First Stout tastes like wine??

After a couple weeks in the primary I took a hydro of my first stout. I smelled and tasted the sample and it smelled and tasted like wine.

I got the recipe for the stout from my LHBS.

1/2 lb Crystal
1 Lb Roast
1 Lb chocolate
1 Lb flaked barley
7 lbs light LME
4 ozs perle hops
Beerton Yeast (White Labs w/ starter)
OG 1.055
SG tonight 1.015

I did run into a problem when I was adding the water from the steeped grains and I don't think I got as much out of the grains as I needed. Would this contribute to the wine taste? I think the problem is that I didn't get enough out of the grains and this left me without many unfermentable sugars in the wort which contributed to a dry/wine or alcoholy taste. Is this a correct assessment?

Last question is what should I do? Should I just let it sit in the primary for another couple weeks? Should I bottle this weekend as planned? Thanks for the input.

What temperature did you ferment at? I've found that higher fermentation temps can sometimes produce a taste that can be described as "wine-like."

Dude, Relax.

You do realize that you are trying to diagnose and fix a problem in a beer that is not even beer yet, right?

Frankly you should be pleased that it tasted like something that some people like to drink and not something the dog hacked up on the carpet.

How about this. Let it sit in the fermenter for a total of 4-6 weeks. Then, since it is a stout, let it sit in the bottle for 4-6 more weeks and then if it has problems, well, we'll still tell you to wait.

I fermented it at a steady 68-70 degrees.

I am relaxed. It didn't taste nasty or anything. I'm not thinking about pouring it out. I guess I just thought it would taste like beer or something (not sure why I think that fermenting the ingredients of beer would make something that tastes like beer and not wine, but call me crazy). I simply was wondering if there was any specific reason for that sort of taste in a beer.

Also, I know I didn't get enough out of the grains so I figured that was the problem. Is that not a problem?

I should be pleased that it doesn't taste like dog excrement?

What did the recipe estimate for the OG (my math says something like 1.059-1.069)? So yeah, at 1.055 you're a little low, but that's still plenty of fermentables. Many recipes only call for a OG in the 40's.

3.5 lbs of specialty grains, even if you didn't get them drained all the way, should still provide plenty of color & flavor.

To answer the "what to do with it" part, my advice is let it sit for another two weeks.

Recipe called for an OG around 1.060. So ya, I was a little low. Ya, I'm gonna let it sit for a couple more weeks and check it again. Thanks

Yeast can be the biggest part of the flavor you get in a beer, and treating it the right way and using the right strain are of paramount importance. Higher fermentation temps, low pitch rates, not enough aeration, all of these things cam cause off-flavors attributed to yeast, which is what I would attribute a wine-like flavor too.

I have never heard of Beerton yeast, and a Google search turns up nothing. White Labs has dozens of different strains of yeast for different styles of beer and wine, so it may be that you have a wierd yeast that isn't meant for that beer. I wouldn't worry bout the missed gravity, it wasn't by that much and won't affect the final product, and any unfermentable sugars would defiantely not contribute to a dry flavor, they would do exactly the opposite.

But more likely that that is that it just needs some time. I let most of my beers ferment about 3 weeks, then bottle and wait another 3. Before then it won't really taste like the finished product, and time can make all the difference in the world. The fact that it is a stout makes no difference in how long it will take to be ready, that has to do with original gravity, and yeast selection as well, but you should wait a little while longer before drawing any conclusions. It may be that it is just "green", and if so, now you know what green beer tastes like.

BW: I think he was referring to Burton Ale, although I could be wrong.

Bry: I wouldn't put much stock in what the beer tastes like now. As long as it tastes like an alcoholic beverage, you're good. As others have said, let it sit in the primary for 4-6 weeks, then bottle condition for 4-6 weeks. After that time, if you're still getting off flavors, then you should start asking yourself what went wrong. As of now, no need to lose sleep.

Pelikan said:

BW: I think he was referring to Burton Ale, although I could be wrong.

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Ah, that would make sense in a stout. Well in that case, your gravity has probably fallen as far as it is going to, that yeast tends to leave a higher FG. You are probably good to go to bottle if it is stable at that gravity and has been done visibly fermenting for at least a week.

I would have to guess that it is stressed out yeast that may be causing an off-flavor, but again it is really hard to tell this soon. Give it time and it will probably turn out just like you planned.

Ya, it is burton yeast. I read the label wrong. Thanks for all the input. I'll wait another week and then bottle

Looks like you have a complex brew there and those always require more conditioning time. Don't be surprised if the flavors come together in 3 to 6 months. Eventually it will be delicious.

brycejh said:

Ya, it is burton yeast. I read the label wrong. Thanks for all the input. I'll wait another week and then bottle

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Burton is good stuff. I'd give it a full 4-6 weeks in the primary. This allows the yeast to "clean up" after itself, and improves the beer markedly. I recall sampling a brew at 2 weeks and finding it lacking, then sampling the same beer at 3 weeks and finding the flavor greatly improved. 4 total weeks in the primary is thus a good figure to shoot for.

BW: I was thinking that I didn't have enough unfermentables in their because I didn't get that much out of my grains. I think I had a lack of unfermentables.