First two BIAB AG's taste like nothing!!

[Chris7687]

Hey guys, so I just kegged me first AG and gave it a taste and.... Tasted like nothing. If it had any taste at all it tasted a little bitter! I thought this thing had an infection in the beginning, but I am assuming it was the yeast as the "infection" looking bubbles cleared up a few days ago. I am not sure what went wrong here. I made 4 extract batches prior, wand never had any results like this. Being so worried I tested my esb that I made on 3/25 and it too tasted very plain, not taste at all. I have a theory behind the first ale, because I tried to make my own Belgium candi and could have messed that up, in turn messing the beer up. As for the ESB, wtf! I was looking forward to that beer! Also, I tasted my pilsner that I made 3/22 but that thing taste extremely sweet. Figured that is because of the yeast acting slow on the wort being in the fridge and all. Kinda getting worried about my whole AG experience! The first ale the water was publix water, 2nd two were made with water from the fill stations at the supermarket. I read that this water may cause problems because of the lack of minerals, but wouldnt think it would cause a problem like this. I will post the grain bills shortly. As for a saving grace, think I can add a dry hop and a few pounds of strawberries to cover the slight bitter/no taste or just save it for the future still?

Edit:Temp in my house is sitting about 75-78 during the day. Grain bill for the first ale is MIA! Go figure

 

[jholen]

Some more info might help such as:

• Mash temps/time
• Fermentation temps/time
• Pre-boil gravity?
• Starting gravity (post-boil / pre-pitch)?

Mash temps can effect how fermentable the wort is, and fermentation temps are very crucial (though sounds like you've done extract batches before). I'd be curious to see what your gravity numbers were as mentioned above.

 

[kapbrew13]

recipe? Hops? Yeast?
What were you trying to make?

 

[kh54s10]

My first thought was; were the grains crushed?

I can't imagine anything else that would cause "no taste"

 

[Chris7687]

This was the ESB: http://hopville.com/recipe/1244278/extra-special-strong-bitter-english-pale-ale-recipes/common-esb. As I said for the first one I can't find the recipe for, but it was similiar to this one, but used 2 row instead of extract: http://hopville.com/recipe/1200171/home-brew/light-ale

My Pilsner is this: http://hopville.com/recipe/1242374/german-pilsner-pils-recipes/mango-blonde

All of these were cooked with 90 min mash at 155*. The boils were all 75-90 minutes. Hydrometer broke on the first ale so I have been making my beer blind. Sorry to throw that curve ball at you all. Any advice would be appreciated. Researching more myself, it seems like tempt at 75-78 in the house could have some effect.

 

[kapbrew13]

I don't know but recipes seem weak.
High fermentation temps should at least get you some flavors even if they are off.
Try the cream of 3 crops from this forum. I did that biab and it was good. Wonder how yours would turn out.

 

[forstmeister]

your ESB is very similar to mine that is kegged right now, only I used Maris Otter and mine is effing delicious. I used the same hops as you, but my schedule was a little different, but not by much.

First AG batch, right? I hate to echo the poster above, but were the grains crushed at all? I can't imagine even with a bad crush not getting any taste from the grain.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

My first thought was; were the grains crushed?

I can't imagine anything else that would cause "no taste"

+1 that was my thought as well.

 

[Chris7687]

Because I BIAG, I personally double mill my grains at the LHBS and add an extra pound of base malt. I am getting all the right colors that Hopville noted, but the taste is nothing. For my ESB, I used Maris Ottis too I put that in the notes but forgot to change the actual recipe.

 

[usfmikeb]

Calibrate your thermometer, or buy a good one, sounds like it might be off, and you're not getting any diastatic activity. Buy another hydrometer as well, so you can detect OG issues on brewday, instead of finding out after kegging.

 

[Chris7687]

usfmikeb - are you thinking I'm not reaching my mash temp of 154? Going to get another hydrometer, just haven't had time to hit up the LHBS.

As for saving graces, any thoughts to think I can pull it off with anything? Or just toss it?

 

[Token]

Give it to your friends who drink BMC. They'll probably think it's great.

 

[Chris7687]

Think it is there is a problem with my Thermometer.... sweet.... Used a manual thermometer and my digital (which I use for brewing) and put it in some ice water. The manual read 40 and my digital 49-50... So one of them is off and I am putting money on my digital therm. If I wouldn't have broken my digital therm, I guess I would have been able to prevent this by reading my OG's.

 

[usfmikeb]

If you're planning to stick with the hobby, bite the bullet and buy a good thermometer. I use a Thermapen, and have the comfort of knowing I'll never have a calibration issue.

 

[crazyirishman34]

To my taste flat beer right out of the fermenter has a lot less flavor. So care it up and see what you think.

 

[bighorn_brew]

How big is your mashtun/pot that your biab'ing in? I ask cause if you don't have the proper grain/water ratio maybe your not extracting enough sugars, and it is a bit hard to do a proper sparge, again furthering loss of sugars and taste compounds. I've done a couple biab's and compared to mashing in a mashtun have to be careful not to have to much grain and not enough water and space to circulate the water in and out of the grain.
For instance it is similiar to having a tea ball and using too much tea in the ball, their is a paradoxical reaction, or having too much grain then having a opposite effect of lowering gravity, I know it doesn't make sense. When biab you have to work within the system, and not be tempted to add more grain just because of lower effieciency, which would work if you do have enough mashtun/pot.
I don't know if this makes sense, but this has been my experience and there is no shame in using less grain and making up the sugar by using malt extract or a bit of simple sugar.
Also, be sure to stir the heck outta it to make sure all the grainn is wetted, and be sure to "tea bag" your grain in another pot of 170+ degree water, then, leave the bag to drain in yet a third pot if you can...

 

[Stauffbier]

Since you didn't take any gravity readings my guess is you just gor really low efficiency. You probably just made very low abv session beers. Start doing an iodine test to check conversion if you don't already, and replace that hydrometer asap! With all of this said, taste is a very personal thing. You might think it tastes like nothing , and the guy next door might think it's the best tasting beer he's ever had. If you discover in the future that your efficiency is good, then maybe you just need to brew beers that have a stronger malt/hop flavor.

 

[crazyirishman34]

I was looking at getting one of those brewmieser things seamed like it could speed up your brew day going no sparge in just one vessel