Brown Ale taste seems off

This is my second batch of beer and something about this batch seems off. It is a NewCastle Clone that sat 10 days primary, 3 weeks secondary and is in its 2nd week of being bottled. Smells ok, tastes ok except for this weird oily, type effect it leaves. No real harsh or off after taste I can tell of right now. Do not have an actual Newcastle to compare to right now, but is this a sign of contamination?

6.6 lbs Briess Pilsen Light Malt Extract
2 oz Crystal
2 oz Chocolate
1 oz Mutons Black Planet

Warrior Bittering 6.5 aau
Kent Golding .5 oz

SAF Ale S-04

Cali. Common, Wheat and an Oktoberfest is on deck and if I need to adjust something in my method I want to know before hand.

Thanks

" weird oily" can you explain this more? Is this a feeling on your tongue? I will go with the default answer "give it a few more weeks".

Just an odd oily residue feel left after drinking a bit.

Please clarify do you mean oily slimy feeling or burnt motor oily feeling in in your mouth.

I would say more time, definitely. Had a recent all grain batch with some chocolate malt in it, it was completely awful after two weeks, kind of oily like you describe. After four weeks it was quite delicious. It probably just needs more time to mature, especially with that Black Planet malt

Oily to me sounds like fusels, did you ferment pretty warm? Could be fusels or esters from the S-04 if you fermented warm, but maybe not. Either way give it more time!

Seems like the natural consensus is to wait. It did get a bit warmer a few days at the end of it's time in the secondary so it could be that and still young. Its hard to describe the oily f

You could try waiting and buying some NewCastle to compare it with when you sample it next. Describing any difference between the two might help.

It sounds like you have low levels of diacetyl. At lower levels it will leave a slick, oily 'coating' on your tongue. At higher levels it will taste like artificial butter.
It's usually caused by fermentation temps that were higher than they should have been.
It looks like you're down south a bit - do you have a way of controlling your fermentation temps? Many people have had good luck with swamp coolers.

+1 for diacetyl. Keep an eye on future fermentation temps, and give this batch some time (maybe even an extra long time) to mature.

S-04 yeast should ferment at a constant 59F-75F. Fermentation temps are typically 3-5 degrees higher than ambient temps, so you should be fermenting at NO HIGHER than about 69F, and more ideally at about 59-63F.

Fermentation temp control, yeast pitching rates, pre-fermentation oxygen levels, are all BIG factors when it comes to the quality of the final beer.

Do you have an actual thermometer ON your primary fermenter? Remember that the beer temp can be 8 degrees HIGHER than air temp for the first several days of fermentation and fermenting an ale over 72F can certainly cause all types of taste problems, especially on 2 week old (green) bottle conditioning beer! I know it's been too hot in Virginia for fermenting without climate control so I can imagine it's been hot in AL!

It probably did get a little higher in the last few days in the secondary but not as much as I had thought. I did notice the other day when I had a Black Lager, that it had the same slick feeling to it as mine did. Are there certain ingredients that tend to have the same effect to the beer as mine did? Although I am more then certain now that the advice given here is much better than my screwed up pallet for detecting flaws in beer. I just had blocks of ice around it in a cooler with no water. Having to work late the last week of it being in the secondary, the temps most likely rose to high, but the first week of fermentation I thought I had it reading of about 63F outside the bucket so I figured I was safe.

Will this clear up after a week or two more of will if generally be like this?

I did a newcastle clone recently and it is very off too. my first bad batch. I didn't get any oily flavors or texture, but it just isn't great. I kept mine very cold too, so I doubt it was fermenting too high.

Was this a midwest kit?

I have a stick on thermometer that typically read in the low to mid 60's while in the primary. I will give it the other few weeks to age better and hope it all levels out more. The kit came from a Homebrew store. If there is a ratio of 1 week to 1.010 of OG, my 1.050 would need the 5 weeks after being bottled to achieve proper levels. But if this is a bad batch, after 5 weeks this will be a terrible batch?

Bgon said:

I have a stick on thermometer that typically read in the low to mid 60's while in the primary. I will give it the other few weeks to age better and hope it all levels out more. The kit came from a Homebrew store. If there is a ratio of 1 week to 1.010 of OG, my 1.050 would need the 5 weeks after being bottled to achieve proper levels. But if this is a bad batch, after 5 weeks this will be a terrible batch?

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Your temperatures seem fine then. The first 4-7 days in primary is the most critical to keep the temps stable in the mid 60's. After that it can warm up to low 70's without much effect.

If it tastes bad after 2 weeks I would not expect it to get anything but better in a few more weeks unless it is bacteria contaminated.

I brewed a stout as my second kit and it tasted rough after 2-3 weeks in bottles, so rough that I preferred the taste of store bought beer to it! So I forgot about that batch for about 8 weeks and then put a few in the fridge for a week and unbelievably....they were awesome! :rockin:

Give em time!

Mine's still bad after about 6 weeks. I'm not gonna toss it as it is usable in cooking and drinkable, but not what I would consider a great beer.

Ultrazord said:

Mine's still bad after about 6 weeks. I'm not gonna toss it as it is usable in cooking and drinkable, but not what I would consider a great beer.

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If you used a tried and true recipe and it still came out bad I would suspect oxidation, water chemistry or your process.

Jayhem said:

If you used a tried and true recipe and it still came out bad I would suspect oxidation, water chemistry or your process.

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Oxidation I suppose is possible. Water is fine as it's worked for 7+ other batches, and same process. I musta messed something up.

The actual Newcastle ale recipe uses two blended beers a dark strong ale and a low gravity amber. That is what gives Newcastle it's taste. Also the dark ale is aged for a few months before blending. If you are comparing your beer to a Newcastle and didn't use the blended method you won't have the same taste as new castle.

After another month in the bottles, I rarely have that weird feeling about it. Then again, I think I was the only one that noticed it. So it might just be me.

Turned out to be a nice brew.