trn
Active Member
Caveats: (1) I don't know what fusel alcohols taste like, but I think that's what I have. (2) I'm going to see the batch through and we'll see what happens, (3) The beer may just be green.
But for the sake of discussion I have a few questions. The recipe was:
1/4 lb crystal 10L steeped at 150 for 10-15 min
3.75 lb pale LME
1 lb Rice solids
1 t Irish Moss at 30 min
1/2 oz Mt Hood (5.1% AA) at 60 min
1/2 oz Mt Hood (5.1% AA) at 5 min
Dry Nottingham Yeast (reconstituted)
3.75 Gal boil. 3 Gal into fermentor.
It was intended on being a Cream Ale. On a side note, the color was way dark (SRM ~10 vs a calculated 3. I suspect Maillard reactions and will consider a late addition of the LME next time).
The question I have is what would cause fusel alcohols? From Palmer and internet sources, I have:
(1) Low dextrins -- certainly possible, with my 3.75:1 LME:rice ratio
(2) High (especially starting) temp -- somewhat possible, since I may have had a malfunction (read user error) in my temperature control
(3) Over-Aeration -- certainly possible, because I aerated the cr@p out of it. I only heard this mentioned by Palmer and haven't really seen it anywhere else. Yes I really did aerate it that much - power drill and a homemade agitator. I called it the beast. I just felt like trying something new, 'cause why not? "'Cause it can spoil your beer, you moron" seems to be a good answer.
(4) excessive yeast -- doubtful (1 pack dry for 3 gal)
(5) sitting on trub too long -- doubtful (only 10 days). Yes I was a bad boy. You can skip the "why are you tasting your beer at 10 days?" reprimand. I had a reason and it's not that good. Boils down to lack of patience.
Do these seem like reasonable hypotheses? Any of them more likely than any other?
And a related question: I've gathered that fusels don't really go away. Some people say they might go away partially over a long time if the beer lasts that long. Correct?
Remember the caveats: I don't know what fusels taste like, I'm not going to throw the batch out, and I realize the beer may just be green.
trn
But for the sake of discussion I have a few questions. The recipe was:
1/4 lb crystal 10L steeped at 150 for 10-15 min
3.75 lb pale LME
1 lb Rice solids
1 t Irish Moss at 30 min
1/2 oz Mt Hood (5.1% AA) at 60 min
1/2 oz Mt Hood (5.1% AA) at 5 min
Dry Nottingham Yeast (reconstituted)
3.75 Gal boil. 3 Gal into fermentor.
It was intended on being a Cream Ale. On a side note, the color was way dark (SRM ~10 vs a calculated 3. I suspect Maillard reactions and will consider a late addition of the LME next time).
The question I have is what would cause fusel alcohols? From Palmer and internet sources, I have:
(1) Low dextrins -- certainly possible, with my 3.75:1 LME:rice ratio
(2) High (especially starting) temp -- somewhat possible, since I may have had a malfunction (read user error) in my temperature control
(3) Over-Aeration -- certainly possible, because I aerated the cr@p out of it. I only heard this mentioned by Palmer and haven't really seen it anywhere else. Yes I really did aerate it that much - power drill and a homemade agitator. I called it the beast. I just felt like trying something new, 'cause why not? "'Cause it can spoil your beer, you moron" seems to be a good answer.
(4) excessive yeast -- doubtful (1 pack dry for 3 gal)
(5) sitting on trub too long -- doubtful (only 10 days). Yes I was a bad boy. You can skip the "why are you tasting your beer at 10 days?" reprimand. I had a reason and it's not that good. Boils down to lack of patience.
Do these seem like reasonable hypotheses? Any of them more likely than any other?
And a related question: I've gathered that fusels don't really go away. Some people say they might go away partially over a long time if the beer lasts that long. Correct?
Remember the caveats: I don't know what fusels taste like, I'm not going to throw the batch out, and I realize the beer may just be green.
trn