Hey all,
I'm 3 batches into AG brewing with the 3rd currently conditioning. I've been drinking my 2nd batch over the last few weeks and have found it to be pretty lackluster. I know of a number of potential issues with the batch and am hoping to get some advice from the experts on which are most likely culprits.
The recipe was for a cream ale (brewed it for a friend who likes lighter beers). Obviously can't expect a full bodied and complex beer given the style but I still found it to be pretty boring: no strong off flavors but very thin and very little flavor. I would compare it to a pale ale stripped of interesting hop flavor. The grain bill was for 7 lbs 2-row, 2 lbs flaked corn, 8 oz carapils. 1 oz of cascade at 60M and 1 oz at 5 M. I pitched 11 g of rehydrated US-05 at 80 degrees (using an immersion chiller).
SG was 1.040 and FG was 1.008 (I missed the target SG by about 8 points). Target mash temp was 152 for 60M and I did a single batch sparge at 170F. I hit my volumes correctly using an online calculator. Fermentation was around the mid 60's over about 2 weeks before I bottled.
The biggest 2 problem areas I can think of:
1) Mash temp. I think I've fixed this problem by now but the temp on this mash probably went down by about 10 degrees.
2) Water: my tap water is no good for brewing so I tried to build up from distilled. I added 2% sauermalz to the grain bill and added 2 tsp of calcium carbonate to the ~10g of water I used.
Any thoughts from the veterans out there?
I'm 3 batches into AG brewing with the 3rd currently conditioning. I've been drinking my 2nd batch over the last few weeks and have found it to be pretty lackluster. I know of a number of potential issues with the batch and am hoping to get some advice from the experts on which are most likely culprits.
The recipe was for a cream ale (brewed it for a friend who likes lighter beers). Obviously can't expect a full bodied and complex beer given the style but I still found it to be pretty boring: no strong off flavors but very thin and very little flavor. I would compare it to a pale ale stripped of interesting hop flavor. The grain bill was for 7 lbs 2-row, 2 lbs flaked corn, 8 oz carapils. 1 oz of cascade at 60M and 1 oz at 5 M. I pitched 11 g of rehydrated US-05 at 80 degrees (using an immersion chiller).
SG was 1.040 and FG was 1.008 (I missed the target SG by about 8 points). Target mash temp was 152 for 60M and I did a single batch sparge at 170F. I hit my volumes correctly using an online calculator. Fermentation was around the mid 60's over about 2 weeks before I bottled.
The biggest 2 problem areas I can think of:
1) Mash temp. I think I've fixed this problem by now but the temp on this mash probably went down by about 10 degrees.
2) Water: my tap water is no good for brewing so I tried to build up from distilled. I added 2% sauermalz to the grain bill and added 2 tsp of calcium carbonate to the ~10g of water I used.
Any thoughts from the veterans out there?