1st beer Lacking flavor

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adamhimself

adamhimself

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So, I decided to crack open my first beer after being the in the bottle for 2 weeks. It was an Irish Red Ale from Midwest Supplies. It used simple Amber LME and some grains. I don't remember the hops I used, but it was like only one ounce, not much.

The beer looks ok after pouring. It has carbonation, but very very low head retention. It smells ok, nothing amazing... but OK. I hit my OG and FG.

But, the problem is... it just doesn't taste that great. I mean its not undrinkable but it seems slightly watery, it leaves kind of a slimey/film like flavor in the mouth. The flavor is very lacking. I want to write it off to Munton's dry yeast and almost purely Amber LME, but it just seems lacking to me.

It got decent reviews on Midwest Supplies website, but to me... it just isn't that great. I drank it last week. It was 2 weeks in the bottle. I might drink another one tonight to see how 3 weeks has done on it.

But, what might have caused this neutral flavor?
 
Did you use a hop bag? Sometimes that can restrict the hops too much and lead to underbittered or underhopped beers?

Did you steep the grains properly, according to the instructions? The specialty grains are key to the flavor of the beer.

The muntons yeast is generally accepted as being not very good. That is one thing I don't like about the midwest kits, they always make the dry option muntons. I think for an irish, you would want a little yeast character.

I have a nut brown that I brewed that suffered a similar fate, i added 8 oz of maple syrup to the fermenter and it just dried out too much...OG = 1.052 FG = 1.008. It is a good beer, but it is thin and lacking depth. I fermented this one with nottingham very cool, so the yeast character is neutral.
 
permo said:
Did you use a hop bag?
Click to expand...

Yep. I used one of those mesh bags used for grains. I regretted it at the time but didn't think much of it. Luckily, my last 2 beers had decent hops and I used no bag.

MilwaukeeBrewGuy said:
make sure it is not too cold. what temp are you serving it at?
Click to expand...

Around 45-50 F. I even let it warm a little.

I just tossed one in the fridge. Hopefully, I will know more soon.
 
YOUR BEER IS STILL GREEN!!! Leave it at room temperture for a couple more weeks. Yeast is amazing, just get it time to 'fix' your beer.
 
I researched Red Ales before making mine and it should not have that much hop flavor if at all and no hop aroma. (Hence why I don't like Red Ales.)

9D. Irish Red Ale
Aroma: Low to moderate malt aroma, generally caramel-like but occasionally toasty or toffee-like in nature. May have a light buttery character (although this is not required). Hop aroma is low to none (usually not present). Quite clean.

Flavor: Moderate caramel malt flavor and sweetness, occasionally with a buttered toast or toffee-like quality. Finishes with a light taste of roasted grain, which lends a characteristic dryness to the finish. Generally no flavor hops, although some examples may have a light English hop flavor. Medium-low hop bitterness, although light use of roasted grains may increase the perception of bitterness to the medium range. Medium-dry to dry finish. Clean and smooth (lager versions can be very smooth). No esters.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you might have nailed it!!!! I hope that I don't really like my Red that I bottled last weekend. If I don't, I am entering it in the next competition!!!!!
 
MilwaukeeBrewGuy said:
make sure it is not too cold. what temp are you serving it at?
Click to expand...

+1 - I've done that also.

My first brew was lackluster at best. The fact its sounds like you produced something close to beer is something to be proud of. I like the others ideas better also - think back to your process - steep the grains long enough? Too much volume at the end of boil? What was your starting gravity and ending gravity - did you hit the numbers you expected? etc...
 
Chuck_Swillery said:
+1 - I've done that also.

My first brew was lackluster at best. The fact its sounds like you produced something close to beer is something to be proud of. I like the others ideas better also - think back to your process - steep the grains long enough? Too much volume at the end of boil? What was your starting gravity and ending gravity - did you hit the numbers you expected? etc...
Click to expand...

I was good on the OG and FG.

If anything, I steeped the grains for too long.

I didn't end up drinking it. I decided that you guys might be right on it being green, so I left it... though, I still might bust one out, but I may as well kill off all the commercial beer in my fridge while I wait :mug:
 
So, I tossed one in the fridge for a little bit and let it get cool before I opened it up.

Right off the bat I noticed it had carbed up significantly. It had clear head retention and a nice foam. It was amazing how worlds apart it was from the first bottle.

The taste was not the same either. But, not for better. It tasted "funky," not gross funky, but not good either. It was definitely something I would consider an "off" flavor. I could also notice the lack of some hop flavor. It had a very slight bitterness, but zero hop flavor/aroma.

There were no visible sign of infection. I didn't get to use sanitizer, but I cleaned as thoroughly as possible. Luckily, every batch after this one had Star San used on the fermenters and equipment.

Is it possible its still green? It was bottled on 2/10. Also, how does tannin taste? I think there is a clear flavor in there that is throwing it off and it might be this... I cooked the grains all whacky because I had no clue what I was doing then...

Thanks!
 
The no sanitizer part is what is causing the funk. That is only going to get worse. Tannins taste like strong or oversteeped tea. It has a drying effect on your mouth.
 
Same thing happened to me, only my third batch. Brewed an extract irish red with specialty grains and tasted same as you said. Just opened the second one a month after bottled and man it tastes good. It seems like its all about time with brewing.
 
adamhimself said:
So, I decided to crack open my first beer after being the in the bottle for 2 weeks. It was an Irish Red Ale from Midwest Supplies. It used simple Amber LME and some grains. I don't remember the hops I used, but it was like only one ounce, not much.

The beer looks ok after pouring. It has carbonation, but very very low head retention. It smells ok, nothing amazing... but OK. I hit my OG and FG.

But, the problem is... it just doesn't taste that great. I mean its not undrinkable but it seems slightly watery, it leaves kind of a slimey/film like flavor in the mouth. The flavor is very lacking. I want to write it off to Munton's dry yeast and almost purely Amber LME, but it just seems lacking to me.

It got decent reviews on Midwest Supplies website, but to me... it just isn't that great. I drank it last week. It was 2 weeks in the bottle. I might drink another one tonight to see how 3 weeks has done on it.

But, what might have caused this neutral flavor?
Click to expand...

First of all, congrats on your first.

Now, its way too green bro, leave it for another 2 weeks at least (if you can). Or, drink one every day until then to literally experience the flavours improve. This is what I did (still do sometimes) because I could not wait. Personaly, I have not had great beers from that yeast, but it could be my lack of skill in using the yeast also. Thats a tricky yeast imo. Your beer probably finished with a higher than avg FG, which might explain the slimy mouthfeel.
 
adamhimself said:
So, I tossed one in the fridge for a little bit and let it get cool before I opened it up.

Right off the bat I noticed it had carbed up significantly. It had clear head retention and a nice foam. It was amazing how worlds apart it was from the first bottle.

The taste was not the same either. But, not for better. It tasted "funky," not gross funky, but not good either. It was definitely something I would consider an "off" flavor. I could also notice the lack of some hop flavor. It had a very slight bitterness, but zero hop flavor/aroma.

There were no visible sign of infection. I didn't get to use sanitizer, but I cleaned as thoroughly as possible. Luckily, every batch after this one had Star San used on the fermenters and equipment.

Is it possible its still green? It was bottled on 2/10. Also, how does tannin taste? I think there is a clear flavor in there that is throwing it off and it might be this... I cooked the grains all whacky because I had no clue what I was doing then...

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Oh... wait... i might take my last post back. The lack of sanitizer will mean its infected. No sanitizer = you didn't make beer, you made a slurry for bacteria/undesirable organisms to grow in. Maybe that statement is too strong, but making a beer starts with sanitization. Oh well, you live and you learn bro, make another one, and drink this one quick :) You wont get sick, it just wont taste great.
 
I've added too much water to my carboy before. That definitely made it taste...weak. Next one I did, I measured correctly.
 
I hate to break it to you dude, but it's most likely a mediocre beer. I am by no means a brewmaster, but this hobby takes time. You can't expect your first beer to be "holy **** this is awesome". Give it time. Learn the process. Kits can be hit or miss, and often times the directions are poorly written or just plain wrong. My suggestion is to search this site for the tried and true recipes...those that everyone loves (BierMunchers & Orfy's are a start). The beer may be green, but in my experience, if it is lame when it is green, it is not going to be world class when it's not. It might be more drinkable, but you aren't winning any awards with it. Read, read, & then read some more. Brew, brew, & then brew some more. It will come with time.
 

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