Distinct Diacetyl Taste

[BoxBrewer]

So I finally got to taste my first brew today, and it tastes pretty good if you can get around the serious buttery taste and smell... From reading online it sounds like this is definitely a symptom of excess diacetyl.

This brew was an oak aged IPA kit from CraftABrew. I noticed after I brewed that their "sanitizer" isn't really a sanitizer, but a cleanser called C-Brite, so I'm a little worried it's moderately infected.

Does anybody know if this taste will go away with more aging? I am tasting it fairly prematurely, only at about 10 days for carbonation and refrigerated for 2. The bottles have been aging in my room closet which is about 68-72 degrees. Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

If it's not too prominent,it'll age out completely or at least to the point where it's not that noticable in 4-6 weeks. If it's from an infection &/or very prominent,you have a problem. It'll then get worse with time. But since you tasted it at 10 days,it may not be conditioned out yet.
Let it sit till 3 weeks time,then pop another one in the fridge for a couple days till it's settle out clear of any chill haze it may have, Then try it.

 

[veritas524]

How long did you let this sit in fermentor for?

 

[BoxBrewer]

It was in the fermentor for 2 weeks, as per the instructions with the kit. I've learned a lot in the past month since I started this brew so I am aware that that may not have been long enough. There are a lot of variables that might have caused this that I had not monitored as well as I should have such as fermentation temperatures and gravity readings.

Originally it was in the fermentor in a closet in my basement but I found that it was below 60 degrees almost all the time, so I moved it to a room that was usually about 64 for the majority of the fermentation.

 

[unionrdr]

Not long enough,I'll wager...dang,ya beat me! Anyway,the temp must've gotten pretty high to produce diecytl off flavors. Usually during initial fermentation. I always give my beers 3-7 days after a stable FG is reached to settle out clear or slightly musty. It's also cleaning up off flavors,etc during this same time.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Not long enough,I'll wager...dang,ya beat me! Anyway,the temp must've gotten pretty high to produce diecytl off flavors. Usually during initial fermentation. I always give my beers 3-7 days after a stable FG is reached to settle out clear or slightly musty. It's also cleaning up off flavors,etc during this same time.

I can tell you the temp never got above 70 degrees. I would bet that the beer itself never got too far over 62 degrees. Unfortunately I am not sure about the gravity readings... The beer was pretty clear when I bottled it so I was confident that it had aged enough, but maybe not?

I just hope it tastes better with time... I'll be real sad if it tastes like this forever.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Only thing I have come up with is that maybe my basement was too cold for fermentation... Although other beers I have brewed recently have been able to reach stable gravity numbers pretty easily down in the cold, but I suppose that doesn't guarantee complete diacetyl absorption.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Just to update, I had some advice to move the bottles from warmer spots of my house to colder spots over the course of a few days. I tested it with a single bottle and it definitely helped bring some of the diacetyl taste down, but it's still there. I think I'm just going to have to wait it out...

 

[Yooper]

Just to update, I had some advice to move the bottles from warmer spots of my house to colder spots over the course of a few days. I tested it with a single bottle and it definitely helped bring some of the diacetyl taste down, but it's still there. I think I'm just going to have to wait it out...

Diacetyl, once the beer is bottled, never goes away in my experience and in fact usually gets worse with time. So if it's getting better, that's awesome because it's not the usual course. That would mean that it's not an infection, so that's a good sign!

 

[BoxBrewer]

Yeah, I've heard mixed things about the butter taste going away, but my friend at the LHBS told me to cycle them around the house and I think that has helped. The taste isn't rotten or rancid, so I'm sure it isn't infected. I just hope it really cleans up here in the next couple weeks.

 

[Thehopguy]

Brew another beer, get over this one. These things happen.