1st batch - a little disappointed

[bn163]

Northern Brewer Extra Pale Ale, extract + specialty grains. Procedure-wise, everything went well, with the exception being that my OG was a little lower than expected (1.041 vs 1.045). Pitched Safale US-05 yeast. 8 days in primary & 20 days in secondary @ around 68F. Final gravity = 1.010. 5 ounces priming sugar at bottling. 3 weeks in bottles @ 68F. Sampled after spending 48 hours in refrigerator.

Beer was cloudy with good carbonation, but little-to-no head. Good bitterness, but kind of bland (lacks some maltiness?). Good copper color. While drinkable, it is not something I want to share with my friends.

The head issue could be due to bottle cleaning. Soaked bottles in oxyclean for wash & to remove labels. Think I rinsed thoroughly, but concerned that I could have left behind glue residue from wash water.

Not sure what to think about the flavor or body of the beer. Could my beer still be young/green? Should I expect it to improve with some time, or should I go ahead & drink it to get rid of it?

Should the cloudiness improve? Think i read somewhere that the US-05 yeast is low floculating? Should I give it more time to settle out?

Have a NB Phat Tyre (extract + specialty grain) in secondary that I am now also concerned about.

Thanks for input.

 

[NorCalAngler]

I brewed this beer a few weeks ago. It's been in the bottle for 2 weeks and I've sampled a couple along the way. This beer using all cascade hops is very bitter for the pale malt at 55IBU. If I did this brew again I would definitely adjust the hops down to the 40IBU range to balance it out a bit. I added a cup of dextrose to mine to pump the ABV up a bit, which will also dry it out.

Like you, I label soaked my bottles in Oxiclean and there was a ton of glue residue in the soaking water. I think I rinsed well, but I've already had 4-5 bottles start to bulge the caps on me, which I think is due to my poor bottle sanitizing or residue being left behind in the bottles harboring bacteria and creating gushers.

I think this beer just needs 4-5 weeks in the bottle to mellow the hops a bit and bring out the malt. I guess I'll see in a couple more weeks. I hope yours mellows for you.

What type of glass did you pour it in? Perhaps the glass had soap residue? You mentioned the only thing you didn't like was that it was unbalanced toward being bitter; I don't think that's a reason to not share it. Have you tried a few to see if there are differences across the bottles?

 

[chrispykid]

Tough to say why you don't like the beer - the recipe might just not appeal to you. Lack of head could be the result of sloppy bottling it might just be a glass that's not perfectly clean.

Cloudiness might improve over time, but if it's chill haze your probably stuck with it. It might not be gorgeous, but it's not really a big deal either.

As far as best practices for bottling:

1) If you don't already have one, get a bottle washer. They're too cheap for any homebrewer not to own one and you can even use them to clean carboys. A blast of hot water should scorch everything right out of any bottle.
2) You mentioned Oxyclean, but did you sanitize the bottles? If not get some Starsan, give the bottles a soak for a few minutes and then let them dry out, no need to rinse further. You can use a bottle tree or just wipe some sanitizer inside a clean milk crate and use that to hold the bottles upside down.

 

[dogbar]

Give it more time in the fridge. It will almost certainly taste better a week from now after it's had some time to chill out.

As for the larger issue, don't get discouraged.* Even when this batch gets better, try to pick out the things you still don't like about it, and then work on fixing them going forward. Brewing is an art -- you get better by doing it. It's still friggin' cool that you made your own beer.

* I still fight this. I've been brewing for a couple years now, but when I make a batch I don't like very much, I start questioning my whole process. Then the next one rocks and suddenly I'm Sam Calagione.

 

[jturie]

Man, I hope the kit isn't to blame....it's next on my brew list.

 

[b33risGOOD]

give it some more time, and jus be happy, its ur first time, if its drinkable.................sounds ok to me

 

[Chuck_Swillery]

3 weeks still pretty young all in all. Agreed, if its chill haze you're stuck with it but its no sweat. Something to shoot for next time. Lack of head retention, not sure. I struggled with this when I first got into brewing and, honestly, never figured it out...

 

[annasdadhockey]

how clean are your glasses? Are they clean, or are they "beer clean"? Any type of residue(i.e. oils) will kill a head very quickly.

 

[mikebiewer]

I actually bottled my first batch of this same exact kit yesterday. I also brewed it again and put my wort on top of the old yeast cake. I really want to dial in this recipe. My wife loves EPA's.

Anyway, I took a taste test of mine from my hydro sampler and it was bitter, like you mentioned, but I still tasted some sweetness. I can only imagine it will get a lil sweeter with time in the bottle. Mine sat in the primary for 3 weeks and came out pretty clear. I went right to bottle, no secondary.

I didn't use the same yeast though. I used the wYeast pack that was offered at check out.

I was disappointed with my first brew though. It took 6 days to start fermenting and didn't taste the greatest. Everyone around me thought it was great, but for some reason I didn't like it. Was it just me? Or did it really taste bad and everyone around me was just being nice and encouraging?

Anyway, I'd give it a couple more weeks and try it again. Otherwise, drink it up and start on another!

 

[bn163]

Cloudiness shouldn't be chill haze. Used 50' immersion chiller & cooled wort to ~70F in around 10 minutes. Seems I read somewhere that the US-05 takes a while to settle out. Used Wyeast smack pack on last (3rd) batch. Used US-05 on my 2nd batch (will bottle this weekend). If the 2nd batch remains cloudy for any length of time, & the 3rd doesn't, maybe I will steer clear of the US-05 in the future.

Beer drinking glasses are dishwasher clean, so there may be some rinse agent on them. However, am getting better head retention in the same dishwasher clean glassware with my store bought brews.

I typically drink pale ales & IPAs, but this one seems a little to bitter. I'll give it a little more time & see if it changes. If not, like I said, its drinkable.

Here's to my next one being more to my liking.