Anyone want a free home brew?

[djonesax]

This is going to sound like a crazy question and in truth I guess it is.

I have a brew that I made 3 months ago, that I just don’t like. It is a bigger version of a beer that turned out really good but this version had a little more grain and corn and I had some trouble fermenting it. The beer was crystal clear from the time I kegged it but there is just something off about it. I have read through all the off-flavor articles but I cant pin point what I am tasting.

So I got to thinking, anyone want a bottle of Homebrew that you know up front isn't going to be very good so you can tell me what is wrong with it? I know, crazy question, who actually wants to drink bad beer.


Here is the recipe.

12 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row)
10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row)
5 lbs Maize, Flaked
1 lbs 12.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L
1.00 oz Cascade [8.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 14.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cluster [8.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 7.1 IBUs
1 Whirfloc tablet - Boil 15 min
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 8 -
2.0 pkg Safale US-05

Mash In 150.0 F 75 min
Mash out 168.0 F 15 min

Boil 90 Minutes

OG 1.070
FG 1.016

I pitched the yeast at about 70 or lower degrees and fermented at 68 ambient for the first 14 days.


After 14+ days of fermentation my gravity was holding at 1.024 which is almost a full point higher than my target. After swirling and raising the temp to the 70’s for a couple weeks and no luck, I added some bean-o tablets and it started fermenting again. So I guess I had un-fermentable sugars. It finally stopped at 1.016 for over a week so I cold crashed and kegged it for a total time of 6 weeks in primary. FYI, during those last couple weeks with the bean-o, the ambient temperature was upper 70’s and during the whole process I opened the fermenter 10+ times to take readings. But the gravity went from 1.070 to 1.024 for 7 days before I took my first reading so the bulk of the fermentation was done at 68 ambient (no fridge at the time).

Yes, everything was cleaned with PBW and soaked in StarSan.

So there are lots of places this beer could have went wrong and I would like to get some perspective on it just for education. I wont be surprised if I get no response to this but PM me if you're interested and this isn't agains the law, 'cause I don't really know.


Thanks,

David

 

[broadbill]

I would guess that what you are tasting is the result of a way out-of-balance beer, something that is super malty and grainy with no real hop character. It also sounded like it was underattenuated which further exacerbated the problem.

As for having someone taste it, do you have someone local willing to help out? Shipping is killer...

 

[brew_ny]

might work well as a drain cleaner

how does it taste really cold ? maybe wait for a hot day ice it down and give it away

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

I bet it's esters or fusel alcohols. IMO it looks like you fermented on the warm side. 68 degrees ambient was probably more like 73 to 75 degrees inside your fermenter.

No dry hops?

Maybe oxidation? Does the off-flavor almost seem earthy or hmmm "organic" in nature? I was having oxidation issues in my first few all grain batches that presented as beer darkening with age, earthy off-flavors, and loss of recognizable hop or malt flavor attributes.

 

[Yooper]

There are a goodly number of BJCP judges on our forum, and I would suggest asking one of them. I'm a certified BJCP judge, but I can't do it at this time.

Shipping may be a big expense, so it'd be best if you could find someone local. Where are you located? Is there a homebrew club near where you can ask someone there?

 

[Hello]

28 1/2 pounds of grain and 2 ounces of hops? I say you have a malt bomb.

 

[beergolf]

I agree with the idea that it is way out of balance. You only have 21.6 IBU's for a 1.070 brew.

That and possibly it was fermented too hot. 68 ambient could lead to fermentation temps much higher than that.

 

[djonesax]

I bet it's esters or fusel alcohols. IMO it looks like you fermented on the warm side. 68 degrees ambient was probably more like 73 to 75 degrees inside your fermenter.

I did a couple other batches in this same temp and they tasted fine but had less OG more like 1.054.

No dry hops?

No dry hops but that sounds like a good idea, maybe I can still add them.

Maybe oxidation? Does the off-flavor almost seem earthy or hmmm "organic" in nature? I was having oxidation issues in my first few all grain batches that presented as beer darkening with age, earthy off-flavors, and loss of recognizable hop or malt flavor attributes.

My short fall here is that I am having trouble identifying the flavors. Earthy? I mean what does earth taste like?

 

[djonesax]

I agree with the idea that it is way out of balance. You only have 21.6 IBU's for a 1.070 brew.

That and possibly it was fermented too hot. 68 ambient could lead to fermentation temps much higher than that.

Basically what I was trying to do was increase the gravity of a beer that I knew I liked. I guess I increased it too much

 

[beergolf]

If you increase the gravity you need to increase the hops to keep the same BU: GU ratio.

For example if your first brew had a OG of 1.050 and 20 IBU's that is a ratio of .4

If You up the OG to 1.070 and keep the hops the same you have a ratio of .285.

 

[djonesax]

If you increase the gravity you need to increase the hops to keep the same BU: GU ratio.

For example if your first brew had a OG of 1.050 and 20 IBU's that is a ratio of .4

If You up the OG to 1.070 and keep the hops the same you have a ratio of .285.

I guess dry-hopping wouldn't really help at this point since it doesn't add bitterness right?

 

[brick_haus]

Right.