Dry Aftertaste??

[tblake2]

Just bottled my first batch. It spent one week in the first fermentor and just under 4 weeks in the secondary. I noticed two days before bottling that the airlock was almost dry(had been checking it for the first 2 weeks everyday and it had not dropped one bit!!) So I added some water using an eye dropper. Two days later(bottling day) it was empty again!! I filled it and went o pick up some sanitizer. Two hours later I checked it again...EMPTY. I noticed some dripping from the bottom. Bottled the brew and tasted the last bit from the siphoning hose.....tasted different. The kit is a TrueBrew Octoberfest. The color was not what I would expect from an Octoberfest(although it is an ale). It is light in color(not quite amber). The beer has quite a dry aftertaste unlike anything I have tasted before from a beer. I did take a gravity reading and it was 5.5-6%. Any thoughts???

Tim

 

[jklotz]

I'm no expert, but after 5 or so batches, I think I'm learning what green beer taste like. It's an indication of how it will come out, but give it 3 or so weeks to condition in the bottle and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Nurmey]

Did you steep grains and squeeze the bag? My first thought is tannins.

+1 on the green beer. Oktoberfest takes a while to age.

I don't know what the heck was going on with your airlock. I have some on batches that still have liquid after 6+ months. Is there a lot of temperature fluctuations in your house? You might want to start using vodka or Star San in your airlock if you're getting a lot of suck back.

 

[tblake2]

I have not thought about tannins but that is a good point. When I was starting the batch I ran out to go grab something quickly while the grains were steeping and I got stuck at the a draw bridge so the grains steeped for almost an hour. The beer does have that "overdone tea taste". I had called the homebrew shop while stuck at the bridge and he assured me there is nothing wrong with steeping the grains too long.

Tim