Second batch weakest beer ever

This is my first post but I've been reading a lot here. This community is excellent.

I just tasted my first all grain and I have to say I jumped the gun. Tastes like watery lemons. I know its very green though. Almost everything in my process was unconventional. I had to "crush" my grain by pulsing a coffee grinder. Because of that, my one gallon pale ale is super pale. Despite doing a 60 minute mash at about 155 degrees, I think the grain was just so poorly ground that sugars just didn't come out. I also didn't follow a hop schedule because I didn't pay attention to my timer. Well, learning experience! This was a smash beer with just 2 row pale and simcoe. Next beer ill try a partial mash with a bag instead and use more colorful malts. Anyways, I hope after some bottle conditioning that this super watery beer will taste better.

I know the real question is "why didn't you take hydrometer readings?" But I was being a newb and I didn't buy one at the LHBS. Boy, ill never do that again either.

Still excited to do my next round. Bottling this stuff tomorrow and brewing next week. Going to go for a raging ***** sort of ale.

Sorry to hear. How was your first batch? Definitely get a hydrometer. Seems like a fancy sciency gizmo but it's totally worth it.

First batch was a Brooklyn brew shop that also had its share of issues boiled it over once, took a long time to chill, ugh. Tastes better than this one because the grains are precrushed, but its also still pretty green as I did both batches about a week apart from each other. It spent 3 weeks in the primary, as I read the recommended 2 weeks isn't really enough time.

You should get your grains milled where you bought them. You can have them double crush them if you are using a brew in a bag methodology. The lemon taste is probably just the hops, simcoe is pretty overpowering and needs a strong malt background to back it up. I like the idea of sMash brewing. I would play around with some more traditional brews first and get some experience with something that the flavor would be at least predictable. Good luck in the future and invest in a corona if you want to mill at home.

The first LHBS didn't offer to crush grains. Searched online and found a store 8 minutes from home who has a better supply and crushes for free!!

My next recipe for 1 gal is going to be:

Boil 1.6 gal
Final 1 gal

OG 1.061
FG 1.018

ABV 5.63%

1 lb golden light DME
1 lb sparkling amber DME
.25 crystal malt (I think it's 60L)

.10 oz liberty hops at 60 and 30 minutes

Considering tossing in another .25 at flameout for aroma. Single hop seems like the best choice for now even though I have some German brewers gold to play with.

Yeast is safbrew s-33.

I think you have something off in that recipe, 2 lbs of dme in 1 gallon is gonna yield a much stronger beer than that

Using ibrew master. The auto calculate is probably off.


Liberty

Style: Unassigned OG: 1.061
Type: Extract FG: 1.018
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 5.63 %
Calories: 201 IBU's: 44.17
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 1.66 Gal
Color: 15.0 SRM Batch Size: 1.00 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.055 Boil Time: 60 minutes

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
1.00 lbs 44.44 % Briess Sparkling Amber DME 60 mins 1.043
1.00 lbs 44.44 % Briess Golden Light DME 60 mins 1.043
0.25 lbs 11.11 % Fawcett Crystal Malt - 60L 60 mins 1.034

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
0.25 ozs 17.71 Liberty 60 mins 4.30
0.25 ozs 13.61 Liberty 30 mins 4.30
0.50 ozs 12.85 Liberty 10 mins 4.30

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Safbrew S-33 Fermentis S-33

It's gotta be off. Also, should I use my package of German brewers gold or Willamette at flameout or earlier? Was hoping to getter a higher IBU than 44.

Thanks guys. I'm a total noob still. Bought ibrew master for Christmas for myself to help with the process.

Well 1.043 + 1.043= a total gravity of 1.086 in one gallon if it were 2 it would be half that. That is only the extract. I suggest you read Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. It really changed my entire view of brewing and recipe formulation.

Not familiar with ibrew but my guess looking at your post is that you don't have the recipe set to extract batch for calculating OG. Looks like it's giving you a 70% efficiency as if it's set for all grain, for extract you should get 100% of the potential (or 1.086 for 1 gallon as was pointed out).

truekey said:

Also, should I use my package of German brewers gold or Willamette at flameout or earlier? Was hoping to getter a higher IBU than 44.

Click to expand...

Adding more additions at flameout won't increase you're IBU's, you need to up the 60 min addition (or some combo of the earlier additions, but for strictly bittering 60 min).

Ah!! You're right, it wasn't set to extract. You can't set 100% efficiency so I put 90%. Here's a tweaked version.


Liberty

Style: Unassigned OG: 1.075
Type: Extract FG: 1.023
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 6.81 %
Calories: 247 IBU's: 52.15
Efficiency: 90 % Boil Size: 1.40 Gal
Color: 15.0 SRM Batch Size: 1.00 Gal
Preboil OG: 1.067 Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
(none)

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
1.00 lbs 44.44 % Briess Sparkling Amber DME 60 mins 1.043
1.00 lbs 44.44 % Briess Golden Light DME 60 mins 1.043
0.25 lbs 11.11 % Fawcett Crystal Malt - 60L 60 mins 1.034

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
0.50 ozs 31.95 Liberty 60 mins 4.30
0.25 ozs 12.28 Liberty 30 mins 4.30
0.25 ozs 7.93 Liberty 15 mins 4.30

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Safbrew S-33 Fermentis S-33

Your efficiency using extract will always be 100%. As for your steeped grains I wouldn't count on them to add much in the way of gravity

1 oz of hops seems like a lot to me (that's enough for most 3 gallon brews) but maybe since the volume is low the hop utilization is lower and requires more hops to make up for it. Also, this is a pretty heavy beer for your 3rd? batch. Heavier beers can have more trouble fermenting.

emmdubb23 said:

Well 1.043 + 1.043= a total gravity of 1.086 in one gallon if it were 2 it would be half that. That is only the extract. I suggest you read Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. It really changed my entire view of brewing and recipe formulation.

Click to expand...

Yup, and tools like Beersmith that give you the style "limits" for color/abv/IBU makes it easier to design your own.

I would have thought a heavier beer would ferment easier because there is more sugar for the yeast. Huh.

Also I'm just looking at brewmaster for IBU. I hope this isn't totally off because that app wasn't cheap.

Update in the weakest beer ever: tried one again after bottling for a week. It's not stronger but it tastes a bit more drinkable. Time seems to heal most things.