A little disappointed with my first brew

On New Year's Day I brewed my very first batch ever, a Red Ale extract + steeping grains kit from Seven Bridges. I bottled after two weeks when I got several days in a row of 1.020 hydrometer readings.

I tried a bottle after two weeks of condtionining/carbing at 66-68 degrees. The carb level was fine, the beer tasted a tad sweet but not bad. Pretty good body and mouthfeel, with some complexity to the flavor. The next week I had a couple (three weeks after bottling) and the sweetness had diminished, but so had the other flavors except the alcohol, which was more up-front. I opened another last night, and it's not terrible or offensive, but the alcohol flavor is a little harsh and the rest of the flavor, such as it is, lacks any depth or interest. There's no hop flavor or aroma, although the bitterness seems adequate. It just seems like the flavor fell apart into a couple generic components and lost all the interesting stuff that used to hold the flavor together and give it some character.

I don't really notice any of the red-flag off-flavors I've read about. It's not cidery or band-aidy or sour or estery. It's just boring.

I've heard of homebrews getting better and better if they sit for a while, but it's seeming like my beer peaked at two weeks in the bottle. I'm finding myself more likely to reach for a bottle of store-bought than a bottle of homebrew if I have any store-bought in the fridge.

I hope this doesn't happen to the porter I have in the closet now.

Anyone else have their beer sort of fall apart like this? I feel gulity, like I'm admitting I don't love my child or something.

At two weeks, you're probably tasting suspended yeast. At three weeks, you're tasting green beer not masked by suspended yeast. Try it again in a month and I bet it'll be a totally different and very tasty beer.

It sounds like your final gravity may have been a bit high as well which led to the sweetness you describe. I tend to agree with JonM here, that you should let it sit and see what happens. When beers come out a bit different than I had hoped for, more often than not I'm just judging too quickly.

I've definitely had some brews that just require some time to get everything in order, but my first two batches had some similar symptoms to what you're describing. The body turned out a bit light, and they tasted almost astringent, not because of particular off flavors but because of the lack of proper beer flavor. I wish I could give some advice or solutions, but keep on trying! I can't even point to what (if anything) I did wrong with those batches, but as you get more comfortable with the process the resulting beers will improve.

emdiar said:

Anyone else have their beer sort of fall apart like this? I feel gulity, like I'm admitting I don't love my child or something.

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We know you still love your child, even if it's an ugly one

MonsterBrew said:

It sounds like your final gravity may have been a bit high as well which led to the sweetness you describe. I tend to agree with JonM here, that you should let it sit and see what happens. When beers come out a bit different than I had hoped for, more often than not I'm just judging too quickly.

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^This.

What temp did you ferment at?

I'm having similar feelings toward my current bottling conditioning milk stout which still smells of banana and has a bitter aftertaste but then again it's only been in the bottles for 4 weeks. I don't expect huge improvement in another month but more mellow would be ok.

I think I'm going to stop brewing a different style or recipe with each batch, find one recipe that comes out "OK" and make that same beer 3 or 4 times in a row, trying to improve techniques and ratios each time until I get it right.

I think that the craze for IPA's is partially because massive hops cover up many home brewing mistakes!

Which yeast did you use and what was your technique? The kit shows an expected OG of 1.050 which would mean the FG should be about 1.012-13

Always taste your beer before you bottle it. Most of the issues you mentioned are either cured or diminished with another week or two in primary.

Yes, I learned the hard way. My first brew was a Red Ale also with many of the same problems. The brew was much better after a month in the bottle (at room temps)

Like other posters mentioned, be sure of your ferm temps. Fermenting too hot does bad things...

Don't get discouraged! Pez.

CastleHollow said:

We know you still love your child, even if it's an ugly one

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JohnTheBrewist said:

^This.

What temp did you ferment at?

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Ambient varied from 66-69. Beer temp, using one of those stick-on thermometer strips looked pretty consistent at 66-68 (the strip has 2 degree increments, and both 66 and 68 would highlight).

helibrewer said:

Which yeast did you use and what was your technique? The kit shows an expected OG of 1.050 which would mean the FG should be about 1.012-13

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I used White Labs #001 California Ale yeast. My technique, without going into exhaustive detail, was straight according to the (admittedly vague) directions that came with the kit, supplemented by the basic instructions in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. I steeped the grains as specified, hit the temps just fine. All the hop additions happened at the specified intervals. I sanitized everything using Iodophor. The only thing I can think of that went "wrong" during brewing was that I scorched a little bit of LME on the bottom of my brew kettle. Let me know if you want more details, I kept detailed notes but I'm on a lunch break at the moment and don't have them with me.

The kit has the OG target at 1.048 - 1.054. I measured 1.054 (at the correct temp) just prior to pitching. The kit targets 1.010 - 1.016 for FG. The porter I'm currently conditioning also has a high FG (1.022 for a target of 1.014). I've read about the Extract Kit 1.020 curse, maybe that's a factor. I did take care to make sure my readings were stable for more than the recommended 3 consecutive days in both cases (no change over the span of 2 weeks for the porter, even after gently rousing the yeast and moving it to a warmer room).

Maybe my perfectionism is overcoming my pride of accomplishment. Unfortunately I don't have any friends locally who could give me a thoughtful critique.

I don't plan to dump it, so I'll get to see if it gets better with time.

emdiar said:

On New Year's Day I brewed my very first batch ever, a Red Ale extract + steeping grains kit from Seven Bridges. I bottled after two weeks when I got several days in a row of 1.020 hydrometer readings.

I tried a bottle after two weeks of condtionining/carbing at 66-68 degrees. The carb level was fine, the beer tasted a tad sweet but not bad. Pretty good body and mouthfeel, with some complexity to the flavor. The next week I had a couple (three weeks after bottling) and the sweetness had diminished, but so had the other flavors except the alcohol, which was more up-front. I opened another last night, and it's not terrible or offensive, but the alcohol flavor is a little harsh and the rest of the flavor, such as it is, lacks any depth or interest. There's no hop flavor or aroma, although the bitterness seems adequate. It just seems like the flavor fell apart into a couple generic components and lost all the interesting stuff that used to hold the flavor together and give it some character.

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Interesting, it sounds to me like you're describing a red ale fairly well. There will be a little residual sweetness, there should be little to no hop flavor or aroma, and it's a characteristically dry finish that helps accentuate some of the warm alcohol flavor. Have you had other red ales before?

As for time helping to mellow your beer, I agree. It's likely that some more time in the bottle and some time cold conditioning will help to bring the flavors together more.

Looks to me like you're in the ballpark for a beginning process. As for ferm temps, keep in mind that carboy surface temp can easily be 5 degrees warmer at the core, which would put it around 73 and that is rather on the warm side.

emdiar said:

I used White Labs #001 California Ale yeast.

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I'm guessing your instructions didn't tell you to make a starter?

Before I ever started a friend of mine said he's brother who brews swears everything is about temperature control. It made sense from a biochem class memory, and I have always watched and kept temps in line a bit neurotically, but have always been pleased with the outcome in flavor. So, like others asked, what yeast and temperatures did you use?

Your beers will get progressively better as you get stuff dialed in through more brewing, don't give up on it!

edit* Wow, posts are flying in fast then I can type

Looks like you did pretty good there. I can only think to try tasting someone else's from the same kit, and TTB-J's comments about reds, which I have not had much of, seem like a pretty good thought too.

TTB-J said:

I'm guessing your instructions didn't tell you to make a starter?

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No, in fact I read somewhere that liquid-pack yeasts don't need a starter (now I can't remember where I read that - I've been reading a lot about brewing lately, both here and in books. My brain is getting overloaded.)

emdiar said:

No, in fact I read somewhere that liquid-pack yeasts don't need a starter (now I can't remember where I read that - I've been reading a lot about brewing lately, both here and in books. My brain is getting overloaded.)

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The liquid packs like Wyeast activators are designed so you CAN brew five gallons of beer with a starting gravity of under 1.06 ( might be 1.064 or something like that).

That being said, this amount of yeast is generally considered the absolute minimum for most five gallon batches. Yes, you can make good beer without a starter, but most notice an improvement in their beers along with decreased lag times when using a starter.

Making a yeast starter is simple, the cost is almost negligeable, and not too many folks go back to just using the packs after some experience with starters. That fact should speak volumes right there.

Don't let your brain get overloaded. Just get the basics down solid, then learn ways to improve as you go. If you try to learn every single brewing technique at once you will go nuts.
Pez.

EDIT : If your brain gets overloaded, just have Bones install another for you.