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deancox · 11-01-2012, 09:36 PM

A few of months back I decided to get back into brewing, and this was my first all grain.

I decided to do a brown ale. The milled grain bill weighed 11 lbs (but misplaced the recipe - so I can't tell you exactly what was in it.) I hopped it with an ounce of Galena at 60 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 15 minutes. I ended up with 5+ gallons of lovely aromatic, sweet and tasty, deep brown (black coffee) wort with a specific gravity of 1.0471. I think I got pretty good efficiency from my sparging, correct?

I had started a vial of White Lab's Pitchable Liquid Yeast, " British Ale Yeast, WLP005, a few days prior and pitched it at 80 degrees and it took off in my plastic 7 gallon pail fermenter. It perked along nicely for about 10 days and I let it stay in the fermenter for another 20 days. When I was done there was a good 1/4+ inch of yeast on the bottom of the fermenter,

I bottled with a finished gravity of 1.011 and primed with 3/4 of a cup of corn sugar in a simple syrup. I calculate about a 4.71 ABV?

I bottled primarily in large bail & stopper bottles that originally held Fishers.

It has been a week and I know it is too soon, but I bottled a few small 12 oz test bottles so I could taste it over the next month, and the first one I opened has a definite spritz, but no real head and not much body....kind of like a Newcastle SuperLight.....not bad, but certainly not the rich taste I was anticipating.

Will the carbonation and conditioning continue over the next few weeks? Will the richness and mouthfeel come as part of that conditioning, or do I probably have a beginner's beer on my hands?

Any input is appreciated?

Jdslep · 11-01-2012, 10:52 PM

The bottles need time to make the CO2, then cold to get the CO2 into the beer. Both were really missing here. The body depends much on your mash temperature, which you didn't tell us.

OldWorld · 11-01-2012, 10:58 PM

Lower alcohol beer will have less body. Just be patient and wait for them to naturally carbonate up...You can give the cases of beer a light rattling to keep the yeast in suspension. Also get them in a warm room in the 70's. The yeast will finish the job.

Many here will advocate kegging beers to save time and hassle of bottling. But I think bottle conditioning makes a superior product.

duboman · 11-01-2012, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deancox

A few of months back I decided to get back into brewing, and this was my first all grain.

I decided to do a brown ale. The milled grain bill weighed 11 lbs (but misplaced the recipe - so I can't tell you exactly what was in it.) I hopped it with an ounce of Galena at 60 minutes and an ounce of Goldings at 15 minutes. I ended up with 5+ gallons of lovely aromatic, sweet and tasty, deep brown (black coffee) wort with a specific gravity of 1.0471. I think I got pretty good efficiency from my sparging, correct?

I had started a vial of White Lab's Pitchable Liquid Yeast, " British Ale Yeast, WLP005, a few days prior and pitched it at 80 degrees and it took off in my plastic 7 gallon pail fermenter. It perked along nicely for about 10 days and I let it stay in the fermenter for another 20 days. When I was done there was a good 1/4+ inch of yeast on the bottom of the fermenter,

I bottled with a finished gravity of 1.011 and primed with 3/4 of a cup of corn sugar in a simple syrup. I calculate about a 4.71 ABV?

I bottled primarily in large bail & stopper bottles that originally held Fishers.

It has been a week and I know it is too soon, but I bottled a few small 12 oz test bottles so I could taste it over the next month, and the first one I opened has a definite spritz, but no real head and not much body....kind of like a Newcastle SuperLight.....not bad, but certainly not the rich taste I was anticipating.

Will the carbonation and conditioning continue over the next few weeks? Will the richness and mouthfeel come as part of that conditioning, or do I probably have a beginner's beer on my hands?

Any input is appreciated?

For efficiency, who knows, there's no recipe. For the rest, the beer needs more time, minimum 3 weeks at 70 for carbonation and conditioning.

As for head and retention, the recipe would help but also clean glassware is key, squeaky clean

deancox · 11-01-2012, 11:13 PM

I have been keeping them in a dark cool closet, I will get the heat up a bit, but keep them in the dark.

@jdslep: my mash temp was a steady 152 F for an hour.

Thanks everyone!

deancox · 11-13-2012, 12:20 AM

Good news, I moved the bottles to a warmer area and gently shook it up a few times. It now has a gorgeous tan head that retains well and it is tasting richer and better....might end up still being a bit on the "light" side as far as taste goes...we shall see.

duboman · 11-13-2012, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deancox

Good news, I moved the bottles to a warmer area and gently shook it up a few times. It now has a gorgeous tan head that retains well and it is tasting richer and better....might end up still being a bit on the "light" side as far as taste goes...we shall see.

Glad to hear it!

tgmartin000 · 11-13-2012, 12:57 AM

That's a low fg for a beer like that. The carbonation will help though.

deancox · 11-14-2012, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgmartin000

That's a low fg for a beer like that. The carbonation will help though.

Should the OG have been higher as well? If the OG was in range for a brown ale (I thought it was) but my FG is low for this style, what should I Have done differently?

Thanks,

DC

tgmartin000 · 11-15-2012, 02:17 PM

Mashing higher will leave more non-fermentables in your wort, leading to a higher FG, and more body.