My (english) brown ales are coming apart!

[cageybee]

So, what I seem to be experiencing is that over a month or so, the flavors that are initially well integrated seem to dis-integrate. So, instead of a malty/sweet/bitter/tart flavor all the way through - what I get is: way too much bitter in the first half, then way too much malt/sweetness towards the second half. I bottle my beers. Can you help? Oh, and this does not happen with other types of beer that I brew. Just the english browns.

thanks!

kgb

 

[cageybee]

holy crap.....according to my reading, I'm serving them way too cold. should be 54-57degrees.

 

[fuzzy2133]

holy crap.....according to my reading, I'm serving them way too cold. should be 54-57degrees.

OK I have to know how cold have you been chilling them to?

 

[KepowOb]

ok i have to know how cold have you been chilling them to?

+1

 

[cageybee]

ok. imma check...just been putting the bottles in the regular fridge. in the mean time, I put out a bottle of Royal Gorge Route Rogue (English Pale Ale from San Luis Valley Brewing Co) for 25 minutes or so to warm up and OMG it was as good as it was out of the tap on the train. I've been dissappointed in the bottles up until now. I'm cloning this one as soon as the wlp006 comes in from Tulsa...the brewer gave me mucho hints on the ingredients. post back soon

 

[cageybee]

40 degrees F. ooof...stupid is what stupid does...the beer that I've WASTED!!! :-(

 

[fuzzy2133]

So, what I seem to be experiencing is that over a month or so, the flavors that are initially well integrated seem to dis-integrate. So, instead of a malty/sweet/bitter/tart flavor all the way through - what I get is: way too much bitter in the first half, then way too much malt/sweetness towards the second half. I bottle my beers. Can you help? Oh, and this does not happen with other types of beer that I brew. Just the english browns.

thanks!

kgb

Interesting I was thinking you were closer to freezing. That is the temp I have my fridge at and never noticed what you described. You may have a more sensitive palate than me. Sounds like I have some "research" to do!

 

[BlackGoat]

Just trying to understand the issue, you are bottling the beers and as you are opening them over the course of a month the flavor profile is changing? How long are you conditioning them after bottling? In my opinion darker beers (brown ale being marginally a "darker" beer typically) need a bit more conditioning time to mellow out a bit. In the first month or two after bottling they can go through some really noticeable changes. Last year I made a very dark irish red ale that included some roasted grains, it was pretty good the first month, getting better a couple months later and REALLY hit its peak after about 4... and by hitting its peak I mean that the flavors all balanced out, which is what I think you mean by "integrated".

 

[smyrnaquince]

I use this as a reference for serving temperatures:

http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479

 

[Sippin37]

Yeah serving temps are pretty dang important IMO when it comes to certain types of beers. I tried a Chimay Blue for the first time the other day and was not impressed at all with the first few sips after taking it out of the fridge. But once that bad boy sat in the glass for 30 minutes at room temp all of the great flavors started to shine through. As for English Browns, I noticed a lot more flavor as it warms up a bit and I prefer it that way. But for Pale Ales I actually prefer them a bit more on the cooler side, just seem a little smoother to me and enjoy that smoothness to counteract the bitterness.

Glad you figured that out, cheers!

 

[cageybee]

Blackgoat: well, I am noticing the profile changing over time. but leave it to me to be strange......I want my browns and IPA's to have an integrated flavor, but others like Saison's I want to be able to separate the flavors out. having said that, I am irritated a bit that universally, hops favors tend to mellow out and wish I could fix that.

 

[BlackGoat]

understood, that's just the nature of the aroma hop additions - perhaps if you prefer them to have that hoppier character in the aroma you can make those adjustments in the recipe to boost the hopping rate in the late additions. Although that approach would of course mean that you might have an over-hopped brown for those bottles that you pop in the first month or two. A bit of dryhopping could give you some extra character too, I made a dry hopped brown years ago that I really liked.

 

[cageybee]

I dry hopped Northern's Caribou Slobber with an ounce of citra and have gotten rave reviews. love it. and you are right, the hops aroma lasted until they were all gone.