Dammit Dammit all

[Echo2112]

Just got into my nut brown again.

Had tried it yesterday, noticed a bit of a bite on the back end, nothing too bad, just, strange.

SWMBO tried, she liked it, said it tastes like a mash up of Newcastle and Fat Tire.

Did some force carbonating on it last night, nothing over 20 psi, just to try and get some more gas in it. The carbonation wasn't what I liked.

Today, bitter nasty ass taste to it. Aftertaste was not pleasant, my buddy, who loves nut browns said it was off after his first sip. Having a hard time describing the taste.

Bitter, a bit medicinal, but hints of nail polish. Sort of. Nothing really jumps out at me, and I have a pretty well developed palette, but man this thing just aint right.

SWMBO still was not really off put by it on day 2 of testing.


This was a partial grain as follows

5lbs Pale LME
2lbs Marris Otter
.5 lb Biscuit Malt
.25 lb Crystal 40L
.25 Chocolate Malt
.25 Special Roast
1 oz Progress (Boil @ 60 min)
.5 oz fuggles (Flavor @ 15 min)
.5 oz Fuggles (Aroma @ 5 min)
1 tube WLP005 British Ale yeast
OG 1.050
FG1.012

Grains were steeped at 155 to 160 range for 45 min.
Sparged with 3.25 qts at 170 deg F
Brought to boil, flame off, added in LME, stirred heavily
Flame on, Boil started, ran for full 60, hopped as scheduled.
Brought down to 78 with wort chiller
racked to 7 gal primary (plastic) Dec 16th
racked to 5 gal glass carboy Jan 16th
racked to 5 gal corny keg Jan 22nd with priming sugar (5lbs CO2 to seal keg)

The room where the beer fermented stayed between 70 and 75 deg the entire time. Same for 2nd ferment, and keg.

I know I am just going to give this one some time to try and mellow out, but what the hell could have gone wrong here. Not enough aeration?

 

[enderwig]

Maybe I missed it in your post but when did you brew this beer?

 

[Joe Camel]

Your fermentation temp seems a touch high, that can cause fusel alcohol production. Most folks ferment around 60-65F to ferment cleaner unless it's a style that needs fruitiness or fusel.

Keep in mind that during primary fermentation, the beer temp will be about 5F hotter than the room from the heat the yeast give off. So if a recipe says to ferment at 65F, it's talking about the beer temp, not the room, so you'll need to keep the room at 60F to compensate.

Cheers

 

[Echo2112]

Maybe I missed it in your post but when did you brew this beer?

Dec 16th 08

 

[enderwig]

Dec 16th 08

It may still be a touch green. Most of my beers "come into their own" at 8-9 weeks. Wait a few days and try another one.
I am drinking a 70/- right now that tasted like total ass last week, and its absolutly great tonight.

 

[uwjester]

You could have some carbolic acid in there. I think I did that one time when I first setup my kegerator. I got through it by taking the keg of pressure and pulling on the release valve for a couple of days and then starting over. Don't leave the release valve open, just pop it once or twice a day.

From what I understand, you are always going to have some carbolic acid in your beer. That is basically what carbonation is. But if you overdo the CO2 levels, the carbolic acid can kind of dominate. Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge on the subject will pipe in.

 

[Got Trub?]

Its carbonic acid and your right it can change the flavour of your beer. If excessive it gives your beer a harsh bite aftertaste and makes the beer come across as thinner then it is. I would do as uwjester suggests and dial back on the carbonation - be aware that it can take several days to noticeably drop down.

GT

 

[Southwood]

Venting the keg to release the pressure will help in reducing the carb level a little quicker.

 

[Got Trub?]

Even venting several times a day will take days to have a noticeable effect on a full keg. There just isn't enough head space to allow a lot of CO2 to escape from your beer.

GT

 

[DeathBrewer]

not true in my experience. just shake it, release, shake it, release, shake it, release. It shouldn't take but 30 minutes.