All-Grain: Mashed but didn't Boil

[acolman]

I recently made a batch of beer from all grains, in a previous post we decided that it was a style 14.Andrew or i like to call it a "Vienna IPL (india pale lager)"

The problem, i mashed the grains for 60 minutes @ 155, at the begining of the 60 minutes i put in the hops, and at the last 15 min of the mash i put in the hops. Thus my wort was created! I then cooled it and added the yeast and put it in the primary fermenter.

No upon purchase and reading my the complete joy of homebrewing i have found that I missed what seems to be a rather crucial step. Boiling the wort... And during the boil is where you are to add the hops...

So it has been fermenting is a cold place for just about 2.5 weeks, i only made a gallon for this very purpose: incase i screwed something is up again.

Heres the question, do i let it keep going, as i secondary fermeter and bottling ect ect or just dump it at start again? It has about an inch of sediment at the bottom of it which is just learned is called trub and not all yeast. and apparently this causes off flavors and inhibits fermentation.

I would be more than happy to dump it as it is only a gallon... what do ya'll think?

 

[annasdadhockey]

You will be more prone to infection due to not boiling the wort, but why not let it go, see if it turns out OK?

 

[StoneHands]

My two cents:
Boiling of the wort does a couple of things for you. You get isomerization of the hops and hop oils (hope I spelled that right). This is where you get your bitterness and flavor out of your hops. You probably got something, but not much. Most importantly though (IMO), boiling kills any nasties in your wort. Any bacteria that was on your grain may have gotten through to your finished beer untouched. Normally, with questions like this, I think people say "taste it and see", in your case, I'm not so sure...

 

[erock2112]

I'm interested to hear about how this turns out...

 

[andysim]

Some of the first beers were never boiled.

 

[acolman]

stonehands: when do i taste and what i taste for?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Taste it anytime you like. If it tastes good, then there's no harm done.

In addition to sanitation and isomerization of alpha acid, boiling also helps drive off DMS, which can contribute cooked vegetable flavors.

 

[Mountainbeers]

I would be surprised if you got much bitterness at all though.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I would be surprised if you got much bitterness at all though.

For what it's worth, Beer Tools Pro calculates 0 IBU's from Mash Hopping. Not sure if that's completely correct but I'm thinking that not much bitterness is going to come through at all. If I was the OP I'd certainly let it finish out and give it a taste, but I'd not expect the batch to be a keeper.

 

[BrewRI]

Your best bet would be to take out a small sample and taste it. As long as you don't just dump it its all good (Good call on only making 1g)

 

[lowlife]

My guess is that is will be sour from lacto.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I also am predicting a sour beverage. But there's no point in not letting it go and seeing. Tasting it will let you know if it's worth the wait. If it tastes like vomit and sour, go a head and dump

 

[StunnedMonkey]

My guess is that is will be sour from lacto.

Maybe instead of an India Pale Lager the OP could simply re-position it as some sort of Unhopped Artisanal Belgian Sour and people would pay $15 a bottle for it.

 

[acolman]

Maybe instead of an India Pale Lager the OP could simply re-position it as some sort of Unhopped Artisanal Belgian Sour and people would pay $15 a bottle for it.

you win!



ill taste it and if its not horrible then ill keep it and it is horrible ill dump and start a new. it doesnt smell great i have to say that much... ill keep ya'll up dated

 

[The Pol]

Yah, your wort will contain a ton of lacto... it is ever present in the grain and the boil will kill it.

DMS shouldnt be an issue, since you probably never converted the SMM to DMS at 155F, so there was probably no DMS to drive off.

My money is on a lacto fermented ale.

 

[qvantamon]

I believe 1 hour at 160F should pasteurize most if not all of the lactobacilla. It MIGHT turn out not sour.

But as was mentioned, probably not bitter at all, full of DMS, and probably very heavy body due to the lack of a hot/cold break sequence. But my bet is it'll still be beer.

 

[StoneHands]

Acolman,
My bet is lacto as well, like a lot of others on here. Give it a good sniff test before tasting. If it were me, I think I'd have a tough time getting the thought of bacteria out of my mind before I drank it - the ones beyond lacto. Honestly, I don't think I could do it. But, at least let it go for a few weeks and see what develops. This is an awesome thread by the way. Let it ferment out for a few weeks and report back.

 

[Wyldjim]

So it has been fermenting is a cold place for just about 2.5 weeks, i only made a gallon for this very purpose: incase i screwed something is up again.

How cold, and what yeast did you use?

I also am predicting a sour beverage. But there's no point in not letting it go and seeing. Tasting it will let you know if it's worth the wait. If it tastes like vomit and sour, go a head and dump

Heh, my wife does that to me all the time "Taste this, I think it went bad"

If the smell makes you gag, well I wouldn't taste it. Although we are all waiting for you to try

Keep in mind brewers think yeast farts smell great, but if it is you first time they may smell weird to you.

Winnipeg, huh, my hometown. The heat in my house just kicked on, because I've been on this thread too long

Welcome to Home Brewing, I would like to try your, uhmm, next beer, next time I make it to Winnipeg. Planning next Summer.

Jim

 

[COLObrewer]

This sounds like a good ancient ale experiment, I can't wait to taste it!!!!, er, I guess. . . .hear about it?

 

[The Pol]

For those talking about DMS, at what temperature is SMM converted to DMS?

 

[jkarp]

For those talking about DMS, at what temperature is SMM converted to DMS?

140, according to the HBT wiki...

 

[david_42]

Most likely you'll have a lacto infection and sour beer. As others have pointed out, zero IBUs. You can solve the latter by making a hop tea by boiling some hops in a quart of water and adding it, but once a beer sours you can't fix it.

Lacto infections are one of the reasons most early beers were consumed within days of the end of fermentation.

 

[acolman]

To answer a few questions:

I tasted it: i am going to let it go, i'll put it in the 2ndary fermenter on the 28th, the taste wasn't at all offensive. it certainly wasn't amazing either. it is very distinct, it is a little bit sour and yeasty. its not as malty as my last batch thats for sure!

The yeast i used was wyeast munich lager cant remember the strain number off the top of my head 2208 maybe. I have been keeping at 55 degrees.

and yes winnipeg is cold... we got down to -43 Celsius a few weeks back! this is why i chose to make a lager good times!