drinking my first brew

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jlewin

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it's ok. an irish style dry stout. completely from extract (coopers...my next beer will be a partial extract, partial grain kit from northern brewer (irish ale))

flavor is a bit strange. maybe my fault, maybe the kit? but fits the general idea of a dry stout. i really screwed up the carbonating part. I racked it and primed with corn sugar then straight to the bottles. it's a little bubbly and builds up to a pretty head in the glass. the head is gone in about 15 seconds and very little carbonation on the toungue. oh well. i'm not dissuaded yet.
 
jlewin said:
it's ok. an irish style dry stout. completely from extract (coopers...my next beer will be a partial extract, partial grain kit from northern brewer (irish ale))

flavor is a bit strange. maybe my fault, maybe the kit? but fits the general idea of a dry stout. i really screwed up the carbonating part. I racked it and primed with corn sugar then straight to the bottles. it's a little bubbly and builds up to a pretty head in the glass. the head is gone in about 15 seconds and very little carbonation on the toungue. oh well. i'm not dissuaded yet.
How long did you let it bottle condition? On the up-side, a dry stout isn't generally known to be a highly carb'd beer.

Maybe when you get to doing steeped grains, adding some head-retention grains like carapils will help.
 
i used both. the kit was just a can of liquid extract. my lhbs guy sold me some dme to use and the corn sugar for priming.

it had a very hard to describe sweetness that i wouldn't normally associate with dry stout. a kind of slightly oily sweetness with a touch of sour. i imagine that is just what their recipe tastes like because the kit leaves little room for error. so it's probably just a matter of taking the easy way out and getting mediocre results.

and yes the lesser carbonation i was actually happy with because i am used to drinking a murphys or guinness stout. however the guy at the shop had never tasted irish stout and he told me how to prime it. so i'm guessing he intended it to be higher in carbonation. maybe not though... i believe it was 10 tablespoons of sugar for 6 gallons. i used a grams to volume converter because my scale was broken.
 
By the way you are describing, there are a couple of things that could cause the sweet, yet tart flavor. The first thing that comes to mind, that has already been mentioned, is the "twang" associated with LME. I dont know if only old LME causes it or what, but every batch I made with LME had it, and every batch since giving it up has not.

The second thing that comes to mind is high fermentation temperatures. A batch I just finished off fermented too high, and it had a sweet yet tart flavor that I could only best describe as like a grape juice kind of a flavor...it was not very pleasant.

Lastly, there is a chemical called acetaldehyde that is created if beer gets oxygenated after fermentation has occured. It is a byproduct of yeast, but typically only comes about if the beer gets oxygenated. From what I have read, it is described as a "green apple" type of taste. I have never had it myself so I couldnt describe it any better.

In summation, things I would try on my next batch...
  • dont use LME
  • Make sure your fermentatin temp is below 70 (65ish is ideal)
  • Make sure you dont have too much splashing after you pitch your yeast
 
This thread reader is a very similar situation to the poster. Great response cubbies. Great info and tips. My fist batch with LME may be my last, tis good, but I know I can do better!!!
 
"twang" nearly perfectly describes what I am tasting and I suspected it may be a result of LME. For my first brew I was looking to Keep it simple and it was. So I will not complain. I will just give up the liquid now that I know I can do it. thanks.
 
oh yea... i cracked the first one after 12 days. it's now been bottled for 20 days. instructions said to give it one week.
 
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