First Kit: Tastes pretty weird, is it ok?

[Chris46]

First of all, thanks for having me, I've been having a browse round the forums for a couple of days and it seems like a great community.

I just wanted some advice, I started my first bitter kit 7 days ago. It was a brewmaster bitter kit to which I added just over 1KG of silverspoon sugar.

I had noticed a few funny smells days ago. But I took a hydrometer reading today and it said 'bottle' so I decided to try it. It tastes strange. I can't work out if it is a 'vinigar' or a 'cider' kind of taste to be honest, perhaps 'tangy' is the right word? Very tangy.

I havn't bottled it yet, as I havn't decided if or not I should chuck it completely. But I have taken a sample and put it in the fridge to re-taste after my dinner.

The Bin I used was second hand (it was filthy), but I did try to sterlise it as best I could with boiling water and then milton tablets.

I do have a lager kit and some beer enhancer here to try next, so If it is definatly knackered I suppose I could just get on with that.

Any ideas/suggestions/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks


*It seems I have posted in the wrong section, sorry*

[burgo]

Early tastings, shortly after it's finished it's primary fermentation do taste odd and not always that pleasant I have found. It needs time to settle down, either in your bottles or keg, after a few weeks you will be surprised how much it changes. I have also worried whether my beer is knackered at this stage but as many of the guys here will tell you tasting it when it is "green" is not a good indication of how it will turn out and chilling out at this stage is the best course of action.

[Chris46]

Thanks burgo, I tried it again after my dinner and it does have a vinegary kind of taste, but it does taste a bit like beer too. I will take your advice and bottle it, probably tommorow and leave it for a while, hopefully it will be ok.

Thanks again

[Ditch]

Whilst I basicly concur with Burgo, on the way things can taste, in the earliest stages ..... " Boiling water and Milton Tablets " ? For a " Filthy " FV ?! Blimey! Bit unconventional, mate!

Cheap, watery bleach would've done a better job, once ye'd scrubbed the filth away. In fact, with the low cost of a tap fitted, squeaky clean new FV? I wouldn't have bothered with the elbow grease and risk.

Saying that? Back to Burgo: Ye haven't said ye took one whiff, one sip and wished ye were dead! So, maybe ye got lucky, this time?

My advice is to go to the Sanitation board and read about cheap bleach and such

[Chris46]

I just assumed that bleach was a bad idea. I may use it next time though, now I know that it's ok. Maybe I'll also buy a new container like you suggested, I suppose I was just being tight.

I'll have a good read of the sanitation section aswell, thanks for the advice Ditch.

[crafty john]

I just assumed that bleach was a bad idea. I may use it next time though, now I know that it's ok. Maybe I'll also buy a new container like you suggested, I suppose I was just being tight.

I'll have a good read of the sanitation section aswell, thanks for the advice Ditch.

Hi Chris
I clean my gear with soda crystals then sanitise with cheap supermarket bleach at a rate of 5ml per litre for about 30 mins job done.

Good luck with your future brews.

Cheers

[crafty john]

I just assumed that bleach was a bad idea. I may use it next time though, now I know that it's ok. Maybe I'll also buy a new container like you suggested, I suppose I was just being tight.

I'll have a good read of the sanitation section aswell, thanks for the advice Ditch.

Hi Chris
I clean my gear with soda crystals the sanitise with cheap supermarket bleach at a rate of 5ml per litre for about 30 mins job done.

Good luck with your future brews.

Cheers

[sdcspeak]

There is no substitute for a proper cleanser ! Try VWP or similar. I now use Oxi which is a no rinse, active cleaner, very happy with it.

If you are using tap water, don't ! You need to get rid of the chorine, either by filtering or another method (campden tablets or pre boil)

[will]

I'm a big believer in reusing old kit. No need to go out and buy a new fermenting bin if the one you have is serviceable. I've gotten barrels and demijohns that have had years, perhaps decades, in garages and dank cupboards and cleaned them up to use them and they been fine.

At first I was cautious about using bleach when I started brewing too. But as long as you rinse well then you should be fine.

If this batch matures out okay then you're good to go and don't need to worry too much. Although your brew won't taste like beer yet, if it is really strongly vinegary I'd be a little concerned.

If all is cool then give the bin a good scrub with some warm soapy water, avoid using any abrasives like brushes or scowering pads as they can rough-up the surface of the plastic and causing little pockets where germs to easily breed. It needs to be well rinsed after as soap can affect the taste of a beer massively. Then water down some bleach in the it and splash it around every ten minutes for half an hour. Rinse well and store it somewhere cleanish until you're ready to go again.

Give it a go with some sanitiser before the next batch. I've never used campden tablets before to sterilise and, although it's accepted practice, I don't know how good it is in comparison to modern products.

[shandypants5]

As has been said above..
Make sure you treat your tap water ( put half a campden tablet in it to kill the chlorine)
and DONT use table sugar.!!!

Both of these errors will give you a "tang" taste.

Spraymalt instead of sugar and treating your water wil give you the beer taste you are looking for.

[Chris46]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Much appreciated.

[sdcspeak]

Spraymalt instead of sugar and treating your water wil give you the beer taste you are looking for.

If you look on this site, I think that you will find that you need to use more spraymalt than you would do if you use sugar.

I have used brewing sugar without any problems.

[Chris46]

Just to let you know I bottled it tonight (still tasted vinegary) and got on with the lager kit. Hopefully it'll turn out ok. Either way I'll let you know.

Thanks again for all the great replies.

[brysie]

chris are you a moto gp fan?

[Chris46]

chris are you a moto gp fan?

Not really mate, why do you ask?

I just thought I'd let you know that I left the beer and after tasting it today, it doesn't taste quite as bad as it did. Don't get me wrong, it still tastes fairly horrible but I may actually drink it. I assume if it was infected it would be getting worse not better?

Cheers