Does 1.020 taste watery ?!

[hector]

Hi there !

Can the curse of 1.020 lead to a Beer that tastes watery ?!

The Beer was brewed with DME , bittering Hops and distilled water .

O.G. = 1.050

F.G. = 1.020

3 Weeks in the Primary at 66F

5 Weeks conditioning in the bottles at 70F

Hector

 

[gcdowd]

That's a fairly high FG, especially for that OG. I would think that the beer would not be watery at all, but quite the opposite. Seems like you'd have plenty of body.

 

[hector]

I would think that the beer would not be watery at all, but quite the opposite. Seems like you'd have plenty of body.

I brewed this Beer two times and it always ended up with a watery Beer .

Where should I focus on to find the cause ?

Hector

 

[gcdowd]

Maybe if you post your recipe and technique someone here can help you out. What yeast did you use?

Also, are you sure your hydrometer is accurate?

 

[hector]

What yeast did you use?

Also, are you sure your hydrometer is accurate?

It's a long story . I wrote what I exactly did , but always got the same old answer : "Let it condition longer" .

I made a small test batch and it gave me 3 bottles of Beer . The first one was opened after 3 Weeks at 70F , the second one after 4 Weeks and

the last one after 5 Weeks of conditioning at 70F and of course they all were kept in the refrigerator for 48 Hours before opening .

But , they all tasted watery , although very good carbonated !

I used Safale S-04 dry ale yeast .

I have already calibrated my Hydrometer . It has +0.005 error at 68F .

By the way , I didn't use any specialty malt in that batch . Can that be the Cause ?!

However , as I mentioned it in another thread , some members said that they have already brewed good-tasting Beers by using just Extract !

Hector

 

[gcdowd]

Well it seems odd that a beer with such a high FG would be watery, if anything it should be sweeter with a fairly heavy body. After you took your FG reading, you didn''t add any water to it did you? I don't think the lack of specialty malt is the culprit, since your FG was 1.02.

It was 1.02 right? Not 1.002?

 

[hector]

Of course I did not add any water after F.G. reading .

F.G. = 1.020

It didn't taste sweet and had a slightly sour after taste even after 5 Weeks of conditioning .

Hector

 

[GreenDragon]

My F.G. 1.020 beer was just the opposite. The darkest stout I have brewed to date. A mag light on the other side of the glass and still no light makes it through. My target FG was 1.020 though since there are non-fermentable sugars in it (milk stout).

 

[hector]

My F.G. 1.020 beer was just the opposite. The darkest stout I have brewed to date. My target FG was 1.020 though since there are non-fermentable sugars in it (milk stout).

What was the O.G. ?

Was it an all-Extract Beer ?

What was the cause of that dark color ?

I also thought about unfermentable sugars , but as I said , I used only light DME and still think that's

the cause of lack of body in my Beer .

Hector

 

[gcdowd]

Well all malt has some degree of unfermentable sugars (this is why beer usually does not ferment down to 1.000). Looks like at 1.02 FG you definitely had some unfermentable sugars. Did you take readings a few days apart to ensure no further fermentation was happening? Also, did you bottle? I would think that if fermentation was not complete, you would have some bottle bombs as the malt continued to ferment down.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

With a lower OG like 1.050 and no specialty grains it is going to be a very light beer in my mind. And with only DME this seems very likely that the beer would taste, well, non-complex, and to me that would taste watery.

I assume your other brews have turned out differently?

 

[hector]

Also, did you bottle? I would think that if fermentation was not complete, you would have some bottle bombs as the malt continued to ferment down.

I already said that it gave me 3 Bottles !

I had not any explosion even after 5 Weeks of conditioning .

Hector

 

[Homercidal]

Of course I did not add any water after F.G. reading .

F.G. = 1.020

It didn't taste sweet and had a slightly sour after taste even after 5 Weeks of conditioning .

Hector

Did you measure the FG from a bottle? Not sweet and slightly sour makes me think infected. But generally that takes a bit of time.

An FG of 1.020 should taste sweet! And should not be thin feeling IMO.

I would recommend having some other people drink it and see what they think. Once in a while we get stumped and the only way to really break through and get an answer is to have some experienced person give it a taste.

 

[ellisonsj]

I'm guessing the beers just don't have much depth of flavor since you only used light extract. If you added enough bittering hops it probably balanced it enough to keep it from tasting too sweet. The watery flavor you're tasting may really just be lack of flavor. Try doing some recipes that use some specialty grains. Steeping those for 30 minutes or so prior to boiling won't require anything more than a grain bag. Check out the recipe database for some ideas, or order a kit from one of the online supply stores. Even if you don't want to use the grains try mixing in small amounts of amber or dark extract to make a more complex brew.

 

[hector]

With a lower OG like 1.050 and no specialty grains it is going to be a very light beer in my mind. And with only DME this seems very likely that the beer would taste, well, non-complex, and to me that would taste watery.
I assume your other brews have turned out differently?

I've always heard of 1.050 as a medium Gravity ( Not low ) .

You're the first one that agrees with me by the cause of watery after taste .

I've always brewed the same Beer using light DME , because other ingredients are not available to me and these Beers all tasted the same .

Now , I'm trying to make Crystal malt at Home using 2-row Barley to use in future batches . In fact , my malting technique has

improved a little , but it still doesn't give me enough malty flavor .

Hector

 

[hector]

Did you measure the FG from a bottle? Not sweet and slightly sour makes me think infected. But generally that takes a bit of time.

I always took a sample from the fermentation vessel to check out the Gravity .

I'm 100% sure that it was not infected , because I discussed it in a long Thread with many members here and as I wrote what

I exactly did in my brew day , they all were against the Idea of having an infected Batch .

Besides , I've never had any gushers or white rings in the bottles .

Hector

 

[completenewbie]

For what its worth - my 2nd brew was a coffee vanilla stout (extract), month in primary, started about 1.050 ended at 1.020, bottled it up, month later it was very foamy (think I overprimed) - anyway, I think it's an ok beer and the last thing I would call it is watery, however the wife refuses to drink it because she says "it's too watery for me". So, could just be point of view.

 

[jfr1111]

What commercial beers to do you like ? Also, using distilled water without any salts added to it might give it a weird taste that you associate with watery.

 

[hector]

For what its worth - my 2nd brew was a coffee vanilla stout (extract), month in primary, started about 1.050 ended at 1.020, bottled it up, month later it was very foamy (think I overprimed) - anyway, I think it's an ok beer and the last thing I would call it is watery, however the wife refuses to drink it because she says "it's too watery for me". So, could just be point of view.

So , another 1.020 Problem similar to mine !

It shows that malt Extract NEEDS a special Partner for dancing in the brewing Ball .

Hector

 

[gcdowd]

Maybe you're confusing watery with low alcohol. Based on your gravities, you're looking at 4% abv.

 

[hector]

What commercial beers to do you like ? Also, using distilled water without any salts added to it might give it a weird taste that you associate with watery.

I like balanced Beer ( not so bitter and not so malty ) with a good mouthfeel and a little husk aroma the best .

I've always read and heard in Articles and Podcasts that malt Extract can be brewed by using distilled water and there is no need to add any salt to the water , as the Extract itself brings lots of minerals .

Hector

 

[mredge73]

When I started, I started with MrBeer kits (HME) that would finish around 1.012 and I would not describe them as watery.
1.02 is really sweet, I don't understand the watery taste unless you used pure distilled water. Adding in some Amylase Enzyme in the secondary should help with the sweetness, but may also make it more watery like a light beer.

Edit: Try to use spring water next time instead of distilled water, should improve greatly.

 

[gcdowd]

I like balanced Beer ( not so bitter and not so malty ) with a good mouthfeel and a little husk aroma the best .

I've read and heard in lots of Articles and Podcasts that malt Extract can be brewed by using distilled water and there is no need to add any salt to the water , as the Extract itself brings lots of minerals .

Hector

Yeah I always thought brewing salts were more important if you are mashing. But I'm certainly no expert so I could be wrong.

 

[hector]

1.02 is really sweet
Edit: Try to use spring water next time instead of distilled water, should improve greatly.

Believe me , it was not sweet !

Perhaps because its IBU was around 25 .

The spring waters which are available to me have relatively high amounts of bicarbonates and John Palmer says in

his "How To Brew" that using such waters for brewing with Extract leads to a harsh tasting Beer . Therefore , I used distilled water .

However , I can also dilute the spring water with the distilled one .

Hector

 

[Germelli1]

The only thing I can think of is since it was a TINY batch, how much water did you dissolve the priming sugar into?

I am guessing you added sugar straight to the bottles but I figured I would ask!

 

[hector]

The only thing I can think of is since it was a TINY batch, how much water did you dissolve the priming sugar into?

I am guessing you added sugar straight to the bottles but I figured I would ask!

I made a 1-liter-batch and by the time of bottling , I dissolved 0.21 Oz. of Dextrose in 250 ml of water , boiled it for 15 minutes and

added it to the bottling bucket after cooling ( it was less than 100 ml then ) .

At the end , I had 3 bottles ( 330 ml each ) .

Hector

 

[Germelli1]

I made a 1-liter-batch and by the time of bottling , I dissolved 0.21 Oz. of Dextrose in 250 ml of water , boiled it for 15 minutes and

added it to the bottling bucket after cooling ( it was less than 100 ml then ) .

At the end , I had 3 bottles ( 330 ml each ) .

Hector

That COULD be the issue. That amount is over a quarter the volume of existing beer. When I prime my beer, I dissolve the sugar in a cup of water, so my priming solution is only 1/96 or .010417 of the volume of beer.

With your method, your priming solution is about 1/4 or .252525 the volume of beer.

Basically when fermentation is over (in this case bottle conditioning), since the sugar is 100% fermentable, instead of 1.020 final gravity you have about 1.015. Still don't think that would make a huge difference, but it is a thought!

This may not be the cause but I am trying to brainstorm some solutions for you!

 

[Yooper]

That COULD be the issue. That amount is over a quarter the volume of existing beer. When I prime my beer, I dissolve the sugar in a cup of water, so my priming solution is only 1/96 or .010417 of the volume of beer.

With your method, your priming solution is about 1/4 or .252525 the volume of beer.

Basically when fermentation is over (in this case bottle conditioning), since the sugar is 100% fermentable, instead of 1.020 final gravity you have about 1.015. Still don't think that would make a huge difference, but it is a thought!

This may not be the cause but I am trying to brainstorm some solutions for you!

I think this is probably the cause. You add 1/4 water to finished beer, and it's going to taste 'watery'.

 

[hector]

That COULD be the issue. That amount is over a quarter the volume of existing beer. With your method, your priming solution is about 1/4 or .252525 the volume of beer.

Please read my Replies completely and precisely !

I said that after cooling , the priming solution was less than 100 ml ( 50-60 ml ) .

So , it was 0.05-0.06 the Volume of Beer .

Hector

 

[Germelli1]

Please read my Replies precisely !

I said that after cooling , the priming solution was less than 100 ml ( 50-60 ml ) .

So , it was 0.05-0.06 the Volume of Beer .

Hector

My bad, sorry for trying to help. I guess you are set on the fact you somehow defy all laws of physics with a 1.020 "watery" beer. Good luck!