First Brew: Reassure Me, Please!

[oljimmy]

I made my first extract brew - Northern Brewer's British Bitter Kit - recently. It was in primary for three weeks and bottled+carbonated for two.

I went with something very close to a full-volume boil in a 7.5 gallon pot and added a small amount of top-up water. The recipe was very simple (Maris Otter LME and 2 oz Kent Goldings), and I followed it to the tee, using a 50 ft chiller a liquid yeast that had a very active starter.

But I have to say, the result right now is not encouraging. I've had three of them, and they have a very strong, lingering bitterness coupled with a kind of sour, acidic feel. I may have released some tannins during the grain steep, but I wasn't thinking that it would make things this bitter. Fermented at 70 F. Carbed to 2.3 vols.

One thing: it fermented down to 1.008, which seems very low for a British bitter. This might be contributing to the sharpness. But does anyone have any guess as to what went wrong? I'm thinking that it will improve over time and that it may retain some of this "extract twang", but given my setup and instruction-following I was expecting something better.

 

[surffisher2a]

I highly doubt you got tannins from steeping the grains. You might have some off flavors from fermenting at 70, but I doubt that is it. Could it be that the beer is just that bitter and it tastes exactly like it supposed to? I never had the kit so I can't say, but it does state a bitter beer.

 

[DocScott]

Based on your description, I'm suspecting it may be your water.

Beer is mostly water and not all water is great for brewing with. For your next batch, try using bottle water instead and see if it helps. (Water chemistry is a huge area in brewing, more detail then you need to get into this early in your brewing career).

Keep us posted on how this batch ages (5 weeks after pitch is still relatively young and flavors can certainly still change) and if it's not to your liking, try different water on your next batch!




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[oljimmy]

Hi Docscott... I actually used all store-bought spring water for this batch. Good call asking, though. But yeah, I tried to eliminate that possibility in advance by using spring water... was that not the right kind to use?

Surffisher2a, "British Bitters" are badly named, they typically sit around 25-35 IBU, and are not actually that bitter. Beersmith said that this one should have hit around 28, given the wort gravity and boil time and hops and all that. And the bitterness is definitely not hop bitterness, it's a lingering, harsh, tannic dryness.

I'll keep you guys posted... hoping the beers are just 'green'. Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

Hi Docscott... I actually used all store-bought spring water for this batch. Good call asking, though. But yeah, I tried to eliminate that possibility in advance by using spring water... was that not the right kind to use?

Surffisher2a, "British Bitters" are badly named, they typically sit around 25-35 IBU, and are not actually that bitter. Beersmith said that this one should have hit around 28, given the wort gravity and boil time and hops and all that. And the bitterness is definitely not hop bitterness, it's a lingering, harsh, tannic dryness.

I'll keep you guys posted... hoping the beers are just 'green'. Thanks!

The spring water might be ok- but it might not as sometimes they don't tell you what is in there. Next time, try distilled or reverse osmosis water if you want to be sure the water is good for brewing. They have RO water in those big "water machines" at many grocery stores and in places like wal-mart.

It is unusual for an extract beer to ferment to 1.008, but not so unusual to make me worry but in the back of my mind there is the slight possiblity of infection since you mentioned a "sour, acidic" mouthfeel. When you sampled the beer, was the carbonation correct and the bottle chilled for a day or so?

 

[dobe12]

T

It is unusual for an extract beer to ferment to 1.008, but not so unusual to make me worry but in the back of my mind there is the slight possiblity of infection since you mentioned a "sour, acidic" mouthfeel. When you sampled the beer, was the carbonation correct and the bottle chilled for a day or so?

Exactly what I was thinking. It's been a while, but I don't ever remember getting any extract batches to finish that low. 1.015 and up was the best I could hope for back then. Especially using an English Ale yeast which aren't great attenuators. I don't usually jump to infection as an answer (9 out of 10x it's NOT an infection), but this has a few things pointing that way. Could end up just being the water (which I doubt) or the higher fermentation temp kicking off flavors you don't care for though.

 

[Conman13]

It sounds to me like you either have a minor infection or cleanliness issue somewhere in your process, or your yeast were not happy during fermentation for some reason, or you scorched your extract.

Temperature fluctuations or too hot of a temperature can cause the sharp flavors you are describing, usually due to acetaldehyde produced by the yeast. This tends to be cleaned up over time though, so if this flavor diminishes over the next month, that could likely be your problem.

I've had that taste in my liquid extract brews before also even though everything else went fine. I believe it was due to not turning off the burner when I poured in my extract and also boiling the extract for the full 60 minutes instead of just the final 15. Once I started doing those things, some of that twang went away. Also, were your ingredients fresh? If it was a mail order kit straight from NB, they probably were fine. But, if you bought an old can of extract at a store, that could be an issue.

 

[oljimmy]

Thanks Yooper... I had thought that distilled water was bad because it was missing minerals that spring water had... misinformation, I see.

I do star-san everything fairly religiously but it's possible I got an infection. The Maris Otter smells wonderful and the carbonation is just right for the style, but the bitterness is the main problem, in combination with the slight sourness I mentioned. The bottle had only been chilled for a couple of hours... does this make a difference?

 

[oljimmy]

hi Conman,

The kit was the NB kit, should have been fresh. I turned off the burner when adding extract but I didn't move the pot from the burner to a cool gas element, so this may have scorched the extract. And yeah, only some of it was added at the start, the rest was added with 15 mins left (burner off there, too).

So yeah, if the flavor fades, I'll be happy and assume it was acetaldehyde. If it doesn't, I'll assume that there was an infection and get even more religious with the scrubbing+star-san in the future.

 

[tmurph6]

My first beer was terrible too. Don't worry about it you have to make at least half a dozen bad beers before making good ones. My first two years of brewing was making mediocre beer.


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[fuzzy2133]

Thanks Yooper... I had thought that distilled water was bad because it was missing minerals that spring water had... misinformation, I see.

I do star-san everything fairly religiously but it's possible I got an infection. The Maris Otter smells wonderful and the carbonation is just right for the style, but the bitterness is the main problem, in combination with the slight sourness I mentioned. The bottle had only been chilled for a couple of hours... does this make a difference?

When reputable companies make extract (both dry and Liquid) they will mash with proper mineral adjustments that make it into the finished extract. That why it is ok to use RO or distilled water with extract.

 

[oljimmy]

Hey All, just an update: 8 days later and the beer has definitely improved, as predicted. The lingering bitterness is reduced and the sourness is gone. I don't get why these kits say to bottle in 2 weeks and drink in 4. Also, I lined one mine up next to a Bass English Pale on draft and they were very similar. Hooray!

 

[Hello]

Kits generally have some bad instructions. I had nearly great instructions with my kits but they still rushed the beer (they said 7 days primary, 7 days secondary, 14 days in a bottle). I think they do that so they can sell beer kits to newbies. Who wants to wait around for over a month for beer? Once you brew one batch you know and you don't care about the wait. Usually. Anyway, kits can have some fairly poor instructions or they skip crucial points like fermentation control or aeration.

Anyway, glad your beer turned out. Was this intended as a Bass Ale clone?

 

[oljimmy]

Haha, kinda funny 'cause I started out with cider, which takes 6 months if you want it right, so going to beer has been a breeze. Feels like Instant Brew to me.

Wasn't intended to be a bass clone but the styles are close enough (english pale vs. english bitter) that I was reassured.

 

[AlreadyXDead]

Glad it turned out. Was reading through the read and was going to suggest letting it sit at 68-70 for a couple more weeks. You will find sometimes that the beer you let sit longer will sometimes be your best brews. Thats why i will "forget" some bottles on purpose and drink them months later. Most of the time (not every brew) it will be better than the ones that have been consumed.