I recently attempted to brew the Lake Walk Pale Ale recipe (all grain) shown below. I substituted Victory malt for the Toasted Pale Malt. Otherwise the recipe is identical. There were a few issues that I encountered during the brew:
I pitched rehydrated S-05 and had a healthy fermentation that hit the target FG. After 14 days in the primary I transfered to a secondary for dry hopping. I tasted my hydrometers sample and noticed a "charred" or "burnt toast" flavor that lingered on my tongue; it was quite bitter. After 14 days in secondary I transferred to a keg. I tasted a sample at this point and I noticed the exact same bitter "burnt/charred" flavor. It's impossible to quantitate, but it didn't seem like the bitter flavor had diminished in the 14 days.
That being said I'm wondering if the bitter falvor is coming from the heating element being ran dry (the smell would indicate such), or if the bitter flavor is coming from tannins due to over sparging.
I know the general rule of thumb is to let the beer age as most off flavors will go away. I'm only concerned because there was no noticeable change in the off flavor after 14 days (28 total). I'm wondering if this taste is permanent, and if so can it be reduced by a treatment such as gelatine or isinglass.
Ingredients:
8.0 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
2.0 lbs Toasted Pale Malt (replaced with Victory)
0.5 lbs Crystal Malt 60°L
0.5 lbs Wheat Flakes
.75 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
.75 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 ea Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 ea Fermentis US-56 Safale US-56
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
Schedule:
Mash @ 153 60 mins (hit target temp of 153F and mashed 60 minutes)
- I use an aluminum kettle with a 1500 watt heating element and the element was dry fired for ~20 seconds before the brew. This put out a stream of smoke and gave an acrid odor similar to burnt toast. The odor lingered for a while. I thought that the element may be ruined, but was surprised to find that it still functioned so I went on with the brew.
- I normally have an efficiency of 75% with my system (countertop brutus sytle). After sparging I had an efficiency of ~60%. I suspect that it may have something to do with the flaked wheat, but I can't be certain. I also experienced my first stuck sparge. As I thought something was wrong I went ahead and sparged for an additional 20 minutes. I didn't use more water, I merely recirculated the wort to try to rinse out more sugars. This only increased my efficiency slightly (~65%), so I ended up boiling off more water to hit my target OG.
I pitched rehydrated S-05 and had a healthy fermentation that hit the target FG. After 14 days in the primary I transfered to a secondary for dry hopping. I tasted my hydrometers sample and noticed a "charred" or "burnt toast" flavor that lingered on my tongue; it was quite bitter. After 14 days in secondary I transferred to a keg. I tasted a sample at this point and I noticed the exact same bitter "burnt/charred" flavor. It's impossible to quantitate, but it didn't seem like the bitter flavor had diminished in the 14 days.
That being said I'm wondering if the bitter falvor is coming from the heating element being ran dry (the smell would indicate such), or if the bitter flavor is coming from tannins due to over sparging.
- Has anyone ever had such and experience either with heating elements or over sparging?
- Has anyone ever tasted such a bitter/burnt flavor in their beer?
- If so was there a way to reduce the flavor?
I know the general rule of thumb is to let the beer age as most off flavors will go away. I'm only concerned because there was no noticeable change in the off flavor after 14 days (28 total). I'm wondering if this taste is permanent, and if so can it be reduced by a treatment such as gelatine or isinglass.
Ingredients:
8.0 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt
2.0 lbs Toasted Pale Malt (replaced with Victory)
0.5 lbs Crystal Malt 60°L
0.5 lbs Wheat Flakes
.75 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
.75 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 ea Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 ea Fermentis US-56 Safale US-56
1.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
Schedule:
Mash @ 153 60 mins (hit target temp of 153F and mashed 60 minutes)