Wuhahaha!!!! I can already smell some very aromatic smells coming from my study. Yes, that’s the place where I keep my fermenter (for my beer brew) and it’s airlock has been bubbling for a few days now. The smell has improved a lot since it started. In the beginning, I could smell the harshness of the alcohol, probably because I had pitched the yeast at a slightly higher temperature than what I should but after the 2nd day, it was much better. I had lowered the temperature to about 20°C and everything looks good. However, the harshness at the beginning may not be caused by the slightly higher termperatures of my wort, but it could be due to not enough aeration before I pitch the yeast. Not too sure which, but both needs to be corrected in my future brews. I am thinking of getting a air pump and air stone from my local pet fish shop conveniently located right below my block.

It’s been 5 days now and although the airlock is still bubbling, I am sure it’s about done. But I won’t be bottling it anytime soon. I think I will let it ferment 2 or 3 weeks more in the fermenter. I had read that it’s going to taste much better if I condition them longer, since the yeast in the fermenter will start to create a more complex flavour after it has eaten all the simple sugars. Bottling the beer too soon and I will lose a lot of yeast, thus it will take longer to condition my beer. For my previous batch, I had left the beer in the fermenter for 2 weeks. This time, I will try 4 weeks and see how much the flavours have improved. However, if the beer is left too long with the yeast, the yeast may start to die and this will definitely created off-flavours in my beer. The recommended time to condition in the primary fermenter at most is 4 weeks, from what I have read.

I know, it’s very difficult to wait. But hey, my patience will be rewarded soon! Good beers usually requires a time for it to mellow and 2 more weeks won’t kill. Well, it won’t kill me outright, but it is surely killing me slowly.