Brew lacks depth

[theduder]

I'm still brewing out of kits, with somewhat predictable results. My last batch, and a few before, have lacked a general depth of flavor. I get a nice hop finish to all the beers, but it's almost like cold, fizzy water followed by hops. Not to that extreme, but you get the point.

My latest batch was from Midwest. It's here: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/flat-tire-kit.html

I have pretty minimal equipment. I keg, only ferment in primary, and this most recent batch I used a bunch of ice to cool the wort and was able to pitch in 15 minutes. My water comes from our reverse osmosis tap, so it's very clean (maybe too clean?).

Do you guys have recommendations on steps/equipment/technique that might improve things?

Thanks!

 

[bobeer]

what are your gravities for the beers you've done so far? Are you hitting the targets for the recipe? They're all extract recipes I'm assuming? Are there steeped specialty grains in them? The link doesn't really provide any details about the ingredients.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

What's an example of your final gravity? What sort of specialty grains used?

I personally found body, mouthfeel, and flavor to improve greatly if I just mashed at slightly higher temps, for no more than an hour.

 

[TastyAdventure]

You should treat your water based on style

 

[GrogNerd]

extracts are basically someone else doing the mash for you, so the required minerals have already been added

RO water is fine for extracts.

 

[McKnuckle]

RO might be fine for extract, but the linked kit has steeping grains also. However, water isn't all about mashing. It's about flavor, too. I think it's possible that the blandness is partly due to the water, especially if the beer style is hop-forward. A bit of gypsum to bump up sulfate and enhance dryness would be a good start at tweaking things.

 

[theduder]

Thanks all. I'm hitting the starting and finishing gravity targets. It's generally an extract beer, but there are steeping grains.

 

[gratefulfloyd]

Maybe try moving to AG or BIAB. It really is simple once you get ahold of it, and I've found grains to be much cheaper than extract

 

[stpug]

Thanks all. I'm hitting the starting and finishing gravity targets. It's generally an extract beer, but there are steeping grains.

This beer should come across with a reasonably noticeable dark-caramel-centric aroma with some mild fruitiness (maybe dark stone fruit or dried fruit aromas). Being not too high a gravity or ABV, these characters should not jump out at you but should be noticeable.

I'm wondering if maybe your beer is too cold when drinking? The colder the beer is the more it wants hold on to it's aromatics - especially malt aromatics from my experience. Maybe try pouring 1/2 glass (half glass so that you have plenty of headroom in the glass) and let it sit on your counter for 10 minutes before touching it. Then, before picking it up, stick your nose in the glass and gently/slowly sniff up the aromas. Then just go for it and see if it changes your experience with the beer.

 

[RM-MN]

How long did you leave the beer in the fermenter? When you racked it to the keg, did you chill it immediately?

 

[dbrewski]

Like others have said, water chemistry does impact taste. RO water has no minerals in it. Do some research on Bru-N-water or simliar spreadsheets and you'll learn about putting some of those minerals back in. And yes, all grain has a meatier richer flavor IMO. You could also steep extra dextrin in the mash.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

I find that the dark beers do well with extract. I read that extract brown ales and stouts can win prizes in competitions. Try out some darker beers perhaps or go with kits that have different base malt extracts (Marris Otter or pilsner).
Have you thought of doing a partial mash? Death Brewer has a thread that you can google: "Easy Stove Top Partial Mash"
gl

 

[pablosbrewing]

This beer should come across with a reasonably noticeable dark-caramel-centric aroma with some mild fruitiness (maybe dark stone fruit or dried fruit aromas). Being not too high a gravity or ABV, these characters should not jump out at you but should be noticeable.

I'm wondering if maybe your beer is too cold when drinking? The colder the beer is the more it wants hold on to it's aromatics - especially malt aromatics from my experience. Maybe try pouring 1/2 glass (half glass so that you have plenty of headroom in the glass) and let it sit on your counter for 10 minutes before touching it. Then, before picking it up, stick your nose in the glass and gently/slowly sniff up the aromas. Then just go for it and see if it changes your experience with the beer.

Right on. My dad and I drank English and German styles back in the 80's, so I learned early on the importance of temperature.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479

I was recently served a nice IPA in a frosted glass (ice was floating on the beer) - I had to send it back, it tasted like BMC Light Swill

 

[TastyAdventure]

You know I'm thinking maybe I should do a little more with my water, I currently have a bare minimum approach. I plug in my details here:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-c...watertarget=LightAndHoppy#section_TargetWater

And add a small amount of calcium chloride for the "Balanced" water profile. And I add either Citric Acid or Acidulated Malt to bring my mash pH to around 5.4-5.5.

I can usually get close enough with these to little things. Does anybody think I should do anything else? My LHBS likely has anything I could ever need.
Here's my Water Profile:

Water Report

Alkalinity 73
Calcium 48
Magnesium 7
Sodium. 33
Sulfate. 74
Bicarbonate 73
Chloride 38
Hardness 144
pH 8.2

 

[theduder]

How long did you leave the beer in the fermenter? When you racked it to the keg, did you chill it immediately?

It spent two weeks in the fermenter, and I did chill it immediately after racking.

 

[RM-MN]

Let it warm up for about 3 weeks, then try it again and I'll bet it gains the depth you want. When you brew a darker beer they like a little more time warm, either in the fermenter or in the keg at room temperature to mature.