Limp finish in my brown ale...

Any theories as to why this beer finishes weak? Comes on nice but just fades and finishes limply...

Recipe:
8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.50 %
0.50 lb Golden Naked Oats (10.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Pale Chocolate (200.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
0.40 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.7 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 11.2 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (15 min) Hops 8.6 IBU
0.60 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale

Mashed at 153
Fermented at 68

Can you be more specific?

When tasting a beer there is usually a beginning, a middle and an end to the flavor. The beginning and middle have flavor, but the end is empty. I want a great finish to the beer, so when you are done you have some flavor left on the pallet.

By looking at your recipe, it looks like you were going for a hoppy brown ale. Next time, try dry hopping it with an ounce or more of the hop you want. Dry hopping will give you great flavor and aroma in the finish. You could also try upping the bittering hops to give you that lingering bitter finish.

If you're looking for a more malty finish, I'd suggest some victory or biscuit malt in the grist. Maybe some vienna also.

Beerens said:

When tasting a beer there is usually a beginning, a middle and an end to the flavor. The beginning and middle have flavor, but the end is empty. I want a great finish to the beer, so when you are done you have some flavor left on the pallet.

Click to expand...

Yeast used ? California Ale tends to ferment very dry, which can harm the overall "fullness" of the beer. Is the body also thin ? Your malt bill seems sound to me, so maybe a more flavourful and less attenuative yeast strain would do the trick (wy1318, 1187, etc.).

Water chemistry! What is your water like? Are you adding Gypsum/Cal Chloride? Get the hops to showcase better.

All I do is carbon filter the water. Here is a profile from last year.

Mg 8.33 mg/L
Ca 29.7 mg/L
Na 8.52 mg/L
S04 31.2 mg/L
Cl 9.50 mg/L
Total Hardness: 104 mg/L
Total Alkalinity: 76 mg/L
Carbonate Alkalinity: 0 mg/L
Bicarbonate Alkalinity: 76 mg/L
Non-Carbonate Hardness: 28 mg/L
pH in pH units: 7.76

Any suggestions?

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

I didn't plug in your info, but off the top of my head I'd be following AJ Delanges suggestions in the Water primer thread/Brew Science. Works well for all my beers.