A tasteless Beer?

[Glongo]

A tasteless Beer?

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My friends I again need some advise. I am a new home brewer and have been pretty lucky so far with two succesful brews one nut brown ale and one XX stout. Both were rich and flavorful and very tasty. So for a friend I was asked to try something more mild, but the problem is it seems to be very mild with almost no flavor. Here's what I did.... where did I go wrong or is this how it was suppose to come out.

6 .lbs Briess Golden light extract
11 .oz Specialty grains (light)
11g Nottingham Ale Yeast
Tap water From Verplanck NY (steming from the North East Croton Resv.)
2.5 oz. Mt. Hood hopp Pellets Alpha 4.2%
1.5 .oz 60 minute boil
.5 .oz last 15 minutes of boil
.5 .oz last 5 minutes of boil

The starting gravity was 1.040 and the starting alc% was 5.16%

I Chilled it down to 60* right away and fermented for 7 days between 58* and 63*. It was suppose to be a light amber. However I bottled it yesterday with 5 oz. of dextrose and 16 .oz of tap water for priming and it was a urine color not a brownish red color. The Final gravity was 1.009 and the Alc% was 1% giving it a final alc% of 3.999%. Do you think that bottling it will increase some flavor or just give it clearity? Should I have kept the fermentation temp closer to the mid 60's vs. the low 60's high 50's? Maybe it tasted wierd because it was flat.... who knows I just hope that It turns out ok. Anyone have some input? Right now I am only extract brewing and would like to move on to partial mash brewing but I want to make sure that I have the process itself down before moving up. I just aquired all of the equipment that I need but I am unsure of going foward without being experienced enough. I just dont want to waste lots of money on supplies and my time if I dont have to. I really appreciate everyones input and any suggestions are very welcome.

Till then...... Brew On my Friends Brew On! :rockin:

 

[mlyday]

It will be fine. Ive had that same thing happen. Oddly enough carbonation changes the flavor. A flat warm beer will taste completly different from a cold carbed one.

 

[broadbill]

Was the temp reading of 58-63 the the fermenation temp or the ambient temp?

What was the makeup of the 11oz of specialty malt...that is what would determine the color in this recipe.

How did you calculate a "starting" (?) alc % of 5.16?

Lastly, don't try and make any conclusions about the final product until the product is in bottles and carbonated.

Good luck!

 

[bknifefight]

Like broadbill said, the grains will give you the color in this recipe. You said they were light but not what kind. Maybe a Crystal 10 or 20?

Also, broadbill, he is referring to the different scales on most hydrometers. The 5.16 is the reading IF it fermented out to 1.000 so it's the potential alcohol, I guess.

 

[BrewKnurd]

I made an Irish red a while ago that I was worried about at bottling because it had almost no flavor. Once it had some more time to sit and when it was fully carbed, it turned out to be quite good. So I wouldn't worry about this one yet.

As for the temps, higher temps would generally lead to more ester prodoction, hence more flavor, but they may or may not be the flavors you're looking for in this particular beer.

 

[Glongo]

Was the temp reading of 58-63 the the fermenation temp or the ambient temp?

What was the makeup of the 11oz of specialty malt...that is what would determine the color in this recipe.

How did you calculate a "starting" (?) alc % of 5.16?

Lastly, don't try and make any conclusions about the final product until the product is in bottles and carbonated.

Good luck!

1. I'm not sure of the make up of the grains but they were for an amber beer

2. starting gravity of 1.040 or 40 x .129 ........ = 5.16% (palmers how to brew)

then you take the starting alc% minus the finishing alc% to obtain your actual Alc% ex. starting was 5.16% - finishing 1.161% = 3.999%actual alcohol content

3. yes that was the fermentation temp from the fermenters therm. the ambient temp was 70*

 

[Glongo]

Like broadbill said, the grains will give you the color in this recipe. You said they were light but not what kind. Maybe a Crystal 10 or 20?

Also, broadbill, he is referring to the different scales on most hydrometers. The 5.16 is the reading IF it fermented out to 1.000 so it's the potential alcohol, I guess.

BK the starting is the potential alc% if it fermented completely. the Hydrometer reads for gravity and alc% even in the beginning. According to Palmers How to brew you get that exact number by rounding out and multiplying by .129. so if your starting gravity was 1.050 that would equal a 50 then you would X that by .129 to get that actual figure. then subtract the finishing alc% from that number to recieve your exact actual alc %. Yeah the place I got the grains from didnt specify what type they are. But they were suppose to be for an amber beer.

What types of steeping grains are good for dark vs. light?

 

[HopSong]

The amber I'm brewing now is with 8# Light LME; 1 # Crystal 60L; 1 oz Magnum and 2 oz Willamette. Yours should have a bit lighter OG. Mine was 56.. not sure where it will end up in a few weeks. I started on 11/5 and probably won't be doing bottling until about 12/12 or so.. should be ready by Christmas.. least I'm hoping :rockin:

 

[DannPM]

Gawd I love that you describe it as "urine color not a brownish red color". Not meant to insult but that just made me laugh.

 

[broadbill]

1. I'm not sure of the make up of the grains but they were for an amber beer

Going to be pretty tough to know what went wrong when you don't know the recipe!

2. starting gravity of 1.040 or 40 x .129 ........ = 5.16% (palmers how to brew)

To use that equation correctly, you first need to substract OG from FG so: 40-9=31*.129 = 3.999%. the way you are calculating it, you are assuming that the wort if fermenting completely (i.e. down to 1.000)

then you take the starting alc% minus the finishing alc% to obtain your actual Alc% ex. starting was 5.16% - finishing 1.161% = 3.999%actual alcohol content

that sounds about right...

3. yes that was the fermentation temp from the fermenters therm. the ambient temp was 70*

Do you have temperature control? That is the only way you can have an ambient temp was 70 and your fermenter was only at 58-63. Active fermentation will increase your fermentation temp 5-10 degrees above ambient easy.

 

[Glongo]

sort of....... The room temp is 70* that's what temp I keep my house. My Fermenting bucket is either kept in a mini fridge but the temp fluxuates to cold most of the time so often I use a large tub filled with water. The fermenter sits in the water at all times and the water is kept at the temp that I desire the fermenter to be at. THis absorbs the heat producted by fermentation right away. I find that the water temp fluxuates much less than the mini fridge. I also monitor the temp from two different thermometers one crystal attached to the bucket and the other for the water temp. (no the crystal thermometer isnt submerged) I need to get an external thermostate for my mini fridge.

Do you have any suggestions on a good way to keep the temp steady?

 

[Calder]

6 .lbs Briess Golden light extract
11 .oz Specialty grains (light)
11g Nottingham Ale Yeast
2.5 oz. Mt. Hood hopp Pellets Alpha 4.2%
1.5 .oz 60 minute boil
.5 .oz last 15 minutes of boil
.5 .oz last 5 minutes of boil

The starting gravity was 1.040 and the starting alc% was 5.16%

I Chilled it down to 60* right away and fermented for 7 days between 58* and 63*. It was suppose to be a light amber. However I bottled it yesterday with 5 oz. of dextrose and 16 .oz of tap water for priming and it was a urine color not a brownish red color. The Final gravity was 1.009 and the Alc% was 1% giving it a final alc% of 3.999%. Do you think that bottling it will increase some flavor or just give it clearity? Should I have kept the fermentation temp closer to the mid 60's vs. the low 60's high 50's? Maybe it tasted wierd because it was flat.... who knows I just hope that It turns out ok. Anyone have some input? Right now I am only extract brewing and would like to move on to partial mash brewing but I want to make sure that I have the process itself down before moving up. I just aquired all of the equipment that I need but I am unsure of going foward without being experienced enough. I just dont want to waste lots of money on supplies and my time if I dont have to.

Low alcohol, with light crystal, fermented at low temperature will give you a pretty clean beer. Ending at 1.009 will give you some mouthfeel from the light crystal (I assume that's what it was), but little flavor. Fermenting at low temperatures will give you a clean fermentation with very little yeast flavors (almost larger-like).

I think that when it is carb'd you will find you have a pretty good session beer.

Usually people only quote the OG and FG and final abv. Noting 'potential abv' is confusing and of no use.

Partial Mash is a good way to go. You can get a lot more variation in malt flavors, and I think using some grain provides nutrients for the yeast, and you can get better attenuation. Many steeping grains still contain a lot of starches (such as Chocolate, Black, dextrin malts, etc), and mashing them gives lots more flavors, fermentables, and a cleaner beer. BUT ...... you need to get an understanding of what contributions each grain gives, and keep a record of what you have used.

sort of....... The room temp is 70* that's what temp I keep my house. My Fermenting bucket is either kept in a mini fridge but the temp fluxuates to cold most of the time so often I use a large tub filled with water. The fermenter sits in the water at all times and the water is kept at the temp that I desire the fermenter to be at. THis absorbs the heat producted by fermentation right away. I find that the water temp fluxuates much less than the mini fridge. I also monitor the temp from two different thermometers one crystal attached to the bucket and the other for the water temp. (no the crystal thermometer isnt submerged) I need to get an external thermostate for my mini fridge.

Providing you can keep the water temperature where you want it, a swamp cooler is the best way to minimize temperature fluctuations.

 

[Glongo]

Low alcohol, with light crystal, fermented at low temperature will give you a pretty clean beer. Ending at 1.009 will give you some mouthfeel from the light crystal (I assume that's what it was), but little flavor. Fermenting at low temperatures will give you a clean fermentation with very little yeast flavors (almost larger-like).

I think that when it is carb'd you will find you have a pretty good session beer.

Usually people only quote the OG and FG and final abv. Noting 'potential abv' is confusing and of no use.

Partial Mash is a good way to go. You can get a lot more variation in malt flavors, and I think using some grain provides nutrients for the yeast, and you can get better attenuation. Many steeping grains still contain a lot of starches (such as Chocolate, Black, dextrin malts, etc), and mashing them gives lots more flavors, fermentables, and a cleaner beer. BUT ...... you need to get an understanding of what contributions each grain gives, and keep a record of what you have used.



Providing you can keep the water temperature where you want it, a swamp cooler is the best way to minimize temperature fluctuations.

Calder I believe you are right...... I have been monitoring the bottles and strangely as the beer carbs up the color is changing. It's redish light brown....amber. I cooled one one down and tried it and it tastes pretty good but crisp and clear like a lager. Not as tasteful as I like but the point of this batch was for a friend who likes that exact type so we'll see what he thinks about it. Thank you for the feed back.