Did I screw up my Amber Ale?

[noisebloom]

Decided to "experiment" for my second 1 gallon extract brew by making an Amber of my own recipe:

1 lb Caramel/Crystal Grain, 15L (for steeping)
1 lb Sparkling Amber Briese DME
0.2 oz Columbus hops in the boil
0.1 oz Simcoe hops at flameout

Tasted it at flameout and was happy with the malty flavor (figured it would mellow out after fermentation).

Close to when fermentation was over, tasted again... Was just the perfect amount of maltiness, putting it over a pale ale in that regard.

After fermentation, cold crashed, and then bottled with sugar. Snuck a taste again... and it tasted pretty bad. It basically tasted like an IPA... but a boring IPA at that.

I really should wait the three weeks and reserve judgment at this point, but I'm dwelling on it: is my beer likely to have any residual maltiness after conditioning based on my recipe?

 

[tracer bullet]

It basically tasted like an IPA... but a boring IPA at that.

Trying to think about what this means. So, you think it lost the maltiness and it's just hoppy? As in bitter? Is it a ratio problem or do you feel like a desired flavor went away? Keep in mind here that if it's a pretty fresh beer it's hard to get a good read on things, time (within reason) always helps.

I haven't used DME or LME in a while and have forgotten some of their characteristics but off the top a pound of that and a pound of caramel, even low L, is a mismatch. I'd shoot for caramel in the 10% range or less of an all-grain recipe myself, not 50%. I know DME isn't a 1:1 ratio with similar grains but it still sounds off balanced. Everyone has their own tastes of course but I wouldn't say it's a normal ratio. Something to consider.

 

[noisebloom]

Trying to think about what this means. So, you think it lost the maltiness and it's just hoppy? As in bitter? Is it a ratio problem or do you feel like a desired flavor went away? Keep in mind here that if it's a pretty fresh beer it's hard to get a good read on things, time (within reason) always helps.

I haven't used DME or LME in a while and have forgotten some of their characteristics but off the top a pound of that and a pound of caramel, even low L, is a mismatch. I'd shoot for caramel in the 10% range or less of an all-grain recipe myself, not 50%. I know DME isn't a 1:1 ratio with similar grains but it still sounds off balanced. Everyone has their own tastes of course but I wouldn't say it's a normal ratio. Something to consider.

I believe I roughly based it off of a recipe online that seemed to be good...? You never know, though.

Taste wise, it just tasted hoppy, but yeah, I think I'm going to have to be very patient and wait 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[tracer bullet]

Tasting it along the way is great, it's not just fun but educational. If you liked it up to a point.... The changes after bottling could be, among other things of course, 1) it's carbonated / carbonic acid / changed pH and just simply tastes different than it does flat. 2) Something happened on the way to the bottle. Oxidation perhaps? But that would lead to different issues usually.

Columbus is a high AA hop. .2 oz sounds low, but the batch size is small. It may have been a little too much. The simcoe at the end as well. You may have simply added IPA type hops in IPA type amounts. Malty beers, if you want the maltiness, tend to be half-ish the IBU's in an IPA. Otherwise, of course, it becomes an IPA and the hops over-ride the flavor.

I'd consider plugging your recipe into an online calculator. Brewers-friend is one I like a lot. You might find it a useful tool in the future as well. If you hit IBU's in the 30's or less you maybe did it right, and can get some malty flavors. If you see 40's or 50's or higher maybe you simply added too much hops.

DIY recipes are HARD to pull off. Things sound really good but then the reality is that the ratios of things are all out of whack. It's very much a science experiment every time with a little voodoo thrown in. I can't tell you how many batches I've drank but didn't' care for and how long it took to figure out why. If I can give you some advice start with recipes from trusted sources, not some fool online that thinks he pulled the best IPA out of his butt, but from a respected book or person with a good background. From there see what you do or don't like and tweak a single ingredient at a time and learn what they do. Or stick with it if you love it and try another style from the same source.

 

[IslandLizard]

Did you bottle all or a lot of the trub too? Drinking the suspended trub will give you an awful bitter hop/trub bite. It needs to settle out first, the beer should be clear (or slightly hazy).

It takes a few weeks for all the trub to settle out. You can see that layer forming on the bottom of the bottle. Don't disturb it! Keep 'em straight up! Don't lie them flat.

1. After 2 weeks bottle conditioning (warmish place ~68-74F, but not much hotter) as a test, refrigerate a 1 or 2 bottles for 3 days, before opening one.
2. Handle gently, no shaking, swirling, or inverting. Pour slowly, along the inside of a tilted glass in a stead stream and without glugging. Once you see a trail of trub appearing in the bottle's neck, tip the bottle back quickly. If a little bit of trub gets in the glass it's OK, you'll get better at it. Now enjoy your homebrewed beer!
3. If they're good and nicely carbonated, refrigerate the others. If a bit low on carbing give the others another week at those warm temps, before refrigerating and drinking.

 

[Beermeister32]

When working out a recipe, I find it hugely useful to head on down to Total Wine, BevMo or your local bottle shop and go buy as many singles as you can of the style you are trying to make. This really educates you on the style, and let’s you quickly determine which you like best.

Next step would be to go online and find clone recipes of the favorite beer you liked. Print them all off, see where the brewers are going, maybe produce a composite recipe based on what you find.

Next step is to scale it back to the 1-2 gallon test batches you like doing. You can then make tweaks to each successive batch to get you to what you enjoy.

 

[tracer bullet]

... buy as many singles as you can of the style you are trying to make ... Next step would be to go online and find clone recipes of the favorite beer you liked...

100% this, helps a ton.

 

[ajm163]

you mention .2 oz CTZ in the boil. in the boil when? how long was your boil? Also when you get you hops note the Alpha acid. Columbus averages about 12% AA but i have seen it as high as 16% and as low as 10%. This wide variation can lead to very different IBU values on a 60 min boil. I would highly recommend as others have mentioned using an online calculator as others have suggested to dial in the IBUs you desire. also hop bitterness and flavor will fade over time so if the beer is too hoppy/bitter for you after its carbed let it sit a month or two and try it again

 

[D.B.Moody]

I'll preface my opinions by stating that I am an extract brewer, and I make up and adjust recipes.
I think @tracer bullet was correct the the caramel malt was too high an addition.
I also think it should have been a higher L, say 40L. Tastier.
I think he was also right about the hops. It is hopped like an American IPA. I would probably have tried Willamette.
I also agree with @IslandLizard to give it some time. It may be beautiful and to your taste.

 

[noisebloom]

Wow - a lot of responses. Thanks everyone!

When I made my previous and first brew ever, I definitely had some panic settle in for the 10 or so days of fermentation... "What if it's awful? All that time I spent waiting... What if my buds don't drink it?" It ended up turning out really well (used a kit and followed the recipe to a tee).

Not sure where the audacity came in to experiment for my second one, but I guess I have to accept the burden of it potentially being a disaster... I guess that's where RDWHAHB comes in...

To clear up some confusion, I took the sample from my carboy after bottling the rest, so it definitely was the more hoppy/trubby part, which could have covered up the malt flavor. I'm just going to have to wait and see... and even if it does turn out kind of "meh", at least it's beer... someone will drink it!

I definitely agree with the advice here that I should find some solid sources of recipes. Any recommendations?

 

[Beermeister32]

Tab#2 above!

 

[noisebloom]

I just wanted to give an update on what can happen when you go completely off the rails and experiment.

It's been 10 days since I bottled my Amber, and I threw one on the fridge and just poured it.

The result is very much a hybrid of an Amber and IPA (perhaps a Red IPA?), with a good malty sweetness but a lot of the typical hoppiness you'd attribute to a West Coast IPA. It's actually pretty damn interesting and enjoyable.

The biggest lesson I've learned is that you can't really judge a beer by its post-fermentation pre-conditioning taste, especially when you're pouring from the trubby end of things. The second lesson is that I probably shouldn't fear trying things out!