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First ever all grain brew- Questions about taste

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eagle23

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Sep 2, 2014
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So i made my first All-Grain batch of beer, which happens to be my first ever beer on my own. Everything seemed to go well, I don't have information on gravity or ABV, or mash efficient. But it was pretty good time making it. Mashing worked ( though i don't have any info on mash efficiency). The boil went fine, i didnt get the full 5 gallons i was hoping for. I missread the instructions and wound up ruining one of my packets of yeast. but the second packet i had went right to work on the fermentation.

When i bottled it i took a gravity reading and tasted the sample which was really good. Had a good aroma and hops flavor/bitterness.

It fermented for two weeks, was bottled, and then i let it sit for another week before trying it. When i tried it, It tasted totally different than what it did before. there is no real hops aroma, and its got no real hops bitterness or taste.
At the tasting today everyone said it had an interesting aftertaste. Another person said it tasted like dandelions.

I'm trying to figure out what if anything went wrong. I had it covered with a blanket during fermentation, then when it was sitting in the bottles it was in my pantry in the dark.

One thing i think is that i used bleach to sanitize the siphon equipment and the bucket i used, but i dont think i did a second rinse to clean the bleach out.

Does anyone have any insight into the flavoring i described. thanks a lot.

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The recipe was:
94% American 2-row
6% Melanoidin

1.5 oz Columbus Hops @ 75 minutes
.5 oz centennial @ 15 minutes
.5 ox simco @ 5 minutes
.5 oz columbus @0 minutes
.5oz centenial @0 minutes
.5oz simco @0 Minutes
 
When you did your first sample (hydrometer sample?) it was probably warm and uncarbonated. The warm temperature would accentuate the hop aroma. After the week in the bottle (not enough time) you most likely had it chilled which would mute the hop aroma and you would have sampled beer that wasn't yet ready to drink (not mature). Give your beer another 2 weeks and then chill one and see if it has improved. Beer doesn't like to be rushed.
 
I would also focus on note taking with your future brews. It is very helpful to know all the details about the brew day when you want to correct or identify issues with your beer. That being said, and like someone mentioned above, don't rush it...most problems are corrected simply by being patient.
 
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