I've made 2 batches so far, a Belgian Ale and an Imperial Stout... they came out okay, but I've noticed somewhat of an odd taste to them both... I don't know how to describe it, maybe as somewhat "stale"
The smell of the beer is exactly what it smelled like as it was fermenting... so maybe it's just that smell that's stuck in my head that makes me think it tastes sorta funny.
Anyone have any ideas? I'll probably bring a bottle to my local home brew place and have them try it, to see if they have any suggestions.
I used a kit, but one made by the local brew place... so AFAIK the ingredients were quite fresh. The imperial stout kits were made a day or two before I bought it. The malt was this dark brown syrupy stuff that was in these vacuum packed plastic packet type things. The temp it fermented and sat at was in the high 60s.
It definitely doesn't taste BAD, it's very drinkable, it just doesn't taste like a lot of other imperial stouts I've tried.
You may need to give it more time. How long has it been in the bottles? Imperial stouts are usually fairly high gravity beers and the higher the gravity, the more maturation time is needed. This will give some of the up-front flavours time to mellow out and for the more complex flavours to develop. I suggest to cellar them for a few months. In the meantime make an English Mild or something similar which is very quick to mature - as soon as the bottles are carbonated ther're ready to go! Hope this helps, Steve W.
A decent imperial stout will need to sit for 6 months to a year to mellow out and reach it peak flavor. This is due to the high alcohol content. The higher the original specific gravity (pre-fermentation) of the beer, the longer you need to let it sit.
I've brewed 3 5gal batches so far and when bottling I've gone with the rule of thumb mentioned in more than one HowTo guide of 1 inch of headspace at the top of the bottle. To me this seems excessive so I've bottled some of the beers with the 1 inch, some with 1/2 inch and some with almost no space at all (I was skeptical at this point and just waiting for something to explode).
I let my brew ferment and then sit for another week so the yeast settles to the bottom and check the final gravity 3 different times over a few days to make sure it is done prior to bottling. I have brewed an amber ale with an OG of 1.038, and a stout with an OG of 1.061. I bottle condition for 2 weeks at fermentation temp and then refrigerate until cold and drink.
I notice that I get very little head from the bottles with more airspace and a funky taste, almost like soured wine (though only slightly so). The bottles with less airspace have a nice thick head and better taste.
Am I doing something wrong? How much airspace should be left in the bottle, and how long should they be conditioned in the bottle before drinking?
BTW, I use 4oz of corn sugar boiled in a pint of water for priming.
I don't know the conversions off-hand from oz to cups, but according to morebeer.com "In one small pot, put 4 oz, or 3/4 cup corn sugar and one to two cups of water..." So I assume that 4oz (the normal package size sold) is 3/4 cup.
ATTENTION ALL BREWERS: There is a difference between ounces by weight and ounces by volume, in other words, regular ounces vs. fluid ounces. Fluid ounces are only accurate as a weight measurement for, you guessed it, fluids, such as water or other liquids.
If you weigh out 4 ounces on your kitchen scale (like I just did), it actually turns out being somewhere close to 7/8 of a cup, NOT 1/2 cup. 1/2 cup only turned out to be 2.4 ounces. So if you assume fluid ounces work for weight, you are dead wrong. Check it out yourself. It has to do with the density of the solid. Liquids are more dense than flaky solids such as corn sugar. On the other hand, if you fill your measuring cup with 4 ounces of lead shot, I can guarantee it ain't going to be no 1/2 cup. Think about it.
Back to you, Mr. Nick Rundle.... your packages of 4 ounces of corn sugar are just fine for 5 gallons of brew. Don't listen to these other guys. As for your off-flavor problem, well I'm not really sure what's going on there. I usually leave about an inch and a half head space and I've never had any noticeable problems.
It's much more accurate to measure the corn sugar by weight than by volume. I use 5 oz./5 gal. for an approximate carb level of 2.75 volumes. 4 oz. would yield about 2 volumes.
It's something else...oxidation doesn't produce sour flavors. And I have a hard time believing it's related to headspace.
On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:13:03 -0800, Denny Conn said in alt.beer.home-brewing:
That's why I put sour in quotes. What one calls sour another might call stale.
So do I. I've bottled with headspaces of almost nothing to a couple of inches, with the same batch (I have lots of used bottles), and never noticed a flavor difference due to the headspace. Maybe if the beer stayed in the bottle for a year ... But the headspace should be mostly CO2, so it shouldn't make much difference anyway.
Well this batch of beer didn't go so well anyway. Brewing went fine but it is winter and my basement is too cold for ale so I put the carboy in my closet (I noticed the next morning that my closet wasn't getting any heat and the temp was down to 50F). So I moved the carboy over by the heater (set at 65F) thought it would be fine and came back from work to a 90F carboy. I finally got it to 65F and didn't expect to have good results but figured I might as well continue and see what happens.
I did get a FG in the range I expected so I assumed that I didn't shock the yeast before they finished fermenting. I boiled the corn sugar and added it to the bottling bucket before bottling. Some of the bottles when opened pump head right out of the top and seem overly carbonated. Other bottles have virtually no head when poured and taste flat. Perhaps the wild fermentation ride I sent the beer on is the root of the problem, but it doesn't explain how different bottles in the same batch can vary so much on carbonation levels.
On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:40:57 -0600, "N. Rundle" said in alt.beer.home-brewing:
Maybe the bottles were subject to the same differences in temperature. The warmer ones (up to about 70 degrees or so) would be more carbonated than those that sat at 55 degrees. (Even a few degrees difference between one dozen bottles and another dozen can result in different carbonation levels.) Those that were too warm would be less carbonated than those in the 70 degree range.
Just a thought, maybe not applicable to your situation, bit it's why I prefer kegs to bottles.
Excessive carbonation can also be a sign of infection due to dirty bottles. Infections often leave a ring in the neck of the bottle that defies all-but a vigorous scrubbing. I guess it could also be the case that the corn sugar wasn't distributed evenly, but my personal experience suggests that isn't likely.
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.