5 kegs of bad beer.

[edmanster]

Yeah... Most aroma and flavor additions seem to mellow fast.. That's why most micro breweries are now putting born on dates with their IPA's... Columbus should be a good hop for a IPA.. It is strong.. You can't go wrong with safale-05.. I mainly use it for its neutrality.. If I'm going to make a regional style then I will change my choice in yeast.. My question for you is why did you do the 15min hop addition on the C3C? It's the best lawnmower beer ever.. My last batch I changed the 2# of flaked maze for 2 cans of creamed corn.. Turned out great.. But that's with AG.

 

[TheMan]

Since no one else pointed this out...it sounds like you skipped the dry hop so that you didn't make it more bitter and grapefruity. A dry hop will not add bitterness, and if it adds any flavor it is minimal. It will mostly add aroma. So you need not fear the dry hop in your beers, they will simply smell more wonderful if you add it.

 

[Throckmorton]

Cascade hops have a citrus grapefruit flavor that mellows with time. I love to use them in pale ales personally.

 

[rod734]

Yeah... Most aroma and flavor additions seem to mellow fast.. That's why most micro breweries are now putting born on dates with their IPA's... Columbus should be a good hop for a IPA.. It is strong.. You can't go wrong with safale-05.. I mainly use it for its neutrality.. If I'm going to make a regional style then I will change my choice in yeast.. My question for you is why did you do the 15min hop addition on the C3C? It's the best lawnmower beer ever.. My last batch I changed the 2# of flaked maze for 2 cans of creamed corn.. Turned out great.. But that's with AG.

I agree, I did a C3C allgrain and I had read on one of the threads that you could sub. corn sugar or corn syrup for the flaked corn, so thats what I did. It turned out excelent, clear as a bell and very smooth. I just used some leftover hops I had in the freezer, I think it was a half oz. of magnum, and a half oz. of cascade at the beginning of the boil. When I altered this kit, I was shooting for something like that, I just didn'd really know what I was doing with the hop additions. And it seemed like a good way to double my production for little expense.

 

[rod734]

Since no one else pointed this out...it sounds like you skipped the dry hop so that you didn't make it more bitter and grapefruity. A dry hop will not add bitterness, and if it adds any flavor it is minimal. It will mostly add aroma. So you need not fear the dry hop in your beers, they will simply smell more wonderful if you add it.

Yes, thats what I was trying to do. About the time my second batch was ready to come out of primary I taped the first keg and it was very bitter and left me belching a nasty raw hop flavor for an hour after I drank a glass and I thought ommiting the dry hop might help that. It did mellow out though with time.
I think a lot of it is they just need more time, but when I was using the Mr. beer, and Cooper kits I was drinking good beer in three weeks from brew date. I used plastic bottles so I could tell when they were getting carbed by the feel of the bottle. I would start sampleing after a week and end up drinking them all before they had time time finish.

 

[rod734]

The instant rice was pre-gelatinized IE the starches were made available for conversion, the LME is enzymatically inactive.

Do you have a water report for your area? High amounts of sulfate or bicarbonate can lead to harsh hop flavors.

Im thinking about expermenting a little and put some beano in one of the kegs with the rice in it to se if it will convert and ferment. I'v read enzymes can cause a problem in bottles with excessive carbonatiion, but I dont think it would in a keg where you could just relieve the pressure. I'v also read on here that after you chill a keg the enzyme will stop working.

Give me your thoughts on this.

thakns; Rod

 

[rod734]

Yeah... Most aroma and flavor additions seem to mellow fast.. That's why most micro breweries are now putting born on dates with their IPA's... Columbus should be a good hop for a IPA.. It is strong.. You can't go wrong with safale-05.. I mainly use it for its neutrality.. If I'm going to make a regional style then I will change my choice in yeast.. My question for you is why did you do the 15min hop addition on the C3C? It's the best lawnmower beer ever.. My last batch I changed the 2# of flaked maze for 2 cans of creamed corn.. Turned out great.. But that's with AG.

I forgot to answer your question. The 15 min was the flavor addition per directions that came with the IPA kit, but I think I should have skipped it going for the C3C style.

 

[Pivzavod]

Why not try making something thats not an IPA and dont use American hops known for citrus / grapefruit taste. Summer is coming up, make a witbier or a saison.

 

[Clifton]

I suspect you are having hard water issues. Hard water is great for darker beers, not so much for lighter ones. I had astringency issues that went away went I started messing with my water to lower it's alkalinity. The astringency will fade with time.

I totally agree as I had a similar situation myself.

If you want to brew a good IPA or APA use RO or distilled water instead of your tap water. For the darker beers your tap water will be fine as long as it is de-chlorinated.

Despite what some may say, water chemistry is still important for the extract brewer.

 

[rod734]

Why not try making something thats not an IPA and dont use American hops known for citrus / grapefruit taste. Summer is coming up, make a witbier or a saison.

I got a Mr. Beer witbier in the bottle now about 2 wks, I sampled one at a week and it was very good I'm going to chill another now to try tomarrow. Thats why I cant believe it's my water, I'v brewed probably 20 lighter beers in the last year from prehoped kits, IPAs, Pilsner, West Coast Pail Ales, Canadian Draft, That were very good. I done an ag C3C that was fantastic. I think it's the Falconer's Flight hops. I just poped a Canadian Draft I bottled 4/5, It is excelent. I drank my last Cooper IPA last night, it was very good. It's supposed to start raining again this weekend, I'll brew an IPA with columbus and go from there.

Thanks; Rod

 

[drocu]

With the increase in recipe volume and that much simple sugar the gravity sounds about right. Is there any excessive haziness to the beer?

Sorry to hijack part of this thread...but I just made a brown ale using extracts, kegged it (first time kegging), and tried some last night. It's the "Noches Munton & Fison Cascade Dark Ale" in Homebrew Favorites, pg 61, for those of you that have the text. It is incredibly hazy and has an off taste; I don't know if it's "bad" per say but the taste isn't that appealing; I'd say overly bitter. I don't catch any odd aromas. The OG to FG change only resulted in about 2.8% alcohol but maybe that was intended.
3# Munton's American light malt extract
1.5# dark DME
1/2oz. Cascade 30 min.
1/2oz. Cascade 20 min.
30 min. boil

It was in primary for 2 weeks, no secondary. Fermentation started within 12-16hrs and may have been too aggressive due to high temps. I force carbed it for 24hrs at 30psi, then dropped to 9psi for 4 days before trying. I haven't checked my water yet, but it's city water so I doubt hardness is a factor, plus I've never noticed our water being hard while washing clothes, dishes, etc. I'm wondering if it's just a bad recipe or if I should leave the keg in the fridge to mellow out.

Thoughts?

 

[rod734]

Im thinking about expermenting a little and put some beano in one of the kegs with the rice in it to se if it will convert and ferment. I'v read enzymes can cause a problem in bottles with excessive carbonatiion, but I dont think it would in a keg where you could just relieve the pressure. I'v also read on here that after you chill a keg the enzyme will stop working.

Give me your thoughts on this.

thakns; Rod

I just tapped this keg that I added the beano to. It's been sitting at room temp. for about three weeks, and it is really good. It's good and clear, and has a little bit of the citrisy tast, which I have become more accustomed to and a bit lf malt taste. This is what I was shooting for, it tastes like the IPA, but not a intense. I'm going to do it again, but this time I will mill a bit of base malt for the mash. I worked up a recipe on beer calc. that will put me at 30 IBUs for a 10 gal. batch.

thanks to all.

 

[rod734]

Sorry to hijack part of this thread...but I just made a brown ale using extracts, kegged it (first time kegging), and tried some last night. It's the "Noches Munton & Fison Cascade Dark Ale" in Homebrew Favorites, pg 61, for those of you that have the text. It is incredibly hazy and has an off taste; I don't know if it's "bad" per say but the taste isn't that appealing; I'd say overly bitter. I don't catch any odd aromas. The OG to FG change only resulted in about 2.8% alcohol but maybe that was intended.
3# Munton's American light malt extract
1.5# dark DME
1/2oz. Cascade 30 min.
1/2oz. Cascade 20 min.
30 min. boil

It was in primary for 2 weeks, no secondary. Fermentation started within 12-16hrs and may have been too aggressive due to high temps. I force carbed it for 24hrs at 30psi, then dropped to 9psi for 4 days before trying. I haven't checked my water yet, but it's city water so I doubt hardness is a factor, plus I've never noticed our water being hard while washing clothes, dishes, etc. I'm wondering if it's just a bad recipe or if I should leave the keg in the fridge to mellow out.

Thoughts?

That's not very much malt. If you made a 5 gal. batch it may be the reason for the hopps to come through strong.

 

[rod734]

I'm having a flavor problem with the last kits I bought. I'v brewed several beers, extract, partial extract, and ag with good results.
I made a Porter with these kits that is decent, but all my pale ales are bad. I brewed 2 IPAs, an APA, and used the LME from a 5 gal. kit and added corn, and rice to make a ten gal. batch of C3C pale ale, and they all have a citrisy, grapefruit, estrigency, the C3C being the best.
The only thing I have changed in my process is the kits and the yeast. I'm using Nottingham yeast and fermenting at 60 degrees F. as was recommended on one of Yooper's posts.
Is it possable the LME is causing this problem? I guess I will brew another batch and split it up and try two different yeasts.

All these beers mellowed out and got much better with time. The flavor would change so much from one day to the next I would check my beer lines to make sure I was getting the right beer. I'v come to the conclusion they just need at least six weeks in the keg to get right.

thanks

 

[drocu]

That's not very much malt. If you made a 5 gal. batch it may be the reason for the hopps to come through strong.

Yeah, I think you're right that this is just a bad recipe. I'm still new to this and learning quickly so I'll be sure to up the malt in subsequent batches. It's also getting marginally better each day. I'm forcing myself to drink it quickly so I can be over and done with it.