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by **TexasOutlaw** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:20 am

Eek! The guys on the beer forum are saying infection. Also, that I may have bottle bombs.

by **Terrence** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:48 am

Keep an eye on the water line of your bottles. One sign of infection is a ring formed right at the line between beer and the head space in the bottle. Sour flavor + bottle rings, or other abnormalities in the bottle might mean a dead batch

My green nut brown ale was sweet and nutty.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:38 am

WIll do. I think if it's an infection, I'll start to have bottle bombs. In which case, I will have to pop the top and pour them out probably.

by **NoLifeLeft** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:28 pm

Ok...Some off flavors that I've experienced first hand...

Description : Cause
Green Apple : Certain refined sugars in the kit or bact. Usually goes away in bottle.
Buttery : Diacetyl, common from British Yeast
Solvent : Too warm of a fermentation
Rotten Eggs : Hydrogen Sulfide, usually goes away after bottle cond.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:58 am

NoLifeLeft wrote:Ok...Some off flavors that I've experienced first hand...

Description : Cause
Green Apple : Certain refined sugars in the kit or bact. Usually goes away in bottle.
Buttery : Diacetyl, common from British Yeast
Solvent : Too warm of a fermentation
Rotten Eggs : Hydrogen Sulfide, usually goes away after bottle cond.

The closest would be rotten eggs; maybe my beer is not lost yet. The guys from the beer forum told me to watch for bottle bombs but didn't say how soon I should be expecting them.

by **Terrence** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:08 am

I've got some good news! My batch of nut brown ale is maturing into a tasty beer. It's had about six weeks in the bottle. For the first four weeks the beer had this odd "fruitiness" or maybe "solvent" as NoLifeLeft describes. During the fermentation the air temperature in the cabinet we used got up to 85° at times. The primary stopped bubbling after like four days.

I tried a couple tuesday and that off flavor is gone. It's smooth and a lot more balanced, the offness overpowered the body before. Hopefully all your batch needs is a few weeks in the bottle.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:16 pm

Terrence wrote:I've got some good news! My batch of nut brown ale is maturing into a tasty beer. It's had about six weeks in the bottle. For the first four weeks the beer had this odd "fruitiness" or maybe "solvent" as NoLifeLeft describes. During the fermentation the air temperature in the cabinet we used got up to 85° at times. The primary stopped bubbling after like four days.

I tried a couple tuesday and that off flavor is gone. It's smooth and a lot more balanced, the offness overpowered the body before. Hopefully all your batch needs is a few weeks in the bottle.

Yeah I think i overreacted. I think mine is gonna do the same. They tell us to ferment for a week, bottle for 2. But I am having better results fermenting for 2 wks: the extra time on the trub really helps the yeast. And my first ale wasn't completely carbonated after 2 weeks, it took 2 weeks and 5 days; as a result, I will now allow 3 weeks for full carbonation. As you stated, longer time in the bottle mellows out the flavor as well.

I'm sure you've heard of the 1-2-3 rule (1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 3 weeks in the bottle). I like 2-3 with no secondary. My kit didn't didn't come with a secondary, but the fellas I talk to that have brewed over 10+ years, they don't use a secondary at all! They say it risks moving the beer before the yeast is 100 percent done.

I'm being very ambitious, maybe not so much with my next beer (Extra Special Bitters), but with my batch after that, a Heffenwizen (german wheat, cant ever spell it). I have some Irish liquid yeast, so the one after that will be an Irish ale or a frankenstein american amber with irish yeast.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 10:43 am

Remember when i was worried about having enough bottles? I got a bottle tree that holds 90 bottles, and my house is still cluttered with bottles. I guess I need to double my brewing schedule.

by **NoLifeLeft** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:01 am

Save some case boxes and store your well rinsed empties in them upsidedown. They stay cleaner that way and good case boxes stack well.

by **Terrence** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:35 am

I ran to a nearby corner liquor/grocery market and asked for a couple empty case boxes. They're perfect for storing empty bottles and for bottle conditioning in the basement.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 pm

Terrence wrote:I ran to a nearby corner liquor/grocery market and asked for a couple empty case boxes. They're perfect for storing empty bottles and for bottle conditioning in the basement.

Good idea. They kept 50 of those crown royal purple bags for me; I used to use them to tame little birds though I'm not raising companion parrots at the moment.

Today is a brew day for me; I'm making an Extra Special Bitters, which I believe is gonna be Bass-like. I'm ordering another carboy, so that I can have 2 beers fermenting at the same time.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Fri May 04, 2007 9:24 am

Bottled a ESB last night. It didn't taste like Bass as I was expecting but more like a Sam Adams. I brew a Hefe on Saturday (made a starter last night), and I have an Irish Red in transit along with another fermenter.

by **Terrence** » Sat May 05, 2007 12:03 pm

Awesome! you've really dove into brewing. I think I'd have more batches under my belt but I live with my parents so brewing is done at my brothers' house. An irish red has been in the bottle for nearly two weeks but we haven't started anything else yet.

by **TexasOutlaw** » Tue May 08, 2007 2:05 pm

Yeah I have a 3 bedroom house. So I can have all my brewing equipment in one room (the one I'm turning into a bar) and store all my bottles in another.

Living alone, I tend to drink more as well. My goal is too never have an empty carboy again. Somehow my timing got messed up. I'm doing a better job of brewing, bottling, and ordering to not have dead time.

I ordered a 2nd carboy with my last order, so I will be able to brew the day I receive it. My next investment will be an aeration kit of some kind. I also intend to order a keg kit as soon as they come back in stock at B3. Guess I have jumped right in. It just seems like a natural process to me: Man loves beer, man makes beer, man drinks beer...

by **Terrence** » Wed May 09, 2007 10:01 pm

I finally tasted the Irish Red tonight. It's fantastic! The third batch was a charm for us as this beer came out with flying colors. Slightly sweet, while still contrasted nicely with the hops, with a cleaner finish which makes it a better session beer. I wish we could've made ten gallons of this stuff.

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