house where I know it stays 68 in the winter.

 

[liftedtrucks4me]

that was the kit I used. are they good kits to use or is there something better to use?

I got a dog door in my basement so it probably was colder. The batch I just did today I left actually in the house in a corner so the temperature should be fine.

 

[apratsunrthd]

Maybe someone will chime in on that question. I've never used those kits. I've found the Midwest kits to be fantastic. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-ingredients/recipe-kits.html