Beer loses malty flavor after 3-4 weeks in bottles

[iglehart]

I have brewed about 7 times now most with a partial mash. This last batch came out great. It was a red ale with high gravity.
I left it in the primary for 2 weeks, then bottled. I could not wait so I tried one about 10 days later and it had a light hop bitterness, very malty flavor, fairly clear, deep red color.

Now about 3 week later the beer has a sharp bitter taste (I think its a bitter taste), the malty sweetness is much reduced. I would say the taste is almost like a stale beer but not sure? Could this be bad sanitation? Why the sudden change?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[AgentHubcap]

Are you sure fermentation was done before bottling?

 

[JonM]

Before, you were probably tasting lots of suspended yeast. As that drops out, you can probably taste more of the hoppy bite, etc. also, as the beer carbonates, you get carbonic acid which has a sharp, but not unwelcome, flavor.

 

[iglehart]

So I took the gravity when bottling 1.022, then I did took the gravity of the bottled beer, it was 1.018, small difference but maybe it was not finished fermenting, but the difference in taste is too much for the small amount of fermentation that was not finished.

SO another question then, I like the way it was at 10 days. Is it ok to put it in the refridge at 10 days to stop the fermentation?

 

[BigGoat]

You're change in gravity could be from the co2 in the beer. Did you let it sit for a while till it went flat before testing?

 

[iglehart]

No I did not.

 

[BigGoat]

The bubbles attach to the Hydrometer and "lift" it.

 

[AgentHubcap]

what does your recipe look like? Maybe you can make some tweaks there to get a flavor profile you like better.

 

[BigGoat]

But that wouldn't explain a lower gravity.

 

[Bensiff]

Before, you were probably tasting lots of suspended yeast. As that drops out, you can probably taste more of the hoppy bite, etc. also, as the beer carbonates, you get carbonic acid which has a sharp, but not unwelcome, flavor.

This

 

[Bensiff]

SO another question then, I like the way it was at 10 days. Is it ok to put it in the refridge at 10 days to stop the fermentation?

Not exactly. This will slow down the fermentation; however, you run the risk of bottle bombs as the yeast may very slowly keep working or wake up if the bottle is warmed up. Or you can sterile filter the beer to get the yeast out and the beer will be stable. However, if you do this to get the attenuation level you want you are short changing the yeast's ability to clear the beer of fermentation byproducts that may leave undesirable flavors. In fact, it may be some of these you are tasting in the green beer that you are missing once the beer clears out more...such as diacetyl. Attenuation can be controlled through mash temperatures and recipe.

 

[iglehart]

My recipe is at home, I can post tonight. As for the type of beer, I am tring to get a Newcastle Brown Ale, but sweeter and slightly less bitter.

The taste is kind of like the difference in a Newcastle on tap vs in the bottle.
The 10 day old beer tasted like Newcastle on tap, the 5 week old beer tasted like Newcastle in a bottle. That is the best way I can describe it.

No one thinks this is a sterilization issue? I don't but I am not sure. I used bleach and rinsed all equipment well. For the bottles I ran through dishwasher with sanitize cycle no dishwasher soap.

 

[AgentHubcap]

The bubbles attach to the Hydrometer and "lift" it.

I don't think it works that way. That would make it a higher gravity. More likely, the suspended CO2 is reducing the density of the beer, allowing the hydrometer to sink further.

The solution here is to confirm that primary is finished, then bottle. 2 week primary is really short for a high gravity beer.

Also, if you open a beer early during the carbonation process, you may have residual sweetness from the sugar you added at bottling time. Make sure to wait at least 3 weeks for carbonation to complete (possibly longer if it is cold where they're conditioning)

 

[AgentHubcap]

My recipe is at home, I can post tonight. As for the type of beer, I am tring to get a Newcastle Brown Ale, but sweeter and slightly less bitter.

The taste is kind of like the difference in a Newcastle on tap vs in the bottle.
The 10 day old beer tasted like Newcastle on tap, the 5 week old beer tasted like Newcastle in a bottle. That is the best way I can describe it.

No one thinks this is a sterilization issue? I don't but I am not sure. I used bleach and rinsed all equipment well. For the bottles I ran through dishwasher with sanitize cycle no dishwasher soap.

I've never used bleach, but I've used the sanitize function on my dishwasher with great success. I would recommend star san for sanitation over bleach, though, as you don't have to worry about rinsing it after.

 

[iglehart]

OG was 1.060.

 

[AgentHubcap]

One more thing. Try shooting for a lower carbonation level at bottling time (i.e. add less sugar). I find the malt comes out more in a lower carb'd beer.

 

[iglehart]

Yeah, after this batch I did an oatmeal stout all grain and bought star san, so I am using that from now on. Just can't get over all the warnings and foam.

 

[stpug]

I don't agree with the malty flavor differences between yeast in suspension versus not in suspension. I've tasted plenty of yeast both in suspension and out of my collected yeast samples. Not once have I ever thought they tasted malty ; they do however have an extreme bitterness to them when compared to the beer they just finished fermenting. So, if anything, I would say that yeast NOT in suspension would yield a LESS bitter beer due to some of the hops oils falling out of suspension because they're attached to the yeast.

Carbonic acid can definitely push a balanced beer into a more bitey (maybe bitter or even astringent) beer, which in turn can reduce the appearance of the malt profile.

I've also found that the malt profile is what changes the most during the "conditioning" time after a beer is bottled/kegged. To me, it's the melding and mellowing of these malt profiles and how well they're balanced with the hop bitterness/aroma/flavors that creates the finished (and hopefully) balanced malt profile.

Lastly, when you tasted your beer at 10 days, how carbonated was it? If it was well carbonated then nevermind, but if it was not then the beer you were tasting would have still been slightly sweetened from the priming sugar which can enhance the malt profile. It's the balance of bitterness and maltiness that drives the final beer profile. While they are not mutually exclusive, they do tend to counteract each other. Also, maltiness is not the same as sweetness. You can have a dry malty beer, or a sweet unmalty beer.

 

[iglehart]

Ok, so I did find my recipe here it is.

1oz Choc
3oz Dextrin
32oz crystal L60

2 gallons of water
130 degrees for 15 min
150 degrees for 30 min
158 degrees for 15 min
raise to 180 and then sparge with 64oz water at 90 degrees.

I now know the above raise of temp was not needed, just could have steeped.
Also I know now that I should use hot water to sparge.

Added 6.6 lbs pale malt
Boiled 75 min
Centtenial 75 min 8.7 alpha
Mt Hood 75 min 6.1 alpha
Williamette 5 min 5.3 alpha
OG 1.060

Cooled in 25 min in ice bath in sink to 75 degrees.
Topped with water to 5 gallons

Pitched wyeast 1272

Bubbles began 8.5 hours later
Fermentation lasted 4 days
kept in primary 14 days, bottled 5 weeks ago.

 

[iglehart]

So the carbination was on the low side at 10 days and now that I think of it, it was a sweetness not a maltyness that I tasted, so that is probably it.

 

[ScottG58]

I had a similar thing happen with one of my first beers. It was a Northern Brewer Surly Bitter Brewer kit. At about a week in the bottles it had wonderful malt complexity. I tasted marmelade and biscuit. It aged and then tasted a little more ordinary. I wish there were a way to preserve the taste of homebrew when it is at its peak.