Watery alcohol taste

[KingDachshund]

My first home brew has been in the primary for seven days now. I took a gravity reading to see where I am at and while doing so I took a sample taste. I found the flavor to be a watery alcohol taste with a slight undertone of floral citrus flavor. Is this a normal for only seven days? Will the alcohol and watery tastes mellow out during conditioning?

I've read that fermenting at higher temps can cause a more alcohol taste, but I've been between 66 and 70˚F. My reading was 1.010. I plan on keeping it in the primary till this weekend and then bottle it.

 

[ims0ko0l]

Temp seems good let it sit for another week or two. Keg/bottle and let it sit for another week. Should be just fine.

 

[ggoodman]

Could be so many things but as noted above dont worry. however I would rack it at ten days. Ive had some bad experiences letting it sit three weeks in the fermentor.

 

[basilchef]

Sounds a little bit like fusels and a touch of dry beer caused by fermenting too high and mashing at the wrong temp. I cant be sure though. fusels tend to mellow out over a period of extended conditioning. Your best bet is to let er ride my friend. Best wishes and good luck.

 

[discooby]

I don’t think anything can be determined without knowing what you brewed (recipe) and how you brewed it

“watery alcohol taste” tells me you boiled some sugar in water and fermented it...

 

[hector]

Ive had some bad experiences letting it sit three weeks in the fermentor.

What was that experience ?

Which yeast strain did you use ?

Hector

 

[Draken]

Could be so many things but as noted above dont worry. however I would rack it at ten days. Ive had some bad experiences letting it sit three weeks in the fermentor.

And I have had some bad experience letting it sit less than three. Are either one of us right? Who knows. I have great beer that was in primary for 8 weeks. Sorry you had a bad experience, but too many people are having good results to with long primaries. Either list the reasons why you think 10 days is enough (which it's not, fermentation can still be going) or don't jump in. Now of you had said, rack after three days of the same hydro reading.. That might be worth something, but your advice when applied to certain situations will cause bottle bombs.

For instance my saison was only at 1.010 after 10 days@70 degrees. When I left it another 2 weeks at 76 it creeped down right below 1.000. I would have had 2.5 gallons of detonated bottles in my closet of I had bottled at 10 days.

 

[BradleyBrew]

you can never judge a beer on mouthfeel, flavor, etc. Until it has been conditioned & bottled or kegged. Dont worry about racking. I've left beers for 8 weeks in the primary before with 0 problems.

 

[TopherM]

Uncarbonated, young beer typically tastes nothing like well conditioned, carbonated beer. Don't judge the flavor until it's finished.