Hey HBT!
So I finally took the plunge into AG after only a couple of successful Extract kits and already "it" seems to have hit the fan. Brew day went well with the the "DIY" equipment I was using.. Standard cooler style mash tun... Copper coil immersion chiller.. Only piece that was a one off was the brew kettle, a converted fermenter using 2 kettle elements. (See pics)
The SG was better than expected for the recipe I was brewing which was an English pale ale. I got 1.064 as opposed to 1.054. The recipe recommended racking into secondary after 4 days which I did, but by then the gravity was already lower than the expected 1.015! Anyways I carried on, dry hopped I think 2 days before finish but the brew always smelt too sweet and had a real bad off flavour. I can only describe it as "beer" flavoured cotton candy after it had sit for a year :-D.
Any advice guys?
Personal observations:
1. Brew kettle not suitable? PP fermenter releasing nasty stuff??
2. I had to Substitute White labs Burton ale yeast with Wyeast English Ale smack pack due to availability.
3. Substituted Northern brewer hops for Styrian due to availability.
...looks good but tastes awful!
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
So I finally took the plunge into AG after only a couple of successful Extract kits and already "it" seems to have hit the fan. Brew day went well with the the "DIY" equipment I was using.. Standard cooler style mash tun... Copper coil immersion chiller.. Only piece that was a one off was the brew kettle, a converted fermenter using 2 kettle elements. (See pics)
The SG was better than expected for the recipe I was brewing which was an English pale ale. I got 1.064 as opposed to 1.054. The recipe recommended racking into secondary after 4 days which I did, but by then the gravity was already lower than the expected 1.015! Anyways I carried on, dry hopped I think 2 days before finish but the brew always smelt too sweet and had a real bad off flavour. I can only describe it as "beer" flavoured cotton candy after it had sit for a year :-D.
Any advice guys?
Personal observations:
1. Brew kettle not suitable? PP fermenter releasing nasty stuff??
2. I had to Substitute White labs Burton ale yeast with Wyeast English Ale smack pack due to availability.
3. Substituted Northern brewer hops for Styrian due to availability.
...looks good but tastes awful!
Thanks in advance for any feedback!