Russian Imperial Bad or just green?

So, this is my first AG after taking a break from brewing for about 8 years, most partials and extracts.

I had this sitting unopened in the primary for about 5 weeks and everything seemed to be going well. I just opened the primary and checked the finished OG and as is customary I tasted the beer. Not good. I know for sure this was not an infection but it just tasted off.

The taste was kind of thin with ethyl in the middle and a little smoke. It had a kind of old musty flavor and a very slight astringent mouth feel. It didn't seem to have much in the way of body and tasted overly like molasses. I guess that's what I didn't like about it, I can't stand the taste of plain molasses.

The other thing I noticed is that it had more than usual amount of particulates in suspension.

This is the recipe I used: 5Gal


Grist:
Wayerman PAM: 13 lbs
Brit black patent: 1 lbs
Flaked Oats: 1 lbs
Special B: .5 lbs
Smoked Malt: .5 lbs
Brown Sugar: .25 lbs (boil)
Crystal 120L .25 lbs
Melanoidin: .25 lbs
Dark Chocolate: 2oz (End of Boil)

Hope:
Fuggles and Northern Brewer @60 (2oz each)

Yeast:
English Ale Yeast @ 2 units (started)

Single batch sparge @ 158 and rinsed at @168

The only thing that might have happened is my wife called me away on an emergency in the middle of brew day and the mash sat for almost 2 HOURS before sparging

My question is this: What did I do wrong or is this just green?

Should I leave in the keg for a while and taste it again later? Kind of discouraged for my first AG and I was hoping to premier this at my baby girls first birthday party.

RIS take a long time to mature. I bet it's just green, give it several months and see where you're at.

5 weeks is way short for a RIS, I have one in a secondary that I brewed on 8/22 that I have not tasted yet. Big beer =big time.
When is the littleone's birthday?

+1 on it needs LOTS of time.

I brew my Thanksgiving RIS in January. I bottle in August. When I start drinking an sharing in November, it almost evaporates. RIS needs a lot of time.

It's green. Let it age. Also, keep in mind, carbonation provides more than bubbles. I find the carbonation helps some of the mouth feel (rounds out an otherwise thin beer) and the carbonic acid will transform some of the flavors.

Thanks a ton guys. I was almost about to dump it. Little ones birthday is tomorrow and having the big party this weekend. Oh will, I guess I can grab a couple kegs from the local brewery.

I'll check back on my RIS in a few months and see where it's at.

Sounds like it will be ready just in time for your little girls second birthday.

Lol 2nd birthday it is I guess. I think inn gunna need to find something else to age it in though.

I just brewed a Wee Heavy this weekend and the aging cycle I'm planning on for it is 21 days in the Primary, then ~3 months in my secondary, bottle it around March-May, and then try it around Oct.-Dec. I believe RIS have close to the same aging cycle. Big beers like these take a long time to really come into their own, some might not even start to shine until after 1 year has passed.

If you plan on doing Big Beers often I would look into investing into a 5 gal carboy so you can let them sit for months in a dark corner.

Trox;5711125[COLOR="Red" said:

]I just brewed a Wee Heavy this weekend and the aging cycle I'm planning on for it is 21 days in the Primary[/COLOR], then ~3 months in my secondary, bottle it around March-May, and then try it around Oct.-Dec. I believe RIS have close to the same aging cycle. Big beers like these take a long time to really come into their own, some might not even start to shine until after 1 year has passed.

If you plan on doing Big Beers often I would look into investing into a 5 gal carboy so you can let them sit for months in a dark corner.

Click to expand...

Your Wee Heavy may not be ready for secondary in only 21 days. It might be better to leave it longer. My pale ale that had an OG of 1.049 took nearly 28 days to settle out to FG. You really shouldn't move your beer to secondary until it reaches FG or it might stall out.

Hatefly said:

So, this is my first AG after taking a break from brewing for about 8 years, most partials and extracts.

I had this sitting unopened in the primary for about 5 weeks and everything seemed to be going well. I just opened the primary and checked the finished OG and as is customary I tasted the beer. Not good. I know for sure this was not an infection but it just tasted off.

The taste was kind of thin with ethyl in the middle and a little smoke. It had a kind of old musty flavor and a very slight astringent mouth feel. It didn't seem to have much in the way of body and tasted overly like molasses. I guess that's what I didn't like about it, I can't stand the taste of plain molasses.

The other thing I noticed is that it had more than usual amount of particulates in suspension.

This is the recipe I used: 5Gal


Grist:
Wayerman PAM: 13 lbs
Brit black patent: 1 lbs
Flaked Oats: 1 lbs
Special B: .5 lbs
Smoked Malt: .5 lbs
Brown Sugar: .25 lbs (boil)
Crystal 120L .25 lbs
Melanoidin: .25 lbs
Dark Chocolate: 2oz (End of Boil)

Hope:
Fuggles and Northern Brewer @60 (2oz each)

Yeast:
English Ale Yeast @ 2 units (started)

Single batch sparge @ 158 and rinsed at @168

The only thing that might have happened is my wife called me away on an emergency in the middle of brew day and the mash sat for almost 2 HOURS before sparging

My question is this: What did I do wrong or is this just green?

Should I leave in the keg for a while and taste it again later? Kind of discouraged for my first AG and I was hoping to premier this at my baby girls first birthday party.

Click to expand...

It had particulates in suspension because it was still fermenting. Give it more time, perhaps much more time. Fermenting beer tastes awful.:cross:

While I agree that 5 weeks is short for an RIS, especially with smoke, I think that if there are a lot of particulates at this time and the beer tastes "musty" that there are problems.

"Musty" is usually a sign of oxidation or infection, and after 5 weeks of sitting this beer should be totally clear.

I think something has gone wrong. It won't hurt to bottle (or keg) and age it, but I think that it's not just green beer here, not after 5 weeks.

I'd rack it to secondary and let it sit for 3-6 months. My 12% RIS peaked at 11 months and continues to age gracefully.

RM-MN said:

Your Wee Heavy may not be ready for secondary in only 21 days. It might be better to leave it longer. My pale ale that had an OG of 1.049 took nearly 28 days to settle out to FG. You really shouldn't move your beer to secondary until it reaches FG or it might stall out.

Click to expand...

Yeah should have specified that 21 days is about when I'll start checking the FG to stabilize before moving it over; thats why my other time tables are more approximations of when they'll be done.

Depending on how much the temp dropped during the mash you might have created to many fermentable sugars and thus ended up with a thin astringent body.
I will sometimes let my IPA/pale mashs go to around 90min to help dry them out.

Yooper said:

While I agree that 5 weeks is short for an RIS, especially with smoke, I think that if there are a lot of particulates at this time and the beer tastes "musty" that there are problems.

"Musty" is usually a sign of oxidation or infection, and after 5 weeks of sitting this beer should be totally clear.

I think something has gone wrong. It won't hurt to bottle (or keg) and age it, but I think that it's not just green beer here, not after 5 weeks.

Click to expand...

positive it's not oxidation and it was not infected for sure. Beer looks fine and actually smells really good. It's just the taste.