first brew

[mcatamney21]

well lads just had the first beer form my first bach its only been in the bottle a week but its not bad . it not relly clear yet and its not keeping much of a head but hope that well come with time . anyway gents cheers :drink:

 

[Fender Precision]

leave it for another 3 weeks and check it then, you will be pleasantly surprised. :

 

[mcatamney21]

heads sore today . i only had 1

 

[cutnrun]

Make sure you drink plenty. then at least if you have a sore head the next day there is a good reason for it!! :grin:

 

[jcoops39]

The head ache's probably come from the yeast still present in the beer, especially if it was packaged dehydrated stuff.

Be patient, let it clear out completely and mature a bit. Trust me, you'll enjoy it a lot more

 

[fatbelly]

My St Peters Golden Ale will have been in the bottle exactly 4 weeks come Christmas Eve. Is this enough conditioning or should I wait?
How long do you recommend for bottle conditioning?

 

[mcatamney21]

lol will do . think ill lave to to xmas :

 

[jcoops39]

Fatbelly,

Depends, it varies batch to batch and depends on if you brewed from a kit or AG as well. As a rule of thumb the longer the better, but by 4 weeks it should definitely be drinkable. When your drinking the stuff the clearer the better, if it's cloudy it hasn't had long enough and you should put it down or you may find yourself with a rather nasty head ache.

Either that or you might be spending rather a lot of time on the toilet.

But 4 weeks should be plenty :)

 

[shearclass]

I have never heard, nor do i believe, that cloudy beer gives you a head ache!

I am happy to be proved wrong mind. However, the cloudiness/clearness is mainly asthetics. It is teh yeast that gives a beer a lot of it's flavour during fermentation, so i doubt that atfer fermentation whether the beer still has yeast in it or not would effect teh flavour that much.

 

[Buzzing]

Congrats on your first one, here's to many many more. :drunk:

I can't think that it's the yeast giving you an head ache. Store-bought beers are pastuerised and filtered and contain no yeast, and they give head aches . . . :sick:

Fusel Alcohols are known to do this. Formation of fusel Alcohols are apparently facilitated by :

[a] Too high fermenting temps
Fermentation at lower pH
[c] When yeast activity is limited due to low Nitrogen content


So, if your brew was fermented on the high side or beyond the yeast's temp range, done with a low pH water or took longer than normal due to low Nitrogen content, then it might be them fusels ?

Get the Temps correct and maintain it as constant as you can. Use close to 7 pH water, preferably bottled water. Use beer yeast nutrients. The happier you keep those yeasties, the better they work for you.

My brews do not improve in terms of head-retention with time. I think you're stuck with it as it is ?

I'm surprised the beer is still cloudy,as a relatively short period at low temps are required to make them drop. Do you leave that last bit of sediment in the bottle, or put it all in ?

 

[mcatamney21]

i left it in the bottle . the temp id say was prop a bit on the low side as its pritty cold in my house atm and all water was boiled . think it just take a few more weeks to clear ......i hope :pray:

 

[BrewDan]

Try and keep a couple of bottles back a few months, I have a few over 6 months in the bottle, much much improved.

You do realise this is the start of a beautiful relationship with your brew bucket!

 

[mcatamney21]

lol that it is :thumb: looking forword to alot more :

 

[Duncs]

My St Peters Golden Ale will have been in the bottle exactly 4 weeks come Christmas Eve. Is this enough conditioning or should I wait?
How long do you recommend for bottle conditioning?

It may not be totally ready after 4 weeks, but I think you should sample a few bottles just to make sure :twisted:

 

[mcatamney21]

just a update. had one tonite from my first bach . it was clear in the bottle but jumped in the car to go to the gfs and when i got here it wast as clear . but opend it up pored it out there was a v big head on it and lots of life . it was nice and cant wate to get into the rest at xmass : lads