Just brewed english ale. Did I make any mistakes?

[DatBrew]

Just asking cause afterwards it tasted pretty bitter.

150 degrees 5 pounds maris otter and 1 pound other(forgot what its called just a amber grain)

Did that twice cause pot is to small

Took wort, boiled for an hour

added hops 15 minutes before end of boil

cooled and put in the fermenter

It taste pretty bitter.

5 gallons of beer
6 pounds of aforementioned grains
4oz of east goldings hops

das it

 

[Ski12568]

What was your OG?

 

[DatBrew]

What was your OG?

Dont have one yet. Just barely learning and will get one eventually.

also I should add that the 150 degrees were 30 minute intervals both.

 

[kh54s10]

Did you have a recipe? That is very strange. You will have a very low gravity and bitter beer from that grain bill and hops. Hops are usually added early for bitterness and late for aroma and flavor.

Only time will tell. The taste of a finished beer will be quite different from a freshly boiled/cooled wort.

But I am afraid I would not expect much from this recipe.

 

[CUrchin]

Are you tasting wort or finished beer or ? All wort will taste bitter. We would also be able to help more with a full recipe. Cheers.

 

[lowtones84]

That is a lot of hops for 5 gallons of a low gravity beer, depending on the AA% of the EKG. 6 lbs of grain in a 5 gallon batch will give you an OG somewhere around 1.030-1.035 assuming a decent mash efficiency.

So you only added the hops 15 minutes until the end of the boil, and none at the beginning? Because that shouldn't result in very little bitterness.

Edit: Also what CUrchin said.

 

[DatBrew]

Thanks guys yah I did kinda feel like it was a bit to much of hops. Maybe I messed up on that part. Im assuming it should have been 2 ounces correct? But yes it was at the last 15 minutes of boiling the wort.

I guess ill just have to wait and see how it turns out. Next time ill use less hops.

Full recipe is

5 pounds maris otter
1 pound crystal 60L
4 oz of east goldings hops
5 gallons water

Thats it. Shooting for a good old fashioned english ale.

Oh and after the wort cools from brewing I tasted it. Just put it in the fermenter.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

It's much easier to figure out ahead of time what gravity, bitterness, color and alcohol you will get if you use some software. I would recommend getting a program to enter your recipes. I use BeerSmith but there are several others available, too. Most are very inexpensive and some are free. They are all pretty easy to use. It takes the guess work out brewing, which saves time, money and beer in the end. It's a minimal investment with a big payoff - better beer.

 

[fuelish]

Ummmmm.....you DID add yeast, yes???

 

[DatBrew]

Ummmmm.....you DID add yeast, yes???

Haha yes. Windsor. I wanted to use nottingham originally but the brew i did before this I messed up so I wasted the nottingham.

 

[lowtones84]

Are you starting with five gallons of water? If so, you aren't making 5 gallons of beer because of grain absorption during the mash as well as boil-off. I can't calculate it for you because equipment differs, but I would imagine you would have to start with 6.5 or 7 gallons of water to come out to 5 gallons of wort in the end.

Also, the recipe isn't horrible honestly, just fairly low gravity like an ordinary bitter. But I would move some of the hops to the beginning of the boil so that they boil for the full 60 minutes, otherwise you're getting almost no bittering when they're only boiled for 15 minutes. Basically, with some small changes I think you could have something decent on your hands if you brew this again.

 

[DatBrew]

Are you starting with five gallons of water? If so, you aren't making 5 gallons of beer because of grain absorption during the mash as well as boil-off. I can't calculate it for you because equipment differs, but I would imagine you would have to start with 6.5 or 7 gallons of water to come out to 5 gallons of wort in the end.

Also, the recipe isn't horrible honestly, just fairly low gravity like an ordinary bitter. But I would move some of the hops to the beginning of the boil so that they boil for the full 60 minutes, otherwise you're getting almost no bittering when they're only boiled for 15 minutes. Basically, with some small changes I think you could have something decent on your hands if you brew this again.

Thanks for the response! Ill see how it comes out and if its not bitter enough Ill try that out.

Also I made the wort twice for that reason. Just did 2 30 minute sessions and got nearly 5 gallons at the end of the boil off. Had to add some water. Im going to buy a bigger pot for sure when i have the money.

Also if I dont get a Krakken is that a bad sign or will it still turn out fine after 2 weeks?

 

[lowtones84]

I hope you don't get a Kraken, that would be bad for everybody in the immediate vicinity

I believe what you mean is Krausen, which is the foamy layer at the top while it is fermenting. I always get at least a small Krausen when fermenting. Can you see into the vessel or are you using a bucket?

For your viewing pleasure, the Kraken:

 

[DatBrew]

LOL Krausen*

Its in a 6 gallon glass carboy. Last batch that was successful had a 1-2 inch krauen for about 3 or 4 days but that was for a kit. This one was foaming about 1/4th an inch last night but cooled off to norm. Not sure what thats about.

 

[blackbeer]

4 oz of ekg is gonna give it some hop character, thats fer sure. to ensure you don't waste money, ingredients and valuable brew time, i'd suggest you do some reading on brew techniques, recipe formulation, etc. it will pay off in the long run big time and keep the frustration level down and the interest level up. this site is a wealth of information.

 

[DatBrew]

4 oz of ekg is gonna give it some hop character, thats fer sure. to ensure you don't waste money, ingredients and valuable brew time, i'd suggest you do some reading on brew techniques, recipe formulation, etc. it will pay off in the long run big time and keep the frustration level down and the interest level up. this site is a wealth of information.

I have, thanks.

Ok so still no krausen is that a huge problem?

Im wondering if my thermometer isnt reading properly when I steep....

 

[JKaranka]

If you are starting it's best not to mess with it. That said, if you had such low gravity and high hopping you could consider adding some dry malt extract to bump it up...

 

[pablosbrewing]

This is an English Ordinary Bitter and nothing is wrong with your recipe if that is what you were looking for.

I would have hopped differently, but that does not mean what you did is wrong. 4 oz of EKG at 15 minutes is ~31.5 IBUs, which is in the range for this style.

I'd expect ~3.0-3.4% ABV and some nice hop character.

 

[JKaranka]

It's more than anything that the balance is somewhat awkwardly tilting towards hoppy and thin. Bitters below 3.5% are extremely rare and usually hopping and bitterness are lower as abv drops. I'd expect a 3.5% bitter to be below 30 IBU to still showcase some malt and yeast character.

 

[jethro55]

Let us know how it turns out. Sounds good!! It's gonna be all about the health and amount of yeast that was pitched.

 

[DatBrew]

Thanks guys yah I didnt feel there was anything wrong with the recipe even though a few were saying that.

Its been a few days now and still no krausen, I am thinking that the temp that I steeped at was higher than what the thermometer was reading, I was using and infrared thermo. So I think my brew was full of tannins and maybe thats why it was excessively bitter? But yah there was some yeast activity, and theres still a very small amount but its not taking off like it should. Im gonna get a larger pot and regular thermometer and try this again.