msharki
Member
My first brewing project is 5 gallons of pumpkin ale which I sampled today out of my primary before racking to secondary. There is a bitter taste at the back of my tongue. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It doesn't make it undrinkable exactly but it's definitely not a flavor you would want in a finished product. It smells perfectly fine (in fact my wife hate the smell of beer and found the pumpkin and spice aroma pleasing), but there is still that taste that worries me. Is this something that is common at this point in fermentation, or is something wrong?
I will provide those of you who would care to take the time with more detail.
My ingredients:
12 pounds of roasted pumpkin
1 pound of Vienna malt, 4L
½ pound crystal malt, 40L
½ pound malted wheat
6.6 pounds amber malt extract
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 ounce Mt. Hood hops (boiling)
½ ounce Hersbrucker hops (finishing)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves
note: I do not remember the yeast. It was a dry yeast the brew shop owner selected, American ale maybe.
My grains were introduced to 3 gallons of room temperature distilled water until heated to 155 degrees. I kept it almost exactly at 155 for 25 minutes. Removed grains, rinsed with 2 cups boiling water. brought water to boil and added boil ingredients. I added my malt slowly (with help) and mixed well. (no burning to bottom of pot. Boiled one hour adding my finish hops at 45 mins and my spices at 55 mins. At flame out I removed most of the pumpkin with a strainer and cooled my wort to 80 degrees in 11 minutes. Dumped my wort through a strainer to my primary (a brand new "ale pale"),added water to bring it up to 5 gallons, aerated by sealing and shaking vigorously for 3 minutes, reopened pitched yeast in, sealed bucket and put in air lock. I stored it in my basement. My basement is semi-humid and stays around 62-65 degrees. 8 days later (today) is when I tasted it, found the bitterness and racked to my secondary. If it makes any difference I obtained my sample by using a small glass and taking some from the top.
note: All my equipment is brand new and I cleaned it very thoroughly using hot water and anti-bacterial dish soap never using anything abrasive, simply shaking and rinsing vigorously.
I will provide those of you who would care to take the time with more detail.
My ingredients:
12 pounds of roasted pumpkin
1 pound of Vienna malt, 4L
½ pound crystal malt, 40L
½ pound malted wheat
6.6 pounds amber malt extract
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 ounce Mt. Hood hops (boiling)
½ ounce Hersbrucker hops (finishing)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves
note: I do not remember the yeast. It was a dry yeast the brew shop owner selected, American ale maybe.
My grains were introduced to 3 gallons of room temperature distilled water until heated to 155 degrees. I kept it almost exactly at 155 for 25 minutes. Removed grains, rinsed with 2 cups boiling water. brought water to boil and added boil ingredients. I added my malt slowly (with help) and mixed well. (no burning to bottom of pot. Boiled one hour adding my finish hops at 45 mins and my spices at 55 mins. At flame out I removed most of the pumpkin with a strainer and cooled my wort to 80 degrees in 11 minutes. Dumped my wort through a strainer to my primary (a brand new "ale pale"),added water to bring it up to 5 gallons, aerated by sealing and shaking vigorously for 3 minutes, reopened pitched yeast in, sealed bucket and put in air lock. I stored it in my basement. My basement is semi-humid and stays around 62-65 degrees. 8 days later (today) is when I tasted it, found the bitterness and racked to my secondary. If it makes any difference I obtained my sample by using a small glass and taking some from the top.
note: All my equipment is brand new and I cleaned it very thoroughly using hot water and anti-bacterial dish soap never using anything abrasive, simply shaking and rinsing vigorously.