Dry hop or not to dry hop?

SO and I made our first batch back at the end of May. It was an amber ale made with Muntons LME. Two things that I KNOW went wrong with it after having made two batches since then:

1. What we thought was a boiling temperature (due to our own ignorance at the time) was the most we let the wort go; I don't remember what the temperature was.. but needless to say the wort never actually got a rolling boil like we've let our other batches get to.

2. We misread our thermometer and accidentally pitched the yeast 10 degrees too high; 80 instead of 70.


Well, we had it going in the fermenter for about 10 days (thats what the instructions said to do) and then bottled. At the time of bottling, iirc the taste was fine (maybe a little sweet). Fwiw, we also used Munton's Carbtabs for carbonation.

We finally tried our first bottle a week later (obviously expecting it to be a bit green, but we wanted to see if the carbtabs had worked). The taste at the time was very strongly of alcohol, but we just assumed it was that the beer was too green and not ready. Waited a few weeks.. still tasted a bit strongly of alcohol.

It's been almost two months (on Aug 7th) since we bottled our beer. Its got a sour-ish taste and almost kind of taste too strongly of alcohol still. We want to let it sit to see if maybe it'll ever actually fix itself or if its long ruined.

The SO read about dry hopping "ruined" beer, so we've been considering doing that. Still gonna let it sit around for a few more weeks, just incase it can fix itself, but it worse comes to worse- is this a good idea? Also, does it matter that the beer is already carb'd?

 

I don't think dry hopping will help a strong alcohol taste or a sour taste. Big beers often taste alcoholy at first and mellow with age, but that doesn't sound like your case.

Check out the off flavor descriptions here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Personally, I think dry hopping won't help. You might add a nice aroma to the beer, but it'll still taste bad.

 

Decided to experiment with dry hopping in a growler just to see what happens. I do think that the biggest problem was that we pitched the yeast at too high a temperature.

Also, quick question: I just poured out like 3 bottles cuz as soon as I opened them, they gushed out. Could that just have happened because they weren't chilled? Any other bottle I've had from this batch, I've chilled first so I haven't had a gusher yet.

 

Pitching at 80 isn't ideal, but it shouldn't ruin your beer as long as it was mostly fermenting at the correct temp (usually high 60's for ale).

The gushing could be a lot of things: overcarbed beer, unevenly carbed beer, perfectly fine beer that was too warm / shaken up, infected beer that caused over carbonation...

 

There was a heatwave and our apartment was pretty gross for the beginning of this batch (probably the worst first batch conditions you could try to do anything in), but we tried to keep it as cool as possible with fans (we later got an AC). I think the first few days of fermentation it stayed around 75 degrees which I know is not ideal at all
I mean, like I said, any time we've put it in the fridge its been fine - it just tastes awful.

Hoping like hell the taste somehow fixes itself with time. Gonna see how the growler experiment goes. Is it really possible for too high of a temperature to screw with the taste this bad though? I mean, I'm such a newbie that I wouldn't know.. just kinda sad to see our first attempt not work out so well. Our 2nd batch was a summer honey wheat and that came out awesome though!

 

high ferment temps will lead to a sharp alcoholic taste.
bacterial infection could lead to gushers and sour taste.
another source of gushers would be to bottle with a fg that is too high.

at least you have the summer honey wheat.
keep trying your hand at it. it's a hobby that requires patience...and, of course, some drinking...so relax, drink some of that honey wheat, and make some more beer!

 

Any chance this beer will eventually mellow out? Assuming its just the high ferment temp that screwed with it.

 

why am i SO
shouldnt it be
SWMBO

 

haha you're retarded, plus swmbo sounds stupid

 

but its p accurate in ur case

 

fusels can take a very long time to fade, especially with how quickly it was taken off the yeast. dry hopping, oak, or other additives won't fix the fusels, but they certainly won't hurt.

btw, how did you plan to dry hop it if its already bottled?

 

this batch sounds like a goner, i would dump it rather than waste hops trying to fix it. you could save it for a few months just to see how bad your beer used to be.

 

figured an experiment in a growler might be interesting.. despite the beer already being carb'd... guess i'll see how it goes and get back to you guys

 

You cant fix it bro its gone like the goonies, I would use it as a marinade or use it in the smoker as I do with all my beers that didnt turn out so hot in the brewginning (and I have a lot of them).
Check your ferm temps thats likely what went wrong.

 

you may want to let it degas for a day first if its carb'd. the released CO2 may carry off some of the hop aromatics.

unless its infected or you need the bottles/space, dont dump a batch

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/nev...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/