Beginning Home-Brewer?
Hi, I just started homebrewing 4 days ago with an easy mead recipe.
So far so good, I can tell that the brew is fermenting, I can smell the alcohol, and the color hasn’t changed noticeably.
I would like to know how to tell if the brew had been contaminated earlier. I’m really not using any of the standard equipment (just a milk jug and a makeshift airlock), but I took the steps to sanitize everything as well as I could. From what I’ve read, everything looks fine. So…
How do I tell if something went wrong in the intermediate steps with regards to contamination?
And is there anything else I should watch for to make sure my batch is drinkable?
I started home brewing by making mead. Yes like the others mentioned there really is no way of telling if it is contaminated until it is finished and you taste it. Of course a new home brewer really doesn’t know what a contamination tastes like. Especially if you are new to mead. If you buy 10 commercial meads each one will taste different. Its hard to define mead.
Some obvious off flavors are,
Vinegar,
Diaceytal, which is a buttery or butter scotch flavor.
Sour, is usually a lactic infection
Your best bet is to find a local home brewing club.
http://beertown.org/homebrewing/listings.asp
That should help you get started.
By the way today ( Nov. 1) Is teach a friend to home brew day. Many home brew supply shops will be having events. Its a great way to see some hands on home brewing, most of these events will have home brew clubs participating in them.
Here is a link to where some teach a friend to homebrew events are happening today.
http://beertown.org/events/teach/sites.aspx
Good luck and have fun!
Home Brew Stout Beer Recipe : Different Styles Of Home Brewed Beer
just make sure there isn’t mold growing on top, at least that’s the only significant way of telling.
References :
Comment by corvato — December 30, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
Get yourself a glass jug and rack to that after a couple of weeks in the milk jug. Taste a sample. Mead is a rotten choice for your first brew; it requires a year or two of aging to reach its peak. If the taste seems promising, splurge for a real equipment kit, such as Brewer’s Best, and try some all-extract beer. You can drink that in 6 weeks or less. You can work your way up from there.
References :
Comment by oikos — December 30, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
Ultimately, if it tastes good, it isn’t (significantly) contaminated. I’m not a mead expert (2 batches) but beer (>200 batches) is pretty simple. If it tastes good, it isn’t contaminated. If it is undrinkable, it most likely contaminated. If it tastes somewhere between "off" and "butt crack" it might be contaminated. If you need something more exact or scientific than this, homwbrewing is not for you. The general concensus (not to be found here) is that no known human pathogens will live in beer. The health risks are related to alcohol and, to a much lesser extent, weight gain. Simply put, you can’t drink enough spoiled beer to hurt you. Much like spoiled milk, you can’t drink it and keep it down.
Don
References :
Comment by don p — December 30, 2009 @ 6:57 pm
I started home brewing by making mead. Yes like the others mentioned there really is no way of telling if it is contaminated until it is finished and you taste it. Of course a new home brewer really doesn’t know what a contamination tastes like. Especially if you are new to mead. If you buy 10 commercial meads each one will taste different. Its hard to define mead.
Some obvious off flavors are,
Vinegar,
Diaceytal, which is a buttery or butter scotch flavor.
Sour, is usually a lactic infection
Your best bet is to find a local home brewing club.
http://beertown.org/events/teach/sites.aspx
Good luck and have fun!
References :
Comment by kace069 — December 30, 2009 @ 7:45 pm