Well, This beer wasn't fun.

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No noise or bubbling from the airlock? You're sure it's not clogged with fruit fibres or any other detritus?

I think Fisher meant the airlock slowed down, not stopped. I had a similar experience with my first beer; the airlock was bubbling so vigorously that it was literally making a clicking sound from being bounced around so much (assuming he has a three piece airlock too).
 
I think Fisher meant the airlock slowed down, not stopped. I had a similar experience with my first beer; the airlock was bubbling so vigorously that it was literally making a clicking sound from being bounced around so much (assuming he has a three piece airlock too).

Yea, it sounded like a timebomb ticking away the first day(which given it exploded...). I always use 3 peices on primary, easier to clean.
 
Hmmm...

my OG was someplace between 1.079-.082

Currently around 1.015

Tasted the sample really bitter fusel alcohol flavor and clove that numbs the tongue, good banana scent, a little banana flavor on the tail.

Wondering if that should be normal for a beer this young, and if it is why it needs months of aging.
 
You'll just have to wait a while I guess, seems to me that something like this would need a few months.


Yea I know, Kit says 2 months, but I'm thinking longer, but then everyone says to bottle it then age it, which...just rubs me the wrong way after doing mead for the last 2yrs or so...
 
Every beer kit I've made so far has the same odd chemical taste (I've made 4 from 3 different companies, a 15 dollar junker "lager", a mid-priced Canadian Red Ale, and ome higher end Heavy and Bitter kits). I have no idea what causes it other than that it seems to be similar to hops-gone-wrong or something, maybe has to do with the hops being extracted then the wort reduced - it's driving me absolutely nuts.

Anyways, the reason I mention it is that I've given up on those kits being "fast" beer, I'm leaving them to age in bottles now, I just can't handle the garbage taste and am waiting for it to hopefully go away!
 
A house flavor could be due to type of sanitizer or water chemistry. What kind of water are you using?

Some friends say they can always tell which homebrews were made in Berkeley/Oakland (which are on a different water supply than, say, the south bay). The water, and more likely the water treatment plant, gives a particular flavor to every beer. Similarly, I find that every beer from Big Sky in Montana has the same odd flavor that I don't care for. It's probably their water.
 
I just use iodophor and tap water. I thought for a bit that tap water might be the issue, because I think we have chloramine here - but all the other brewers in town seem to have no problem with it, plus the real evidence is that I've also done 3 or 4 partial grain recipes (Wayne's broggot-docio, a maple ale based on the previous grain bill, a weird darker low ABV ale, and a low ABV light coloured spruce tip ale) that used extract plus specialty grains, then had either whole hops, hop pellets or spruce tips. These beers had exactly zero of the taste/aroma I'm having a problem with.

None of those had this very distinct flavour. The heavy and bitter I made almost hide it behind bitterness, but it's still pretty clearly there, the cheapo "lager" had it in spades, it was pretty much the main taste, and the red-ale I'm not totally sure about yet (still in secondary) but it smells like it'll have the taste too.

For the heavy and bitter I used the kits exactly as advertised (they come with 2 cans of hopped LME so need no extra sugar) and the other 2 kits I added either LME or DME instead of adding dextrose.


Very sorry for hijacking this thread!
 
No Worries, I'm of the belief an active topic sees more ontopic posts eventually even if it derails.

Your extract was coming in cans? That could be the problem itself, just having old middling quality extract....
 
I've used non-hopped extract from cans before though and none of the same problem, as well as repackaged DME and LME from the LHBS. The problem seems to be exclusively with hopped-extract beer kits.
 
I drew a larger sample today (100ml vs the 5ml previous) so that I could taste the whole thing at once,

It's not bad, perhaps a little rough but time can fix that easily I think, The fusel character could of simply been from the small sample size I think cause as I'm swishing it around in my mouth I know there is alcohol, just not the punch in face amount previously.

gravity remains the same around the 1.015


Recipe in beersmith says it should be around there, though I think I missed the OG a bit but the boil was a massive headache, so not surprised.

Color is odd, it's supposed to be darker, like around 20 SRM, it's about 15-16 SRM
 
I've used non-hopped extract from cans before though and none of the same problem, as well as repackaged DME and LME from the LHBS. The problem seems to be exclusively with hopped-extract beer kits.


Don't buy those then, All my "kits" have been from things the brewshop (not local, local only sells box commercial kits) puts together themselves from ingredients.
 
Oh yeah, unless these turn around I'm done with beer kits (I might try one with just a concentrated wort instead of a hopped LME though), I'm going back to extract+grain+hops brewing or all grain. I wasn't hoping for miracles with these kits, I just wanted a supply of cheap decent beer (even the most expensive kit only clocks in at around a buck a pint) so that I could stop spending so much money on craft beer!
 
Could be the hopped extract then. I've only experienced it a couple times and it tasted skunked or worse. Fresh ingredients make a ton of difference.
 
Regarding bottling -- have you considered buying a case or two of Grolsch flip-tops, enjoying the beer, then re-using the bottles?

(I'm not a big fan of capping -- so this approach works well for me!)
 
I like grolsch bottles (actually just found a couple green old grolsch bottles in a basement closet) but their expensive and if i had them they'd be used for meads.


Racked to carboy for aging a little, atleast about 2 months till i get everything together for bottling. Kinda worried once again, I saw a scratch on the bottle of my carboy (5 gallon better bottle) but couldn't tell if it was on the inside or outside and not sure what could of possibly scratched it.