First time brewing!!

[jr14]

Hello all from CT!

Just brewed my first batch five weeks ago. An Irish ale extract kit from northern brewer. I just sampled a bottle to see how the carbonation was going, and I am pleased to report that it seems to be well carbonated.

The bad news is that it seems a bit thin and it has an overwhelming soapy taste, and the head disappeared instantly. So much so that my wife asked if I left soap in the fermenter. Didn't even use soap. Starsan all the way.

Did a little research and the general consensus is it's the presence of fatty acids.

What causes these fatty acids and will they dissipate over time? I think after a couple more days I'll put them in the basement to condition for a while longer.

Hope to be able to contribute soon.

Thanks folks!

 

[cvstrat]

While I totally recommend trying your first beer every few days to experience the stages of conditioning, you wont really have great tasting beer for at least 3 weeks in most cases. You'll have poor head retention until the co2 had had proper time to dissolve into the beer. You may notice a fast dissapating head and thin body. As far as the soapy taste my guess is that it should dissipate or dissapear altogether after it has had time to properly condition. Worst case scenario you have to let it age for a month or two. You should be fine and Congrats on the first batch!

 

[jr14]

While I totally recommend trying your first beer every few days to experience the stages of conditioning, you wont really have great tasting beer for at least 3 weeks in most cases. You'll have poor head retention until the co2 had had proper time to dissolve into the beer. You may notice a fast dissapating head and thin body. As far as the soapy taste my guess is that it should dissipate or dissapear altogether after it has had time to properly condition. Worst case scenario you have to let it age for a month or two. You should be fine and Congrats on the first batch!

That's a relief! Sure hope you're right. I have no problem letting it age out. I'm very patient. I'd rather have great beer after four months rather than mediocre beer after two. Besides, this means I have to brew more so I'll have it on hand right?

So should I put it in the basement now since I know it's carbonated an let it condition? Or should I leave upstairs to carbonate more?

 

[jr14]

Well, I'm pretty sure the hour long soak of the specialty grains is to blame. Judging by what I've read in these forums, twenty or thirty minutes is all you need. Anybody else care to opine?

 

[maxpower76]

Wondering too about the glassware, leftover soap residue on the glass could lead to both the taste and lack of head retention

 

[jr14]

Yah I thought of that too, so I pulled two glasses out of the dishwasher thinking it might be something in there screwing it up. I poured one of mine in one glass and a sam Adams in the other, and the sam Adams had considerable head retention while my stout's head disappeared like coke. Same soapy taste too. Damn.

 

[pkiller001]

How did you clean your bottles? Dishwasher on high heat, starsan or using the oven? How about the bottle caps? These are a couple of places that you might have picked up a soapy taste or something that might wreck your head retention.

I doubt that steeping the grains for 60 min vs 30 min had much effect in this regard: it may be a bit of overkill but I doubt you'll pick up these types of flavors from it.

Hopefully CVStrat is right, and further conditioning will take care of it. Someone who knows more about yeast than I might be able to tell you if the particular strain your using tosses off some soapy flavors early on that get cleaned up later.

Either way, don't be discouraged. Each beer will get better as you get used to the process and iron out the kinks.

 

[jr14]

I cleaned the bottles in the dishwasher on the high temp scrub plus sanitize feature. My remote thermometer probe says my dishwasher hits 182 degrees. So I doubt it was the bottles. I did have a little star san residue in the fermenter, but that shouldn't be a problem right? The owner of five star chemicals said on basic brewing radio that it was just fine and wouldn't affect the beer. The caps were soaked in star san up until bottling as well.

I was very careful in the process for the first time. I'm a very methodical person. Plan it all out, timers for everything, strict on cleanliness.

My brewing partner wasn't wearing latex globes during bottling though, so I'm going to blame this all on him.

 

[iaefebs]

so I pulled two glasses out of the dishwasher

This won't help you with what you are asking, but may help you in the future. Don't put you beer glasses in the dishwasher. A beer glass is something to be treated special. Google "beer glass cleaning"

 

[McCuckerson]

I've had many off-flavors appear in my beer (sweet poetry) and most of them will dissapate with conditioning. Test a bottle every 7 days or so and you will notice a definite difference. The really sad part of homebrewing is that by the time the keg is gone, the beer is at its best

 

[jr14]

Ok. Before I sanitized the bottles, I did two rinse cycles with no soap or anything with the sanitizing feature. I would THINK this would do the trick. Bit I've been fooled before!

I've been trying the beer every other week for a while now, with the same results. Commercial beer in glass good, my ne'er in glass bad.

One thing I have NOT tried is the stout straight from the bottle. Might have to try that tomorrow to eliminate the glass from the equation.

Thanks for the replies!!!

 

[jr14]

Ok. Before I sanitized the bottles, I did two rinse cycles with no soap or anything with the sanitizing feature. I would THINK this would do the trick. Bit I've been fooled before!

I've been trying the beer every other week for a while now, with the same results. Commercial beer in glass good, my ne'er in glass bad.

One thing I have NOT tried is the stout straight from the bottle. Might have to try that tomorrow to eliminate the glass from the equation.

Thanks for the replies!!!

Ne'er should read "beer". I hate apple's autocorrect.

 

[unionrdr]

Never clean your bottles in the dishwasher. There's an enzyme that makes the water run off clean that stays on the glass. Maybe some soap residue as well. That's most likely where the taste is coming from. It doesn't dissipate with time. I soak my recycled bottles in a bucket of PBW over night to slip the labels off & get'em good -n-clean. No off flavors that way.

 

[jr14]

That doesn't explain why a commercial beer does fine and mine doesn't when in two glasses pulled from the same wash cycle. It's in the beer, not the glasses.

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,that's what I'm saying. The dishwasher stuff coated the inside of the bottles. That's why I don't use the dishwasher for cleaning them. I use a bucket of PBW instead. So,when you pour the beer out of those bottles,you're tasting the soap residue.

 

[jr14]

Yes,that's what I'm saying. The dishwasher stuff coated the inside of the bottles. That's why I don't use the dishwasher for cleaning them. I use a bucket of PBW instead. So,when you pour the beer out of those bottles,you're tasting the soap residue.

Ugh. What a moron. Sorry I misunderstood. One too many last night, ya know?

I get what you're saying... Now.

So a good PBW soak then? What about rinsing? Star San is a no rinse, but what about the PBW?

 

[unionrdr]

Five star makes the PBW I use as well,& it says "no rinse" on the label,so I don't. Been fine so far. Star-San is no rinse as well. And yeah,I hear ya on drinkin last night. We did too. I found it the easiest way to just let'em soak overnight To slip the labels off,& soak'em clean. I got to hating spending a day boiling & scrubbing them clean. Too much work.

 

[jr14]

Im with you on too much damned work taking labels off. I might get the old galvanized tub out for a soak of the 200 bottles I have left with labels.

Thanks for the info!