Beer having an aroma more like wine/champagne

It's my first time brewing, and I chose a DIY Cooper's kit since I don't have much room in my apartment. Everything went well while dumping the things in the fermenter, although, it seems it has a hole somewhere, since my airlock didn't show activity, but the gravity does.

After 10 days fermenting at 22-24°C I found the beer to have gone from 1040 to 1010, but the problem is it has an aroma like a wine, or a champagne rather than beer. I've read in some blogs that it may be due to the beer needing to mature, or it could be the beer being infected.

Topic maturation sanitation fermentation beer homebrew

Category Mac


Simple and IMHO best advice is to continue with the brewing/bottling process as normal. Nothing that has been written above indicates any immediate problem. I would advise not so much opening and closing of the vessel during the main part of fermentation. IMHO it is good to take the O.G. then leave the brew to ferment for (say) 12 days without being examined. Then take the S.G. for three days. if it is stable over 3 consecutive days then the brew can be primed and bottled.

It is well worth noting that beer can and usually will change considerably in flavour and aroma while ageing in the bottle. Beer that has been aged 6 months in the bottle will usually taste considerably better than beer than has just carbonated after two weeks in the bottle. Beer that might seem "disagreeable" when sampled from the brew bin may improve to become "the best ever" after a year's ageing.

Cooper's (and many others) make a very nice beer kit and are a nice introduction to home brewing. I hope this is the first of many brews. Good luck!


That's only aroma, how it smells. You are lucky. It could also smell sulphury, which does not in itself indicate a problem, but in that case it could be that the yeast had not had enough nutrients.

However, if it smells like champagne or wine, and it gets you an appetite, that is a good sign.

Also, since this is a rather light beer, it will not smell as strong like beer (yet).

And last, let someone else smell it too. If there is one thing I learned being busy in the kitchen and brewing, it is that different people have different perceptions of smells and tastes.

But the thing to take away is: if it really smells like a good drink, then it will be a good drink. Still, take care at bottling. Work hygienic!

About

Geeks Mental is a community that publishes articles and tutorials about Web, Android, Data Science, new techniques and Linux security.