During Fermentation

[Nigel1969]

After 2 days of fermenting, my brew tastes of apples. Is this infected or normal?

[adman1966]

2 days is too soon to be sure. Best continue the fermentation as normal, leave alone as much as possible and try some after 2 weeks.

If it then tastes bad, get rid of it. If it tastes ok be glad you allowed it to fully ferment.

Patience is one of a brewers best tools.

[Nigel1969]

Cheers, its my first attempt, and very hard to leave it alone. I've wrapped a blanket around it, to speed things up. Temp was only 60

[adman1966]

I remember my first brew and how I seemed magnetically drawn to the FV almost every 5 minutes! I was sure it would go wrong if I didn't keep looking at it.

After a few brews it gets easier to trust that what should be happening actually is happening.

Temperature wise you can ferment at 60 but it will take longer. 68 (or 20C) seems to be about right for an ale, 60 would do for a lager.

You will also find that the last few pints will taste the best. This is due to longer conditioning than the first few pints had.

Best plan is to get your next brew started now so that it will be ready when you finish your first batch.

Before you know it you'll have plenty on the go (I did!)

[adman1966]

oops, I hit the button twice!

[Nigel1969]

Ye your right, its as if I'm waiting for something to go wrong. Gonna leave it at a nice temp of 20 for a week.