what did i do wrong now...

[Pommy]

I have just tried by third batch that i made the other day. It has only been bottled a couple of weeks so its too young to taste all that nice but its FLAT. There is no taste of the carbonation drops (and no i didnt forget to put them in) and the beer tastes a bit strange. I fermented it for just over 2 weeks and i thought it would be fine. OG was 1.044 and FG 1.011. On the last couple of days however a dark ring appeared around the top of the mix which i presumed was just telling me to get it bottled, this spead to about the top quarter over the next day and when I tasted the beer it tasted as it does now. Im just wondering if I left the beer fermenting too long as I have only left the first two batches 7 and 10 days but they were underdone. I also had it sitting at 28*C most of the time it was fermenting so I presume that didnt help. Please try explain to me if my beer is ruined and if it will do any damage to me to drink it It doesnt taste that bad if its cold enough

 

[boydak]

Carbonation takes time. Letting beer sit in primary for long periods will not hurt it but will help it.

Relax. Let it sit for at least 2 more weeks.

 

[ChshreCat]

Well, it's not carbonated because... it's not carbonated yet. Give it another week or two, and then put a couple bottles in the fridge for 48 hours before you try them. They need that time in the fridge to absorb the CO2 in the headspace of the bottle. If you don't do that, you might get a *pffft* when you open it, but the CO2 won't be in the beer, it'll just be sitting under the cap.

As for tasting funny. You fermented it quite warm (unless it was a Belgian that was supposed to be fermented warm, you don't say) so you could've gotten some off flavors from that. It's also very young, at only a month from brewing and two weeks in the bottle, so that's going to make it taste funny as well. Give it more time, at least a couple more weeks and try again. It might be a month or two before it really comes to it's proper flavor.

As for fermenting too long... I'd call two weeks in primary a minimum. I run mine 3 weeks to a month. Some folks on here go longer.

If you give the beer more time on the yeast, then the yeast have time to clean up some of the off flavors they produce as by products of the fermentation process. If you give them more time, you might like the result better.

More time and better temp control, IMO, are the two things you need to really make your beer great.

 

[Makeyermark]

You have not over fermented the beer. I have left beer in the tanks for over a month and it only gets better with time. Some beers can take up to three weeks to carbonate. At two, I would think there would be some carbonation, but I would not panic yet. Your temp is a bit high, but that should not effect the carbonation. It would however cause some off (fruity) tastes to your beer. How much priming sugar did you use in your batch?

 

[Pommy]

Okay, just as I was hoping it seems my beer may not be dead yet.

I have underfermented my previous two beers (waited until the airlock stopped bubbling then left it for two days) only giving them a week or so. After tasting them after a week there has been a strong flavour of carbonation drops and the beer was very frothy. Am I right then in presuming that as I have completed the fermentation process it is the reason that the beer is flat rather than gassy as the incomplete fermentation of the previous batches has happened?

Im hoping the beer will turn out okay and I will have learned the two lessons always preached on here; patience and that it is almost impossible to kill your batch

 

[Pommy]

just wondering then, what was the story with the dark ring?

 

[hopvine]

I think a lot of people are skipping over your temperature issue because you posted it in Celsius; that's 82.4 F! You didn't mention the style, but regardless that's ridiculously warm for fermentation, and undoubtedly is the cause of the strange taste. I'm not sure what that kind of temperature over a 2 week period would do to your yeast viability prior to bottling, but my suspicion is that it probably isn't good for it and may be causing the lag in carbonation that you're seeing.

I would give it a few more weeks before getting too worried, but those strange flavors are probably there to stay.

 

[fratermus]

just wondering then, what was the story with the dark ring?

That's probably the normal crud that accumulates at the top.

If you will have to ferment at that temp you might look into saison/farmhouse. They like it hot. You could also do weizen that hot if you like banana.

Tshirt and waterbath is in your immediate future otherwise.

 

[Revvy]

just wondering then, what was the story with the dark ring?

It was a more than likely a bottle krausen...since you have what is in effect a mini fermenter in each bottle. And since you made an ale with a top fermenting yeast...sometimes karuzens do form....usually with priming using dme, and if I recall correctly, coopers drops are a mixture of sugar and dme...

And everyone is right, you need to give them more time.

Read this.

Revvy's Blog, Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

And walk away for at least 2 more weeks....

 

[beerkrump]

just wondering then, what was the story with the dark ring?

Pictures?

The way you describe it getting larger and spreading downward, it might be the yeast precipitating and settling to the bottom. You really need to let this happen completely. As the yeast sediments and prepares for hibernation, the little beasties will store compounds they will need when they reawaken. Some of these compounds are contribute off flavors.

Oh yeah, your yeast just called and said it too hot.

 

[david_42]

28C is too hot for almost all yeasts. That is likely to give you odd flavors. 18-22C is much better. Isn't it winter down there?

 

[Pommy]

cheers guys, yeah i think i just cooked the heck out of it, i drank it but it was never going to be good, still it stopped me been thirsty so not a complete waste of time. i used a box with a thermometer sticking out the top from the father in law, the bulb was too close to the fermenter so the temp was showing 20*C (ideal) wheras the digital said 30*C (stupidly high) when i took the box off

lesson learnt