[crummydo]

I see what you're saying. Makes sense. This is only my 6th batch I think, so I am still learning. All this is very helpful and I really appreciate it guys.

[pete b]

We're here to help each other, have fun!

[crummydo]

So as it happened, last night I finally "racked onto" the raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. I used a bottling bucket with a false bottom to keep all that from bothering with the flow when I get ready to keg or bottle. I of course took a sample which is already sitting at 8.6% abv according to my math (woohoo), and gave it a little taste.

Very dry without much of a stout taste. It very much reminds me of a taste of a pils thats was left sitting out after a party all night. I know that adding in those other ingredients in the secondary will give it more character and flavor, but would adding a dry hop in a few weeks hurt it?  I mean I know the stout style isn't one that usually has dry hopping, but I just feel that its missing some. I only used fuggles in the boil and I didn't think that was enough at the time, but its what the recipe called for.

Im thinking about adding either Kent Golding, Fuggles, or Tettnang for dry hopping. Thoughts?

[tonyccopeland]

Don't be too quick to judge the taste before it's carbonated.  Higher alcohol brews always seem to change a bit (for the better) overtime for me.  On the dry hopping, I tend not to dry hop stouts because I don't want the hops to overwhelm the roast, but if I was going to light dry hop I'd go Kent Golding's.

-Tony

[crummydo]

That's what I assumed. It didn't taste bad, but the flavor had changed from post boil. Before going in the fermenter it tasted no s*** like hot chocolate.

Also the trubb wasnt as much as I thought it would be but damn was it  thick! The beer in actuality felt TOO thin. Stark contrast from what I thought it would be.

[pete b]

Are you saying that you racked it into a bottling bucket?

[Stevie]

I like to brew by two rules.

1 - less is more
2 - don't throw good after bad

It's your beer, so do your thing, but I'd leave it be at this point, pack it, drink it, and try again.

[69franx]

I like to brew by two rules.

1 - less is more
2 - don't throw good after bad

It's your beer, so do your thing, but I'd leave it be at this point, pack it, drink it, and try again.

Great thoughts/rules/words of wisdom to live and brew by Stevie

[crummydo]

Are you saying that you racked it into a bottling bucket?

... yes?

[crummydo]

Well, I took a quick sample since its been about 2 weeks in the secondary. It wasn't "bad". But it also wasn't "good". It was dark brown, almost black in color. Not hazy at all and was clear of any debris or floaters. However, it did kinda have a sour note in it that I couldn't quite pin down. Coming right out of the bucket it had some good natural carbonation and fiz, very low with a bit of a tan head on top.

Part of me wants to leave it in there to soak up all that vanilla, raisins, and cinnamon some more. But also im afraid that it might not be wise. Would it be wrong of me to put this beer into a THIRD fermenting vessel without all those addons? Is that a thing? Or should I bottle right out of that bucket and hope that the sour flavor dissipates with some time in the bottles?

[skyler]

Don't rack it again - that is unlikely to be any help. Bottle it ASAP.

The "sour" note could be a few things. (1) it could be an infection, which would mean the beer has caught a microbe like lactobacillus and that it will keep getting more and more sour, so you should drink it ASAP (assuming it tastes okay). (2) it could be that you used old extract - old extract has a distinct sour taste that I notice in a lot of novice homebrew - this can usually be avoided by sticking to just dry malt extract and grain, or by switching to a better homebrew supply store. (3) dark malts are acidic and you probably didn'y do anything to combat that acidity with your water - it could be that the pH is low because of your water chemistry and grist - next time try using reverse osmosis water from the grocery store and reading up on water chemistry in brewing. (4) some yeast strains naturally produce more acidic-tasting beer. Did you use Nottingham? That makes every beer a little tart, IME.

If I were you, I would just bottle now and check on it in 2 weeks. If it tastes okay/is carbonated, chill almost all of the bottles (your potential souring microbe will be slowed down by the fridge). Leave at least 1-2 bottles at room temperature for 3 months or so to see how they develop. You will know it if they are infected because they will get super carbonated and very very sour. If it's an infection, throw away all the plastic that touched the beer.

In the future, I recommend against doing too much with a recipe. Cocoa, raisins, bourbon, vanilla, and cinnamon are a lot to add to a beer as a novice. You will get better at brewing quicker if your beer isn't "hiding" behind all those competing flavors. If you want a stout, try a plain stout recipe. You can always add vanilla-infused bourbon to half of it when you're bottling. But it's your beer. I know I sure tried to make every beer over 7% ABV and I put fruit and spices and chocolate in about half of my first 10-20 batches, so I get the appeal. My beer got better when I started doing less. Now, if I want to brew a complex flavored stout, I know what (almost) every ingredient does and what each different technique will give me, so my beers are a lot more consistent.

[crummydo]

Okay, great. Thanks for the advice. Besides the extras I added, it all came out of a kit. Grain, DME, and yeast. I can't recall what the yeast was exactly, but it was what came with the kit. I will get it into bottles tonight.

[pete b]

Are you saying that you racked it into a bottling bucket?

... yes?

The reason I asked is that when racking into a secondary vessel, which isn't even necessary, a glass carboy is used. Normally the beer gets racked into a bottling bucket (along with priming solution) just as you are bottling. Hopefully your sediment is below the level of your spigot when bottling.