It's been over a month now since I began my first all-grain batch. I have several extract batches under my belt, so I felt comfortable adding a few steps to the brewing process.
First a little info about the setup. I decided to use a Northern Brewer all-grain kit (Innkeeper Ale). I had made the extract before, so I had something to compare it to. I also had NB crush the grains. I figured using a kit and having them crush it would eliminate some potential areas for errors. I used a 5 gal igloo cooler for a mashtun with a stainless braid for lautering. Unfortunately I did not have silicone tubing, so I used a vinyl tubing to transfer to the kettle.
During the brew day, the mash temp was a little high, but I was able to lower it easily to my target temp. Mash was uneventful. I did a careful vorlauf, and began draining. Did a batch sparge to hit my target volume. I used a hydrometer to monitor the wort, and everything was going to plan. The only thing I think I messed up on was the sparge water was hot (180 F). I believe this was what mucked the whole batch. Brew to fermentation to kegging went without a hitch. I was very careful with sanitization (starsan on everything).
I pulled my first draft after force carb, and it was awful. Somewhat astringent and definitely a strange medicinal quality (didn't use any chlorine based cleaners). It's undrinkable. I read that I could cold condition the beer for a month to reduce husky flavors due to high sparge temps. I gave it a try, and while it mellowed it is still undrinkable (and I am not that picky). I believe I'm just going to have to dump it.
What would you suggest for batch number 2? What could cause the off-flavors?
Can batch number 1 be saved or should I just dump it?
First a little info about the setup. I decided to use a Northern Brewer all-grain kit (Innkeeper Ale). I had made the extract before, so I had something to compare it to. I also had NB crush the grains. I figured using a kit and having them crush it would eliminate some potential areas for errors. I used a 5 gal igloo cooler for a mashtun with a stainless braid for lautering. Unfortunately I did not have silicone tubing, so I used a vinyl tubing to transfer to the kettle.
During the brew day, the mash temp was a little high, but I was able to lower it easily to my target temp. Mash was uneventful. I did a careful vorlauf, and began draining. Did a batch sparge to hit my target volume. I used a hydrometer to monitor the wort, and everything was going to plan. The only thing I think I messed up on was the sparge water was hot (180 F). I believe this was what mucked the whole batch. Brew to fermentation to kegging went without a hitch. I was very careful with sanitization (starsan on everything).
I pulled my first draft after force carb, and it was awful. Somewhat astringent and definitely a strange medicinal quality (didn't use any chlorine based cleaners). It's undrinkable. I read that I could cold condition the beer for a month to reduce husky flavors due to high sparge temps. I gave it a try, and while it mellowed it is still undrinkable (and I am not that picky). I believe I'm just going to have to dump it.
What would you suggest for batch number 2? What could cause the off-flavors?
Can batch number 1 be saved or should I just dump it?