lone_wolf
Well-Known Member
Brothers
taste-tested my first partial mash a few days ago after 3 weeks in the primary and was pretty heartbroken. Borders on undrinkable. Now I appreciate that its yet to bottle condition and all that jazz, but (with one exception - subject of a different thread!) all my extract and extract+steeping grain efforts have been quite palatable at the end of fermentation. I don't think I did anything controversial in my first attempt:
recipe outline for (light) brown ale
2.5 pound pale
1.5 pound Marris Otter
1 pound med Crystal
.5 pound light crystal
200 grams chocolate malt.
3 pound LME
mashed grain for 1 hour at 155 in 9 litres, sparged in 5 litres
chucked in LME and boiled for an hour with 30 grams of pretty high alpha hops added at 60, 30 and at 10 to go
fermentation has been at I would say an average of 22 celcius for the three weeks with safale s-04
OG was 1050 from memory, haven't taken final reading
So how to describe the taste? A combination of an ugly yeast bite and what I am sure is my first encounter with senor fusel alcohol (distinct feeling of heat in mouth). yeeeoucch.
I'm pretty devastated and am strongly considering dumpage of batch.
So what the hell did I do wrong?
I'm well aware that 22 celcius is tending towards the higher side of ale fermentation temperatures but these are the SAME conditions under which I have brewed a number of smooth extract batches. Different rules for grain?
Perhaps grain batches typically produce a product that is rougher at the end of fermentation than extract only, but even up under conditioning?
Was my excessive mash water volume to blame somehow?
I'm pretty fastidious when it comes to sanitation, perhaps I picked up a bug somehow?
looking for some reassurance before I attempt another mash - confidence fading ... must hold on...please
taste-tested my first partial mash a few days ago after 3 weeks in the primary and was pretty heartbroken. Borders on undrinkable. Now I appreciate that its yet to bottle condition and all that jazz, but (with one exception - subject of a different thread!) all my extract and extract+steeping grain efforts have been quite palatable at the end of fermentation. I don't think I did anything controversial in my first attempt:
recipe outline for (light) brown ale
2.5 pound pale
1.5 pound Marris Otter
1 pound med Crystal
.5 pound light crystal
200 grams chocolate malt.
3 pound LME
mashed grain for 1 hour at 155 in 9 litres, sparged in 5 litres
chucked in LME and boiled for an hour with 30 grams of pretty high alpha hops added at 60, 30 and at 10 to go
fermentation has been at I would say an average of 22 celcius for the three weeks with safale s-04
OG was 1050 from memory, haven't taken final reading
So how to describe the taste? A combination of an ugly yeast bite and what I am sure is my first encounter with senor fusel alcohol (distinct feeling of heat in mouth). yeeeoucch.
I'm pretty devastated and am strongly considering dumpage of batch.
So what the hell did I do wrong?
I'm well aware that 22 celcius is tending towards the higher side of ale fermentation temperatures but these are the SAME conditions under which I have brewed a number of smooth extract batches. Different rules for grain?
Perhaps grain batches typically produce a product that is rougher at the end of fermentation than extract only, but even up under conditioning?
Was my excessive mash water volume to blame somehow?
I'm pretty fastidious when it comes to sanitation, perhaps I picked up a bug somehow?
looking for some reassurance before I attempt another mash - confidence fading ... must hold on...please