I recently made a honey brown ale. I primary fermented for 2 weeks, and secondary for 2 more and bottled. It has been bottled for 2 months now. The beer does not taste good at all...the best way I can describe it would be like coffee. It seems that the yeast hasn't settled very well either, as ever in the bottom of my glass there is a pretty significant amount of yeast. The only thing I can think of was that the ingredients were stale. The LME and DME were about 2 years old (From an unused kit that was donated to me, figured I'd save some money)...I was told by my local brew shop that as long as they were still sealed, and the LME has no dents in it, that they should still be ok.
Here is the recipe from memory. I will repost it exactly when I get home from work.
5 Gallons of Spring Water
4 pounds of Muttons Dark DME
3 Pounds John Bull Amber LME
1/4 lb Black Patent Malt (Pre Boil)
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt (Pre Boil)
1.5 lbs of Honey
Hops I'm not sure of, but they were not excessive in any way. (will post them later)
I sparged specialty grains till boil. Then added DME and hops (bittering and aroma). I added honey in last 15 minutes of boil. I then cooled quickly and added to the primary fermenter and topped to 5 gallons. Fermented 2 weeks in primary, and 2 in secondary. Added 3/4 cup corn sugar, and bottled in 16 oz grolch containers. I tried the beer every week, and the flavor never improved. The beer ir also very overcarbonated. When I open one it will foam for like 30 seconds and overflow all over the place, even when chilled.
Here is the recipe from memory. I will repost it exactly when I get home from work.
5 Gallons of Spring Water
4 pounds of Muttons Dark DME
3 Pounds John Bull Amber LME
1/4 lb Black Patent Malt (Pre Boil)
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt (Pre Boil)
1.5 lbs of Honey
Hops I'm not sure of, but they were not excessive in any way. (will post them later)
I sparged specialty grains till boil. Then added DME and hops (bittering and aroma). I added honey in last 15 minutes of boil. I then cooled quickly and added to the primary fermenter and topped to 5 gallons. Fermented 2 weeks in primary, and 2 in secondary. Added 3/4 cup corn sugar, and bottled in 16 oz grolch containers. I tried the beer every week, and the flavor never improved. The beer ir also very overcarbonated. When I open one it will foam for like 30 seconds and overflow all over the place, even when chilled.