My first batch...it doesn't taste good!

[roccobrewingcompany]

No my name is not Rocco, that's my dog's name. Since he was always snooping around as I brewed, I figured I'd name the beer after him.

He wasn't around enough to the point where he potentially contaminated the batch...I tasted it. It doesn't taste good, but the beer does not taste like it caught a bug. I tasted it before bottling, just to make sure I didn't go through that process if the beer was bad.

Please tell me it will taste better in a few weeks???

It's a Brewers Best Holiday Ale. To the taste, I can feel a little burn from the alcohol. But the flavor was dull, to the point that I will not enjoy it at all when I do decide to crack one open. No flavor whatsoever. I tasted it prior to adding the priming sugars.

Trying to recall what may have gone wrong...if anything...

1) on night #2, the top blew off the glass carboy (the yeast and sugar was really working hard), and I had some overflow. I cleaned it up and left the seal cap off for about 5 hours, as it broke in the trauma of the "explosion". I got a new one in the morning and resealed.

2)I had kept the glass carboy covered by a blanket in the dark part of my basement. One day I came home from work and found the basement light on and the carboy exposed to the light. A serviceman was working in my basement and must have been the culprit. The beer must have sat that way for a few hours.

Anyway, I am hoping it will taste remarkably better come Feb. when I give it a try. Is there a chance?

 

[Corey_SS]

It's pretty common for the beer to have a very bland flavor at bottling time. That's why you wait a few weeks after bottling - drinking it before that isn't a very good indicator of what the final beer will be.

As to the light being on, unless it was flourescent I don't think there will be a problem. If it was, just wait it out and see if it's skunky.

Just give it some more time.

 

[billl]

Neither of those things are ideal, but they aren't automatic deal breakers. However, a hot alcohol taste and explosive fermentation often are results of not controlling the temperature.

Also, if you haven't tasted completely flat beer before, you might not know that it tastes....well... flat. Even most really good beer tastes 1 dimensional and boring if it isn't carbonated.

 

[wikki]

I've been brewing since the summer and am on my 5th batch. The first I made was pretty bad and the second was ok. I'll agree with Bill on the temperature. My first batch had some off flavors, but it was fermented at over 70. My second batch was fermented a little lower, but still not ideal. After that I got a freezer and stc1000 to control the temp and I have had outstanding results since.

What is the temp in your basement? What kind of yeast were you using?

 

[CervezaMaLa]

I brewed the same exact kit and kegged it. I was incredibly disappointed at first because it tasted so hot (heavy alcohol taste - like rubbing alcohol) and the flavors weren't very noticable. I was so bothered by that first taste (after about a month of fermenting/conditioning) that I never got over the mental block of it not being good.

To my surprise, everyone who came over after that raved at how it was my best beer. I kept getting that same comment, but I still barely drank any. Finally, about another month later I started drinking it more...and finally loved it...for the last 4 beers before the keg was kicked. At least my friends got to enjoy it.

Bottom line - it has a strong alcohol smell at first...lots of specialty, dark grains...give it time, maybe a month in the bottle...it's definitely spicy, but the alcohol will tone down and the flavors will come out.

Enjoy it.

 

[RmikeVT]

Im surprised no one has asked this, could you give the detail of your brew:
Original Gravity, Final Gravity, Yeast Strain, Fermentation Temps, How long did you primary, secondary (if at all), how long has the beer in bottled?

So, I took the time to look up the details of the kit. You are looking at a strong beer with spices which both need time to mature. With a ABV of 7%-8% this beer probably needs about 2+ months in the bottle to mature. I know that is not what you want to hear.

In the meantime brew up a 4%-5% english brown, american or english pale or something similar and ferment around 65-68. Let it sit in primary for 2-3wks an in the bottle for 2wks and you will be drinking that before the christmas ale will be ready.

 

[roccobrewingcompany]

thanks to everyone for the quick and knowledgeable responses.

Regarding temperature, I keep my thermostat upstairs at 69, and the basement is probably a degree or two cooler.

 

[roccobrewingcompany]

sorry for my ignorance as this was my first batch...but we forgot to take an initial gravity so I have no idea.


Original Gravity--unknown
Final Gravity-unknown
Yeast Strain- ??
Fermentation Temps,
How long did you primary-9 days
secondary-8 days,
how long has the beer in bottled?--just bottled it yesterday (I tasted before bottling)

I will leave in bottles until mid March and see how it goes. It's not the time of year for a holiday Ale, but we will get a few cold days and nights in PA.!

 

[scutly]

i brewed my spiced xmas beer on nov 16th hoping for it to be ready on xmas. i only primaried for 2 weeks hoping that i had enough time in the bottle, well i got the same taste as you like rubbing alchohol at first and it gradually mellowed over time, but damn since about last week this beer started tasting awesome. so i guess somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks in the bottle makes a world of difference over 2 to 3 weeks. absolutely hardest thing to learn in this hobby is patience. beer tastes the best now with only 9 bottles left :smack:

 

[RmikeVT]

sorry for my ignorance as this was my first batch...but we forgot to take an initial gravity so I have no idea.


Original Gravity--unknown
Final Gravity-unknown
Yeast Strain- ??
Fermentation Temps,
How long did you primary-9 days
secondary-8 days,
how long has the beer in bottled?--just bottled it yesterday (I tasted before bottling)

I will leave in bottles until mid March and see how it goes. It's not the time of year for a holiday Ale, but we will get a few cold days and nights in PA.!

I looked up the detail for the kit online:
FG: 1.068-1.072
ABV: 7%-8% which indicates FG should be in the 1.015 give or take range

Typically, when you have a beer that goes north of 1.060 its going to take a little bit longer to mature. Additionally, when you add spices and flavoring those compounds are going to need to to mellow and age too. The compounds produced by the yeast in a higher gravity brew along with the spices start off harsh and unrefined and need time to mellow out and blend with each other and the yeast needs time to clean up after itself.

Before you get disappointed with the beer, be patient and give it some time to mellow and wait for it to be carbonated before evaluating. One of the fun things to do as a new brewer is tasting the beer as it evolves. After you bottle it up, give it a 3-4wks to carbonate and then start trying one a week and you can perceive the beer as it goes through its evolution. Also, with the higher alcohol level don't be surprised if it isn't fully carbed in 2-3wks either.

To reiterate, in the meantime get an english brown, pale ale or bitter going and you can be drinking that 4-5 weeks after brew day, 2-3weeks after brew day if you keg. I would also recommend putting together your own recipe with help of the folks at your LHBS, you will save a couple bucks and the ingredients (mainly yeast) will be fresher and probably higher quality than what you get in the kits. US-05 and Nottingham are great dry yeast to start with.

Also -- I wouldn't worry about the blow-off or the lighting issue. As someone said earlier, not ideal, but probably not to a great detriment. A quick tip, I use brown paper grocery bags and cut a hole in the bottom and flip them upside down and put over my carboys. They fit perfectly and I have all CFL in my basement and my lady leaves the lights on down there all the time and I've never and my friend have never picked up on skunky flavors.

 

[wikki]

thanks to everyone for the quick and knowledgeable responses.

Regarding temperature, I keep my thermostat upstairs at 69, and the basement is probably a degree or two cooler.

That's probably a little warmer than you want but you may be surprised that it's actually much cooler. Most ale yeasts seem to have an ideal range of somewhere between 60-70, however each company will list their ideal fermentation temp. Also remember that the actual fermentation temp is going to be a little bit higher than the ambient air temp because of the heat produced during fermentation.