Beer tastes watered down :(

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zickefoose

zickefoose

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I made a strawberry wit and before I fermented it tasted great. Just like I wanted it to, very malty. Although I just tasted it before I bottled and it was awful. Watered down with a touch of malt. Could it have been a sanitation issue? I felt like I did well but something could have ended up in the mix somewhere.

This was my first attempt at my own recipe and I kinda messed up the malts a little bit but I feel it shouldn't have tasted watered down.
 
zickefoose said:
I made a strawberry wit and before I fermented it tasted great. Just like I wanted it to, very malty. Although I just tasted it before I bottled and it was awful. Watered down with a touch of malt. Could it have been a sanitation issue? I felt like I did well but something could have ended up in the mix somewhere.

This was my first attempt at my own recipe and I kinda messed up the malts a little bit but I feel it shouldn't have tasted watered down.
Click to expand...

If it's not carbonated yet, carbonation may improve the mouthfeel.

What was the recipe? And the mash temps?
 
2lb 12oz Belgian Caramel Pils 8L
1lb 8oz American White Wheat 2L
11oz Belgian Caramunich 50L
6oz American Crystal 10L

mash = 152 for 60min
 
zickefoose said:
2lb 12oz Belgian Caramel Pils 8L
1lb 8oz American White Wheat 2L
11oz Belgian Caramunich 50L
6oz American Crystal 10L

mash = 152 for 60min
Click to expand...

Ah, I remember that now. Well, the reason it tastes watered down is because you only used 1.5 pounds of base malt, remember?

You used all crystal malt, not any base malt. I think using Belgian pilsner malt (NOT caramel pils, which equals crystal malt) means you don't have any malt to make a "malt flavor".

With an OG of 1.022, you made "near beer". Depending on the FG, you're probably at 1% ABV or so.
 
That's what I was thinking based off what people said. I dried out to 1.007... heh.

Fermented for a week left it in the secondary for a week. Sanitized my strawberries and everything. Hopefully next time I do this I'll do it right :)
 
zickefoose said:
That's what I was thinking based off what people said. I dried out to 1.007... heh.

Fermented for a week left it in the secondary for a week. Sanitized my strawberries and everything. Hopefully next time I do this I'll do it right :)
Click to expand...

Well, you're near 2% ABV then, and if you used some strawberries, you probably got some fermentables out of them also. So it's better than it could have been, that's for sure!

Next time, just check the ingredients more carefully, because those names are very tricky. Pilsner malt is what you actually wanted- Belgian pilsner malt. Not the caramel pils which is just another name for crystal malt. It's easy to get fooled by that.
 
It's a shame you made this mistake in the winter. That actually sounds like it'd go down good on a really hot day doing yard work. :D
 

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