I recently brewed a recipe for a pale ale which relied primarily on Amarillo hops for bittering. Here's the full grain bill: 10 lb domestic 2-row 8 oz Carapils 8 oz Caramel 60L I mashed these for an hour at 152 degrees. Here was the hop bill: 1/2 oz Columbus - 60 min 1 oz Amarillo - 20 min 1 oz Amarillo - 10 min OG - 1.051 FG - 1.011 Safale S-05 for yeast. I fermented at about 60 degrees for 2 weeks, then bottled. I got a little impatient, and cracked the first bottle after only five days. The beer is drinkable (though still a little flat, of course). However, I'm noticing a scent from the beer that I can't put my finger on. It may have come from the malts, though I don't think so. It definitely doesn't smell like the hops. My initial thought was that it smelled almost like bananas. I've read that esters can take on a smell like this, but I'm not sure what part of my process would have produced them. It seems that my fermentation temperature would have been too low to cause them. Any ideas?
Esters are typical if you underpitch, ferment hot, (much warmer than 60 with US 05), or stress the yeast. I don't expect a beer to be drinkable when it's under 6 weeks old. Ever. If some brewers can pull it off, more power to them. There can be some off flavors from fresh fermentations. Don't sweat it. Your beer will be very drinkable at about a month and a half and very very good around 2 1/2 months. Just an educated guess.
It could just be your beer is a little green yet. The yeast may still be cleaning up some of the metabolic intermediates produced during fermentations. Keep the bottles warm, opening about 1 bottle a week or so, and see if you notice a change in the next couple three weeks. Once they have done their job, bring the temp down to cellar temp or refrigerator temp or whatever your preferred storage temp is.
It's your upper lip! Bada-ching! Thanks! I'm here all night, remember the 5:15 show is completely different from the 6:15 show! Seriously though, what the other guys said. Homebrew needs time to mature like how chili from scratch is better as a leftover after a couple days in the fridge. My house pale was very similar to yours (I only did the 1/2# carapils and no crystal, same base) with the same yeast- I would leave it in the primary for up to a month (no, it did not cause off flavors and won't if you keep the temp down, trust me 100+ batches of this method will attest), after the primary I would put it in secondary to clear for 2 weeks, cold crash in the garage/keezer and keg. The best pale recipe hands down! Regular stouts/browns- up to 6 months in carboy before keg; Impy/barleywine: over a year before keg; bottle condition for another year; IPAs: I dunno I always sucked at those for some reason lol.
I disagree with the length of time it takes for beers to mature that I see cited above. I think most moderate gravity beers are good drinkers in the 2-6 week mark, post bottling, or if keggingsas soon as carbonated adequately. But you do need to tune your palate to detect off flavors and aromas. Unless your process is highly repeatable, every batch will have it's differences and you shouldn't hold your beer to the calendar -- it's ready when the yeast have done their work and you detect no off-flavors.
What temperature would you consider warm? I've been doing all my fermenting and bottle-aging in my basement, which here in the winter months usually holds a temperature between 60-62 degrees.
When I used to ferment in my cellar, I would bring the bottles upstairs to prime. I like priming at 65-70 to help boost the yeast activity.
You are drinking a beer during fermentation. This is not a good time to drink beer and worry about off flavors. Wait another week. Moving the bottles to a warmer temperature will expedite the carbonation process.
