Home brew smell

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crilly

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I've tried brewing my own beer a few time, with little success, so this time I decided to try and do it right,and follow recommendations on here and by watching the YouTube videos.

First batch fermented for 7 days, bottled and kept at room temperature for 7-10 days, and now been in the garage for just under two months, perfect I thought, however on opening my first bottle I hit with the homebrew smell which I've always got when brewing, I can put my finger on what it smells like but, my girlfriend seems to think it's a fruity smell, but it seems present in every batch i've brewed.

My brew was from a Woodforde kit, no additions, just the two cans, water and yeast, any ideas what I could be doing wrong as its becoming a bit disheartened. The beer is drinkable but not something I would offer to anyone else.

Any advise would be really appreciated
 
Sounds like esters to me - produced by the yeast if fermented too warm. Are you fermenting at room temp?
 
The best advice I got here was to leave it in the FV for two weeks minimum. Did you take any hydrometer readings?
 
And only a 7 day ferment?
I had the same smell-issue with one of my brews, took me effort to drink it, it wasn't spoiled, just tasted OFF as heck. Could be the Amarillo hop, could be something else. But unpleasant.
 
Thanks for the replies, fermenting in the kitchen, could the fluctuation in temperature when cooking affect the fermentation process. Also would you recommend a long fermenting time.
 
In the summer if you don’t have a temperature controlled fermentation then probably the coolest place in your house is best. Or at least somewhere where the temperature fluctuates as little as possible, so away from windows and doors is ideal. A dark cupboard or somewhere near the middle of the house is good.
 
Temp fluctuations cause off flavours (and imagine smells). So you want to keep fluctuations to a minimum. Having said that, I ferment in my kitchen (with no temp control - I use temp appropriate yeasts), with no problems
 
The closest thing I got to a walk in closet is an under stair cupboard, which would be in complete darkness once the door is closed, would that be ok, or is some light required. Living in a smallish house limits my options
 
Also, MyQul comments about temperature appropriate yeast, would you steer clear of the yeast supplied with the kits and buy something else
 
I did a mild once that tasted basically quite nice but had a really unpleasant fruity aftertaste - caused I'm sure by fermenting at too high a temperature, high 20s at a guess. I ferment in our airing cupboard which can get very hot in winter when the hot water tank is heated by our woodburner. Since then I still ferment in there but by leaving the door open I can keep it pretty steadily at 20c. The rest of the house rarely gets up to fermentation temperature, even in summer.
 
I don't have temperature control and I ferment in an fv sat in a builder's trug in case it overflows - this way it doesn't mess up any carpets etc.
I always leave for at least 2 weeks in the fv and never bottle until I've had 3 hydrometer readings the same over 3 days. I have found that the beer is clearer when bottling if left in the fv longer as the yeast 'clears up after itself' once the main burst of fermentation has stopped.
7 days before bottling is far too early in my opinion. If fermentation has completed, give the yeast another week to work it's magic. If it hasn't (and some yeasts can take up to 4 weeks with no temp control - like the Youngs American and Bulldog kits) then you could have bottle bombs/gushers.
 
crilly said:
Also, MyQul comments about temperature appropriate yeast, would you steer clear of the yeast supplied with the kits and buy something else
Click to expand...

I would still use the kit yeasts as the Festival/Youngs American/Bulldog kits provide style appropriate yeasts. I 'may' change the Wherry yeast but usually just use the one provided. Just try to keep the fv in a place where the temperature fluctuations are minimised and not too warm (I prefer to ferment at the lower end of the temp scale for a longer period to avoid esters).
 
GerritT said:
Walk-in closet, core of the house. Stable as can be. All ales work out well.
Click to expand...
Did this at my old house. Cupboard under the stairs stayed around 18C all year around and it was ideal (apart from the door being too low to actually get inside very well). Heat belt and Inkbird for when it needed a boost but for APAs and the like it barely even kicked in - it was a great wee cupboard.

We moved house and I finally got a garage to use as my brewery/gym and I now have 2 brew fridges.
 
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