What should my beer tatse like after 48 hours?

[thood6]

This is my first brew and I'm doing homebrew heaven's wizard wheat. I've had it in the primary for about 2 days and fermentation seems to have slowed significantly. (One bubble every 4 minutes). I took the gravity today and I was reading 1.010. I tasted my sample and it tasted just awful. It tastes almost like tea. The smell does smell like beer though. Any advice? Is this normal? And how much longer should I leave it in the primary. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Thehopguy]

Much longer. 2-3 weeks longer.

 

[Pommy]

Welcome to the forum!

Leave that beer alone for another two weeks MINIMUM before even thinking about bottling. At two days the beer will be nowhere near done fermenting so the taste will not be anywhere near what the finished product will be.

 

[PantherCity]

Don't touch it for 2 weeks.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Check out this guy over here, with his expectations of good tasting beer in 48 hours.

Heh, but all joking aside, I give all of my beers a minimum of three weeks in the primary fermentation vessel.

Welcome to HBT. You'll get used to our off-kilter sense of humor soon enough.

 

[Jayman931]

Wait....thats not a straw? Whats a overflow tube?

 

[thood6]

Thanks guys for all the input. My kits directions were all messed up then. I'm just nervous and hoping this one turns out to be a good one. I think i need a decent beer to calm my nerves.

 

[C-Rider]

Thanks guys for all the input. My kits directions were all messed up then. I'm just nervous and hoping this one turns out to be a good one. I think i need a decent beer to calm my nerves.

Regardless of the instructions.

3 weeks in primary
3 weeks in bottle conditioning at 70*
3 days in fridge at drinking temp.

 

[Maxkling]

Thanks guys for all the input. My kits directions were all messed up then. I'm just nervous and hoping this one turns out to be a good one. I think i need a decent beer to calm my nerves.

Why would you be nervous? I had ZERO expectations about my first beer, and it was almost undrinkable, so I learned a little and moved on.

 

[PseudoChef]

At two days the beer will be nowhere near done fermenting so the taste will not be anywhere near what the finished product will be.

Sounds like it is done - 1.010 is pretty low. Despite all suggestions here to leave been in the primary for an extended period of time, it's honestly that unseen that fermentation is completed within 48 hours or so, especially with highly flocculant yeast.

 

[Fennis]

Sounds like it is done - 1.010 is pretty low. Despite all suggestions here to leave been in the primary for an extended period of time, it's honestly that unseen that fermentation is completed within 48 hours or so, especially with highly flocculant yeast.

It's probably not done. Even if it was, you still want it to sit at least for another week or two to clear up and let it completely ferment out. Otherwise there will be a lot of yeast in suspension, leading to possible bottle bombs if he bottles too early. Its best to wait a few more weeks. I know I was anxious to get my first batch in the fridge, but you also don't want bottles exploding because you didn't get the yeast settle down and completely ferment the beer.

 

[kapbrew13]

Regardless of the instructions.

3 weeks in primary
3 weeks in bottle conditioning at 70*
3 days in fridge at drinking temp.

+1
I live by 3 weeks in primary for almost all brews. Longer for darker and higher gravity brews.

 

[birvine]

A few weeks during which the yeast will clean up the beer. It will clarify beautifully. Then rack to keg or bottling bucket. Have patience for yet more time... three weeks or four while it conditions. Refrigerate the bottles for a minimum of 48 hours. Then make sure you have a comfy lawn chair, crack one of your own beer open,, and ahhhhhh!

B

 

[PseudoChef]

It's probably not done. Even if it was, you still want it to sit at least for another week or two to clear up and let it completely ferment out. Otherwise there will be a lot of yeast in suspension, leading to possible bottle bombs if he bottles too early. Its best to wait a few more weeks. I know I was anxious to get my first batch in the fridge, but you also don't want bottles exploding because you didn't get the yeast settle down and completely ferment the beer.

I honestly don't see it dropping much past 1.010. Letting it sit to clear up? Fine, but I don't see it doing much more fermenting. Yeast in suspension isn't going to lead to bottle bombs - residual sugar, that is then fermented in the bottle leads to bottle bombs. And with a 1.010 finishing gravity, this is very unlikely to happen.

It's best to wait a few more weeks if your beer isn't that great to start off with, but this whole keeping it in the fermentor for an extended period of time seems to be catered to people who aren't brewing good beer to begin with. If you brew good beer - it doesn't need to sit in the fermentor for so long.

 

[Yooper]

I honestly don't see it dropping much past 1.010. Letting it sit to clear up? Fine, but I don't see it doing much more fermenting. Yeast in suspension isn't going to lead to bottle bombs - residual sugar, that is then fermented in the bottle leads to bottle bombs. And with a 1.010 finishing gravity, this is very unlikely to happen.

It's best to wait a few more weeks if your beer isn't that great to start off with, but this whole keeping it in the fermentor for an extended period of time seems to be catered to people who aren't brewing good beer to begin with. If you brew good beer - it doesn't need to sit in the fermentor for so long.

I agree 100%. If you don't create off-flavors in the first place, you don't need time for them to "clean up". I usually leave my beer in the fermenter 10 days to 14 days, but right now we're drinking a beer I brewed last Thursday, July 21, and it's been dryhopped. I kegged it on Wednesday (7 days old) and we were drinking it at 8 days old. It's not typical for me, but it's also not the rarest thing either.

At 1.010, that beer is finished or darn near. As to why it tastes bad, it could be because it fermented at a too-high temperature, the yeast is a poor strain (like Munton's or Coopers), the water isn't very good that was used in the beer, and so on. In a week, it should be a bit better and less "green" tasting. But a foul beer will never really be good.

I usually leave my beer in the fermenter a total of 2 weeks or so, or until it's clear. The clarity is important to me, as if it's not clear when I bottle it, it will clear in the bottles/kegs and I'll have more sediment in the bottles.

I do like that more people are keeping the beer in primary, and not rushing to "get it off the yeast". But now people have swung the other way and attributing magical qualities to the yeast that just aren't there. Yes, yeast will go back and digest diacetyl and other by-products of fermentation. But that happens in days, not weeks.

I assume that since this beer reached 1.010 in 48 hours, that it was pitched and fermented too warm. If that's the case, there could be all kinds of off-flavors including esters (fruity flavors like bananas) and fusels (foul, hot alcohol taste that causes headaches).

At 48 hours, if the beer is finished, it should taste like warm flat beer with maybe a hint of cider (green apple) taste. The green apple flavor will definitely improve with a few more days in the fermenter.

 

[Fennis]

Yeast in suspension isn't going to lead to bottle bombs - residual sugar, that is then fermented in the bottle leads to bottle bombs...

I honestly don't know why I said yeast, that is what I meant, thank you for correcting me.

So, am I wrong to leave mine on the yeast for 3 weeks? I believe its best practice to take a hydrometer reading over the course of a few days to determine if fermenting is complete, and in my relatively limited experience I've noticed that happens usually around 7-10 days after brew day. I've just been going by the common theme on this forum to let it sit for 3 weeks, but if I don't need to be doing that, then maybe my next batch I will try bottling after its completed fermenting. Sorry, based on so many of the posts here, I thought the 3 week primary was basically the golden rule, although in hindsight, it seemed like my batches were ready to bottle after 10-14 days, leaving a few weeks to bottle condition as I don't have a keg system.

 

[TopherM]

I am new to making bread. My dough has been in the oven for 3 minutes and I took a sample. It tastes awful. Nothing like bread. More like dough. What did I do wrong?

Well, my man. It ain't done cooking!

 

[johnnyspade]

If the beer is done, that sample should taste like flat beer. Are you sure you're reading the hydrometer right? Two days to ferment out, though not impossible, seems unlikely.

 

[PseudoChef]

I honestly don't know why I said yeast, that is what I meant, thank you for correcting me.

So, am I wrong to leave mine on the yeast for 3 weeks? I believe its best practice to take a hydrometer reading over the course of a few days to determine if fermenting is complete, and in my relatively limited experience I've noticed that happens usually around 7-10 days after brew day. I've just been going by the common theme on this forum to let it sit for 3 weeks, but if I don't need to be doing that, then maybe my next batch I will try bottling after its completed fermenting. Sorry, based on so many of the posts here, I thought the 3 week primary was basically the golden rule, although in hindsight, it seemed like my batches were ready to bottle after 10-14 days, leaving a few weeks to bottle condition as I don't have a keg system.

No, you're not wrong. As you get more experienced, you'll start getting a feel for when fermentation is done, and generally you can even figure this out without taking a reading. There's conventional wisdom that you need to leave the beer on the yeast to have the cells metabolize fermentation byproducts such as acetaldehyde and diacetyl. However, this process shouldn't take that long - perhaps 2 days tops, once fermentation is complete. So if a fermentation is complete within a week, then around day 9, you should be ok (given healthy yeast/pitch rate/fermentation temperatures). I have better uses for my fermentors - mainly putting more beer in them, so once I get to this point, I'll keg it.

But above all - hone your palate. Let that decide for you if you need to leave it. Once you see fermentation done, and you wait another day or two, taste the beer and see if there's any signs of off flavors - if there are, let it be, but if not, then I'm of the belief that any longer isn't doing anything (with the exception of letting more yeast drop out, but call me a cheater, I'll use finings for this). To circumvent these "off flavors," that's where healthy yeast and good fermentation temperatures come into play. Start getting those things down, and I believe you'll start finding fewer and fewer off flavors when that fermentation is done, and you'll start getting more of a feel for when it's ready to package/drink.

 

[TopherM]

Two days to ferment out, though not impossible, seems unlikely.

Yeast will ferment out 5 gallons of wort in less than 24 hours if you ferment 15-20 degrees above their optimum fermentation temp. You'll get some nasty esters, but it is very likely that it would go that fast at higher temps. Temperature is a catalyst to fermentation.

If it's high 70s-80s where this guy stores his primary, they could easily, even LIKELY ferment out in 48 hours without much difficulty.

 

[Fennis]

Thank you PseudoChef. I really do enjoy brewing, and every brew day is a new experience for me, so I will just work on honing my pallet and brewing more batches. Thank you for the info, I don't mean to take away from the OP and his original question. I've never had anything ferment out in 2 days, then again, the only place in my house with a consistent temperature is my basement, which sits around 62 degrees all year long, so I think it takes my batches a little longer to ferment since from what I understand that is the low end for ale yeast, but its better then attempting to let it ferment elsewhere in the house where the temperatures, especially in the summer, fluctuate from the 60s at night to the 90s during the day.

 

[thood6]

Yeah i guess my temperature might have been running high. I pitched my yeast at 80 degrees and the fermenter has been in my closet at about 73-75. And yeah I'm sure I'm reading the hydrometer correctly, i used two meters and took the reading 3 times as well.

 

[Yooper]

In general, a slower and cooler fermentation produces the best flavor in the majority of beers. Not so cool that the yeast gets stressed and struggles, but on the low end of the optimum temperature for the particular yeast strain is generally ideal. Too warm, and an explosive hot fermentation can occur. For example, if a certain yeast strain's ideal fermentation range is 64-70 degrees, I like to ferment at 64-65 degrees for the best and cleanest flavor. For some strains, like English or Belgian strains, where a fruity flavor from the yeast is desired, I"ll ferment at the middle to higher range of the yeast strain's optimum range.

It all depends on the yeast strain, but in general most people ferment their beers too warm. Probably not most people on this forum, but in general. This forum is full of homebrewing perfectionists, so fermenting too warm is probably less common among the brewers on this forum.

 

[Yooper]

Sorry, based on so many of the posts here, I thought the 3 week primary was basically the golden rule, although in hindsight, it seemed like my batches were ready to bottle after 10-14 days, leaving a few weeks to bottle condition as I don't have a keg system.

Some of the most vocal proponents of a super long primary do claim very good results with it, and I can't argue their results. However, my own results show 10-14 days in the fermenter is more than sufficient for the vast majority of my beers.

I think many of us are pretty "quiet" (says the person with over 30,000 posts!) and just do our thing without much vocalizing about "you have to leave the beer a month in the primary!". I think it's a small but vocal minority who preach that. But like I said, I like that theory a lot more than I like the "primary for 3 days and get that beer off of the yeast cake!" theory that I feel is incorrect.

 

[onipar]

Some of the most vocal proponents of a super long primary do claim very good results with it, and I can't argue their results. However, my own results show 10-14 days in the fermenter is more than sufficient for the vast majority of my beers.

I think many of us are pretty "quiet" (says the person with over 30,000 posts!) and just do our thing without much vocalizing about "you have to leave the beer a month in the primary!". I think it's a small but vocal minority who preach that. But like I said, I like that theory a lot more than I like the "primary for 3 days and get that beer off of the yeast cake!" theory that I feel is incorrect.

Yeah, most often you'll get the "at least 3 weeks or more" answer. Then there are the "usually 3 weeks or more, but it depends on the beer" answers, which are closer to the truth, I think. But all in all, if you look hard enough, you'll get every range from 1 week to 2 months.

Personally, I'm learning to gauge on a beer by beer basis. I usually count on at least 2 weeks for most, and a lot of times end up leaving it for a 3rd week for clarity. But not always.

For instance I have a Graff going now that has a week in primary and still has a thick krausen on top. If I were to take a reading, it's probably close to--if not already--finished fermenting, but I doubt I'll see clarity for at least another couple weeks.

My personal philosophy is that it's better to leave it a little longer than to rack too soon (even if primary fermentation is complete). But then I don't have the time to brew and/or bottle every week, or even every *other* week, so that's another big reason why I let it sit too.

 

[statseeker]

I usually count on 3-4 weeks unless it's an old ale or stout or any beer with brett. I just fermented a stout for about 6 weeks on Wyeast 9097 and it produced amazing flavor at 78-80 degrees fermentation temperature. Honestly, I like fermenting at the higher end of the spectrum and even higher than that if that's what room temp is. Maybe my taste buds arent as sensitive as most, but I dont really notice a difference. I just did a light wheat ale for my wife and used Saf-ale 04 and noticed only a slight fusel type flavor but it wasnt strong and was quite hoppy. It was fermented at 76-78. Maybe I'm on the "screw controlling the temps, just let it do its thing" boat, and maybe I'm alone in it, but the beers have been great.

 

[madbaldman]

There you go, screwing things up by making beer you like in defiance of accepted norms.

Personally I just do what Yooper says because I'm frightened of her avatar.

 

[statseeker]

I have that tendency. I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop and my beer to explode.

There's nothing frightening about that avatar.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Yeah, most often you'll get the "at least 3 weeks or more" answer. Then there are the "usually 3 weeks or more, but it depends on the beer" answers, which are closer to the truth, I think. But all in all, if you look hard enough, you'll get every range from 1 week to 2 months.

Personally, I'm learning to gauge on a beer by beer basis. I usually count on at least 2 weeks for most, and a lot of times end up leaving it for a 3rd week for clarity. But not always.

For instance I have a Graff going now that has a week in primary and still has a thick krausen on top. If I were to take a reading, it's probably close to--if not already--finished fermenting, but I doubt I'll see clarity for at least another couple weeks.

My personal philosophy is that it's better to leave it a little longer than to rack too soon (even if primary fermentation is complete). But then I don't have the time to brew and/or bottle every week, or even every *other* week, so that's another big reason why I let it sit too.

Yeah, that's pretty much why a lot of people will simply say "leave it for 3 weeks"... it's not because all beers are the same and should be good at 3 weeks, it's to:

A) Give newbies the idea that maybe the instructions that say bottle after 3-5 days are wildly incorrect and only say that so they can sell more kits

B) Teach RDWHAHB. For instance, the blonde I have kegged was in primary for 3 weeks and it's delicious, refreshing, clean and was drinkable as soon as it was carbonated. However, at 2 weeks there was a distinct taste of acetaldehyde (used a temperature controller for the first time, was still calibrating it so I was in the low-60's/high-50's on S-04) so I turned the temp controller up to the mid-60's a let it go another week. If I hadn't given it the full three weeks in primary and racked to the keg at 2 weeks it could have taken months for the cold yeasties to clean up the acetaldehyde. I learned early on in my obsession that it's just best to just forget about it for a while and let the yeastie do their jobs.

Just my $0.02

 

[C-Rider]

There you go, screwing things up by making beer you like in defiance of accepted norms.

Personally I just do what Yooper says because I'm frightened of her avatar.

Kind of HOT to me