Comments on: My First Brew - Drinking http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/ A Chronology of Homebrew Experimentation Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:21:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Drew http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-8 Drew Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:05:37 +0000 http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-8 Over the years I've found that aging makes a huge difference in the final taste of the brew. I used to ferment for a week, leave them in the bottle for a week and then drink. The beers were okay, but sometimes a metalic off-flavor, or mediciny flavor like you mentioned. If contamination was not an issue then these off-flavors can be attributed to fusel alcohols. You may have noticed a slight headache and or light-headedness after consuming a few. Racking to a secondary fermenter and letting the beer age in that for an additional week has proven to eliminate that problem with my beers. Also, it settles out a lot more and contributes to a very fine sediment in the bottle. I used to get a pretty thick (3/16 - 1/8") yeast sediment in my homebrews. Now it's just a fine layer like you might see in a Sierra Nevada or Magic Hat. Also, the secondary fermention is a great place to add additional flavors like fruits or some oak chips to get a slightly barrel-aged flavor. After two weeks fermenting with the airlock, bottle and wait another two weeks. Quick homebrews are great, but really great tasting beers take a little longer. Over the years I’ve found that aging makes a huge difference in the final taste of the brew. I used to ferment for a week, leave them in the bottle for a week and then drink. The beers were okay, but sometimes a metalic off-flavor, or mediciny flavor like you mentioned.

If contamination was not an issue then these off-flavors can be attributed to fusel alcohols. You may have noticed a slight headache and or light-headedness after consuming a few.

Racking to a secondary fermenter and letting the beer age in that for an additional week has proven to eliminate that problem with my beers. Also, it settles out a lot more and contributes to a very fine sediment in the bottle. I used to get a pretty thick (3/16 - 1/8″) yeast sediment in my homebrews. Now it’s just a fine layer like you might see in a Sierra Nevada or Magic Hat.

Also, the secondary fermention is a great place to add additional flavors like fruits or some oak chips to get a slightly barrel-aged flavor. After two weeks fermenting with the airlock, bottle and wait another two weeks.

Quick homebrews are great, but really great tasting beers take a little longer.

]]> By: Mark http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-21 Mark Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:04:54 +0000 http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-21 Chlorine or Chloramines in drinking water gives beer a medicinal flavour, it can be removed by using a point of use water filter, filter jug or by preparing the brewing water by adding 1/2 a crushed campden tablet to 25L of water Chlorine or Chloramines in drinking water gives beer a medicinal flavour, it can be removed by using a point of use water filter, filter jug or by preparing the brewing water by adding 1/2 a crushed campden tablet to 25L of water

]]> By: Jeff http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-22 Jeff Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:50:51 +0000 http://thehomebrewexperiment.com/2007/07/05/my-first-brew-drinking/#comment-22 What a great suggestion! I didn't know you could buy tablets that would decrease chlorine, I'll have to pick some up. However, I don't think this is what caused it because on this brew I used 5 gallons of Deerpark. What a great suggestion! I didn’t know you could buy tablets that would decrease chlorine, I’ll have to pick some up.

However, I don’t think this is what caused it because on this brew I used 5 gallons of Deerpark.

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