Just tried my first brew...not 2 good

[lliw]

Hey my first brew was coopers canadian blonde with BE 1, femented at about 24 degreese.

It was in the bottle for a bit over 2 weeks, I tasted some and they lost head and bubbles really quick and they have a cidery taste.

Is this normal? how much will they improve over time?

I dont think its an infection...

Thanks.

[matt]

the beer will most certainly improve over time. 2 weeks is alittle too early for drinking [unless you have bulk primed, even then i would leave it longer].

wait a few more weeks

[Wassa]

lliw,

Canadian Blonde is a magnificent beer and it will improve with age. At 2 weeks old it is still undergoing secondary fermentation and carbonating.

I know it is hard, but I don't touch my beer until it has had 3 months in the bottle. If I was you I'd wait until it is at least 6 weeks old and then sample it. It will keep getting better and better, as will your brewing skills over the coming brews that you will put down.

Don't be disheartened, just show a bit of patience and be rewarded by a beautiful crisp clean ale in a few weeks time.

[da_damage_done]

Yeah my first attempt at a Canadian Blonde took a while before it was drinkable. Give it time to do its thing and in the mean time put on another brew. It'll take a while to build up a back log of beers but it will be well worth the effort and wait.

When I started I was drinking the beer really early and wasn't letting it age. I really regret that I did that now. Some of the stray ones I didn't get around to downing have come up a treat with time!

Cheers

[lliw]

Thanks,

Another quick question, I was using plastic bottles, i put a capfull of bleach in with water and rinsed them about 3 times with water, is this enough to get rid of the bleach?

[Dogger Dan]

I found bleach and PET bad, especially if you need it to go a long way for age. The nose knows for bleach, smell it, additionally use hot water and if you can put the bottles in direct sunlight, that helps to eliminate the bleach

Dogger

[lliw]

Yer there was still a little bleach smell in them, will it be bad for the beer and/or me?

[Cheeno]

I just found a bottle from a batch I bottled in Jan that I called the Mongrel. It was my first attempt at my own recipe and just to be daring I used the much maligned Pride of Ringwood hops. After three months in the bottle it was definitely the best beer I have tasted made by me. It just makes me wonder why I drank the rest at about four weeks thinking it was just OK. Carbonation, head retention, smoooth mouth-filling flavour it was all there.
lliw you asked how much can you expect your beer to improve with age? In my experience, through the roof. I can see now why some ONLY drink their beer at this age.

[Dogger Dan]

lliw

You will be ok, the problem is the chlorine reacts with some of the phenols which develop in late stage fermentation and form chlorophenols.

These are some real chemical tastes and aromas. If you suspect some bleach smell when you bottled, I wouldn't try and make these go the distance

Dogger

[The Carbonator]

lliw, just buy some bottle cleaner stuff from your hbs, or even coles or kmart.

I only use bleach to CLEAN ( and thats only really dirty bottles )

You only need hot water to clean the bottle straight after pouring it.

I sanitise with bottle cleaner AFTER that.

[lliw]

Oh and will the ammount of alchol increase as well?

I had a few longnecks and I wasnt feeling much of an effect.

[The Carbonator]

more sugar/malt = more alcohol.

it starts to get too sweet though when you add too much - so then you need hops

[lliw]

Yep i understand about that, but you mentioned something about secondary fementation...how much alchol is gained in this process?

[NTRabbit]

roughly 0.5% if i recall correctly

[Dogger Dan]

Not enough to make a difference.

Drink em real fast on an empty stomach or through a straw

Dogger

[Oliver]

more sugar/malt = more alcohol.

... BUT remember we're talking more sugar/malt initially into the fermenter, NOT when you're bottling. If you add more sugar when bottling you'll end up with bottle bombs!

Cheers,

Oliver

[Jacko]

If using coopers PET bottles, don't use hot water as the bottles will lose shape from the heat

[Paleman]

the beer will most certainly improve over time. 2 weeks is alittle too early for drinking [unless you have bulk primed, even then i would leave it longer].

wait a few more weeks

Just going off on a little tangent on this one, but matts quote is interesting.

Two weeks most definately is early. But that depends on the ingredients used. For example most kit and kilo brews from the supermarket, including Coopers dont come into there own for at least a month or more.

But ive just brewed a Marstons Bitter Extrabrew from Grumpys. An extract brew. No harder to do than a k&k. Ive been told not to touch it for at least three months. But after ten days in the bottle, its one of the nicest, classiest homebrews ive made. Without the homebrew taste.

Once you overcome the fear of experimenting, and move away from simple can and sugar brewing, your brews will improve out of sight.

The costs are a little more....but satisfaction skyrockets. So does the quality of your beers.

[The Carbonator]

more sugar/malt = more alcohol.

... BUT remember we're talking more sugar/malt initially into the fermenter, NOT when you're bottling. If you add more sugar when bottling you'll end up with bottle bombs!

Cheers,

Oliver

Woops. Yeah, I did mean primary, not when bottling. Sorry