I brewed a batch of Jamil's American Pale, with some changes. First of all, I substituted some of the hops with what I had on hand, using Promash to hit the bittering targets. I also dropped the wort on the yeast cake from a prior batch of Sierra Nevada Pale clone.
I had a problem with efficiency or I was just so gassed by the time I got to taking the OG that I screwed up my numbers. It ended up either at 1.042 (too low) or maybe 1.053 which was about right. I wrote both numbers down. I also forgot to throw in whirlfloc.
The fermentation was almost explosive, driving the fermenter temperature to 74 for a few days. It blew the lid off of the airlock.
After around 3 weeks I threw it in secondary, then 2 days later I kegged it and force-carbonated using Bugeater's method of rolling the keg around at room temperature with the corresponding volumes of CO2. Then into the fridge.
A couple of days later I tried it and it was shit. It was really thin tasting and had a nasty bite on the back of the tongue. I could barely drink it (although I managed, of course).
Here's the amazing thing - after another couple of days the beer was perfect, with a nice hop aroma and great body and flavor. The nasty bitterness was gone. I lugged it to a party and it was a huge hit.
Can anybody explain what happens to beer after a few days that would change it from a "throw-away" to a favorite? My wife actually wants me to make a 10-gallon batch of this stuff, and she's pretty picky.
Also, thanks Bugeater, your carbonation method worked great.
