LVBen
Well-Known Member
So... I made my 1st lager and I screwed up quite a few things. I was aiming for an american lager...but it is obvious now that I was nowhere near that.
Here is the recipe:
3 lbs of flaked corn.
4 lbs of pilsner malt.
1 oz of Saaz (3.2%AA) at 60 minutes
My screwups:
1. I used too much corn. 43% of the grain bill, and the color is WAY too light. It is almost the color of a white wine.
2. I used pilsner malt, but I shouldn't have with so much corn.
3. I left the bittering hops in for the primary fermentation instead of using a hop bag.
4. I only lagered it for 5 days, because I wanted to get it bottled and carbonated in time for a competition.
5. My mash temps were probably too high (157F), and I ended up with an SG of 1.04 and an FG of 1.011, which is closer to a lite american lager.
I tasted the lager 9 days after bottling, which was one day before the competition entry deadline and... decided not to enter it since it was so bad. At that time, it had a rotten hops smell and it tasted like watered down ethanol with no flavor.
I just opened one tonight. It has been bottled for 21 days and when I get a whiff of the aroma, it is like someone just farted in my face, but it doesn't taste too bad. It tastes something like watered down Heineken, which actually seems somewhat acceptable since it is almost 4% alcohol, so I'm actually considering drinking it instead of pouring it down the drain. I just need to plug my nose or try to ignore the rancid smell.
I know I should've lagered it longer and used a better recipe, but it is too late for any of that...
So, my questions are these:
1. What the f is that sulfury fart smell?
2. Is it safe to smell and drink?
Here is the recipe:
3 lbs of flaked corn.
4 lbs of pilsner malt.
1 oz of Saaz (3.2%AA) at 60 minutes
My screwups:
1. I used too much corn. 43% of the grain bill, and the color is WAY too light. It is almost the color of a white wine.
2. I used pilsner malt, but I shouldn't have with so much corn.
3. I left the bittering hops in for the primary fermentation instead of using a hop bag.
4. I only lagered it for 5 days, because I wanted to get it bottled and carbonated in time for a competition.
5. My mash temps were probably too high (157F), and I ended up with an SG of 1.04 and an FG of 1.011, which is closer to a lite american lager.
I tasted the lager 9 days after bottling, which was one day before the competition entry deadline and... decided not to enter it since it was so bad. At that time, it had a rotten hops smell and it tasted like watered down ethanol with no flavor.
I just opened one tonight. It has been bottled for 21 days and when I get a whiff of the aroma, it is like someone just farted in my face, but it doesn't taste too bad. It tastes something like watered down Heineken, which actually seems somewhat acceptable since it is almost 4% alcohol, so I'm actually considering drinking it instead of pouring it down the drain. I just need to plug my nose or try to ignore the rancid smell.
I know I should've lagered it longer and used a better recipe, but it is too late for any of that...
So, my questions are these:
1. What the f is that sulfury fart smell?
2. Is it safe to smell and drink?