Did I ruin my beer?

[fredsmedina]

This is my first post on here.. I have been doing a TON of reading though. so here's my issue.. I purchased from Northern Brewer..

Caribou Slobber extract Kit
Yeast: Danstar windsor ale (did not rehydrate)
Starting boil: 2 gallons of tap water (should have been 2.5 gallons, but i misread directions.)

Heres my time table of brew day:
10/27
18:40 Begin Heating Kettle

18:42 Begin Steeping grains (directions say steep for 20 minutes, or until water reaches 170 degrees)

18:51 End Steep(water reached 170 degrees. Steeped grains for only 9 minutes)

18:58 water boiling. Turn down heat. Added DME and LME without removing kettle from burner.(Newbie mistake. have removed kettle while adding malt extracts on all brews that I have done since this time.)

19:05 Water boiling again. Add Goldings Hops. Begin official boil.

19:20 Add liberty Hops

19:50 Add williamette hops

20:05 End boil. Flame-out. Begin chilling wort with copper immersion chiller.

20:35 Poured Wort into Primary (6.5 gallon glass carboy) through a funnel with no screen. Topped off with 2.5-gallons of chilled, bottled Crystal Geyser Water. Aerated wort by rocking carboy back and forth for 3-4 minutes. Took a sample to check gravity.

20:40 Pitched Yeast at 75 degrees. Sealed carboy with rubber bung and airlock.

20:45 Checked Specific Gravity. Came out to 1.052. this is EXACTLY what the directions stated it should be. (needless to say, I was pretty happy to get an exact reading on my first batch of homebrew).

by 08:00 on 10/28 (morning after brew day) the airlock was VERY active. 2-3 bubbles per second.

Over next few weeks, maintained temperatue between 65-70 degrees in a dark spare bedroom closet.

11/10 2 weeks since brew date. Specific Gravity 1.018.

So, now comes my 'problem'. I decided to taste test my un-carbonated beer. The beer tasted like alcohol definitely. but seemed very bland.. not much flavor.. I believe my huge mistake was only steeping for 9 minutes, due to a misunderstanding of the directions at the time.. I now better understand steeping, and mashing.. I should have just covered the pot at 150-160 degrees and let the grains sit for 20+ minutes.. Is this why my beer was very unflavorful?

My plans are to take another gravity reading in 3 days, and bottle it if there in no change. Is there anything I might be able to do to give it some more flavor?

Thanks for your time, and I hope somebody can give me some insight!

 

[number40fan]

Did the wort stay at the 65-70° or did the room you kept it in stay there? The alcohol taste you are getting is probably from being in too high of a temp, especially if it had that much bubbling the next morning.

 

[fredsmedina]

i was keeping my whole house at about 65 for past couple weeks. Fermometer on the glass carboy hit 72 once, but other than that stayed below 70.. as soon as I noticed 72 degrees i put carboy into an icebath about 6 inches deep and cranked the AC...

My next step is to invest in building a controlled chamber!

 

[Barley_Bob]

Oh, man. It is not time to worry. Take a deep breath.

Okay. I find that a lot of the beer I brew tastes okay coming straight out of primary. Some of it is even not good. Carbing it up is a game changer. You won't even believe it. It lends a lot of body, but it also really allows the aromas in the beer to effervesce. As you may be aware, the vast majority of your ability to perceive taste come through your sense of smell. Getting those fantastic hop and malt aromas into the air is absolutely key to your ability to taste them. Two weeks in the bottle can turn thin, watery, and bland into fantastic homebrew.

After two weeks it's probably ready to bottle (especially after hitting 72), but there's no rush. Bottle it up when you're ready, and give it a solid two weeks in the bottle at ~70F. Then, come back and tell me I was right

On another note, I wouldn't worry about how you steeped your grains. Just do it for as per the instructions next time. You probably got a fair amount out of them as it is (I don't know exactly - I've never tried it). But this is not going to ruin your brew.

 

[bondra76]

you'll be ok. The steeping grains are not a major component of the beer. The DME and LME are in this case. In fact I've made some beers using no steeping grains at all and they came out great.

As far as the alcohol taste, I agree that carbing it up makes a difference. I always find the beer as having a little bit of a sweeter taste to it after it's carbed but that's just me. Also homebrew usually get a little better with time. My experience is the sweet spot for flavor is around 45-60 days after primary.

Anyways, welcome to the hobby. I had all kinds of mixups when I first brewed. It's normal and happens to the best of us. Your first beer is going to be drinkable, which is more than some can say. I'll give you the same three tips for good beer a guy gave to me when he sold me my first brew equipment - 1) always pitch enough yeast (use starter if necessary) 2) control your fermentation temp (look up the yeast specs on the internet for temp ranges) and 3) find a good local homebrew club. I've done all 3 and it's helped me immensely. The only thing I'd add to his suggestions is to use good water. Good water = good beer. Once you get more advanced you can build your water.

 

[fredsmedina]

Thanks everyone for the advice. . Puts mt mind at ease more. Planning on bottling tomorrow as long as my gravity hasn't changed. 10/27 was my first brew. Since then, I've done 3 more. Each time with more confidence.

I have fermenting right now:
Caribou slobber extract
Smashing pumpkin ale partial mash
Irish Red Ale extract
American Wheat Ale Extract.

Each kit has taught me something new. . Such an addicting hobby! My next step here is to build a temp controlled fermentation chamber. And then get some equipment to go all grain

 

[Barley_Bob]

Each kit has taught me something new. . Such an addicting hobby! My next step here is to build a temp controlled fermentation chamber. And then get some equipment to go all grain

Good luck with all of those batches! BIAB is a really easy step up from extract to all grain. It's exactly the same as the steep you're doing now, but for longer and with more grain. With an 8+ gallon pot, and a couple of paint strainer bags, you've met the minimum and you're off and running. Add an old sleeping bag and a propane burner, and you're in really good shape. Anyway, for ~$35, you can be all grain tomorrow.

 

[Hjandersen]

Don't judge a room temperature, non-carbonated sample from your primary..
I've never sampled any thing right from the primary that was really enjoyable - I always find it more or less: bland, green, tart, yeasty, buttery or tannin-like at this stage (listed in other of occurrence frequency).

And one other advice - don't expect your first many brews to be outstanding beers matching those from highly regarded craft breweries.. but you can for sure expect good beer easily outmatching those from commercial breweries.

 

[fredsmedina]

Good luck with all of those batches! BIAB is a really easy step up from extract to all grain. It's exactly the same as the steep you're doing now, but for longer and with more grain. With an 8+ gallon pot, and a couple of paint strainer bags, you've met the minimum and you're off and running. Add an old sleeping bag and a propane burner, and you're in really good shape. Anyway, for ~$35, you can be all grain tomorrow.

Sleeping bag? To cover the pot? Already have my 8 gallon pot, and propane burner.
can I do my mash in the same pot as my wort boil will be fine in? for my partial mash I just used a big nylon bag for all of my grains to mash in. And then just picked up all grains, and discarded them, then got started with my wort boil. Any reason to use a separate mash tun while Just starting out right now?

 

[fredsmedina]

Don't judge a room temperature, non-carbonated sample from your primary..
I've never sampled any thing right from the primary that was really enjoyable - I always find it more or less: bland, green, tart, yeasty, buttery or tannin-like at this stage (listed in other of occurrence frequency).

And one other advice - don't expect your first many brews to be outstanding beers matching those from highly regarded craft breweries.. but you can for sure expect good beer easily outmatching those from commercial breweries.

Thanks for the advice. I figure with time I will just keep improving... having tried and logged 300+ craft brews, I finally decided to start brewing my own. So as long as it starts out drinkable, im headed in the right direction

Next one I want to do is a 'whiskey barell aged' porter. Meaning soaking oak chips in whiskey and then adding them in the secondary....

 

[bondra76]

research BIAB. There's a sub-thread to the All-Grain section and one of the stickies there is a walk through of the BIAB process.

basically it's steeping your grains, but with a LOT of grains. And you keep them around 150 for an hour, so for that hour you're cutting off the propane burner and trying to insulate the pot to keep temp constant.

Then you remove the bag of grain and presto - you have wort to boil (and you boil it in the same pot)

 

[Barley_Bob]

Sleeping bag? To cover the pot? Already have my 8 gallon pot, and propane burner.
can I do my mash in the same pot as my wort boil will be fine in? for my partial mash I just used a big nylon bag for all of my grains to mash in. And then just picked up all grains, and discarded them, then got started with my wort boil. Any reason to use a separate mash tun while Just starting out right now?

The sleeping bag will insulate the pot really well and will help maintain your mash temp. This is not only a time and sanity saver, but you also don't have to worry about scorching your mash bag (which would be a risk of firing up your burner to keep up the temp).

You can absolutely mash in the same pot you boil in. If your nylon bag is catching most of the grain material so that it isn't escaping into your boil, and it's big enough to comfortably hold the 10-15lbs of grain you'll use in a full mash, you are good to go. If it's not big enough, you can also use two bags. So, no. There is no need to put off all grain until you have a separate mash tun. Once you finish your mash in your 8gal pot, pull out the bag and let it drain either by hanging or in a colander suspended over the pot. Then do a squeeze/sparge to get the last of the wort out of the grain, and discard the grain.

Truthfully, it sounds like you're 90% of the way to all grain now.

 

[Barley_Bob]

I just dryhopped an American Wheat, and, of course, I pulled a sample. 6lbs of German Wheat Malt (et al) mashed at 149, and it's practically water. Carbonated, it will be a completely different beer. Just goes to show...

How did yours turn out?