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Baker

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Hi All

My first batch I did was an Amber Ale, I fermented it for 2 weeks, bottled for 1 week and took a taste, seemed ok but didnt seem ready. Left it for another week and I got a really bitter aftertaste and the beer was very gasey, I have chilled a bottle and tried one each week and get the same, been around 4 weeks now. I put this down as a newbie error of not rinsing the sanitizer.

However, I have finished and bottled my APA, sample I took for FG tasted good (just flat) and I was impressed, I made sure all the bottles were scrubbed, sanitized and then rinsed throughly. I added around 100g of brewing sugar (5gal batch) to some boiling water and added to my bottling bucket.

Bottles have been standing in a wardrobe now at around 22/23C for 12 days now, I put 3 bottles in the fridge on day 10, I tried a bottle on day 11, the colour looked good, the head was really good, taste was strong and hits you with the Hops however the smell of the bottle reminded me of the previous batch, and the aftertaste was there but not that strong. I have opened a bottle today on day 12 and the head isnt as good, the weird smell is stronger and the drink is really gasey, your have to burp after every drink you take.

What could be wrong?
As anybody else experienced this?
 
Hi All



My first batch I did was an Amber Ale, I fermented it for 2 weeks, bottled for 1 week and took a taste, seemed ok but didnt seem ready. Left it for another week and I got a really bitter aftertaste and the beer was very gasey, I have chilled a bottle and tried one each week and get the same, been around 4 weeks now. I put this down as a newbie error of not rinsing the sanitizer.



However, I have finished and bottled my APA, sample I took for FG tasted good (just flat) and I was impressed, I made sure all the bottles were scrubbed, sanitized and then rinsed throughly. I added around 100g of brewing sugar (5gal batch) to some boiling water and added to my bottling bucket.



Bottles have been standing in a wardrobe now at around 22/23C for 12 days now, I put 3 bottles in the fridge on day 10, I tried a bottle on day 11, the colour looked good, the head was really good, taste was strong and hits you with the Hops however the smell of the bottle reminded me of the previous batch, and the aftertaste was there but not that strong. I have opened a bottle today on day 12 and the head isnt as good, the weird smell is stronger and the drink is really gasey, your have to burp after every drink you take.



What could be wrong?

As anybody else experienced this?



Could well be a wild yeast or some other infection that is slowly eating any remaining sugars. However, 100g is quite a lot of sugar so that could be something to do with it :)
 
What could be wrong?
As anybody else experienced this?

I don't think 100g of priming sugar is too much for these styles, but if its too gasey for your tastes just try a bit less next time. Are you sure the beer had reached FG before bottling?

Not sure about the aftertaste - are these kit beers or AG?
 
I don't think 100g of priming sugar is too much for these styles, but if its too gasey for your tastes just try a bit less next time. Are you sure the beer had reached FG before bottling?

Not sure about the aftertaste - are these kit beers or AG?

This - 100g would only be about 2 Volumes of CO2 for a 5 gallon batch which is fine for the style, on the lower end even.
 
This - 100g would only be about 2 Volumes of CO2 for a 5 gallon batch which is fine for the style, on the lower end even.

Exactly - I use about 3g per 500ml bottle which would be about 150g in a 5 gallon batch I think
 
I think most have covered it here. You less priming sugar.

Did you mix the priming sugar in? I would leave the bottles a little longer.

The off taste could be a number of things and without knowing your full recipe and process it is hard to tell what exactly is the issue.
 
Hi All

The 100g should be an ok amount of sugar and the first bottle was fine.

The kit was Mangrove Jacks APA and its a partial Mash Brew. Without smelling or tasting it i suppose its hard to guess whats happening, everything seems well until its bottled for a few weeks.

Could the temperature of the fridge have an effect, is it too cold too quick?
 
You say it was a partial mash brew. Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs here, but I presume you boiled the wort from the mash before adding the lme from the kit. It does sound a bit like an infection, although hard to say for sure without actually tasting the beer. I had a problem with infections for a few brews. Eventually switched back to dry yeast and bought a new fermenter. Problem solved.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
I was thinking infection, but they normally take a while to get going (months rather than weeks).

Could you have bottled them too early - did you take gravity readings and have them stable over several days?
 
It could be down to rinsing your bottles. You should use a no rinse sanitizer.
 
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