Help Diagnosing Beer Deficiency

[JustinL]

I wanted to brew a crisp ale for easy drinking. I got a kit from the local beer store for an American Blonde:

12 oz Briess Cara 10L
8 oz CaraPils
4 oz Honey Malt
5 lb LME
8 oz corn sugar
1 oz centennial hops
1 whirfloc tablet
Wyeast 1272 dry

OG turned out to be 1.040 (missed by .002)
FG was 1.008 (on the mark)

Yeast pitched at 76 degrees

I did 8 days in primary, 11 days in secondary with 2 days of cold crash at 36 degrees and then kegged.

I force carbed at 30 psi while at 36 degrees and rolled the keg a bit to carb quickly.

The beer isn't horrible but it is definitely not great. Here are the tasting deficiencies I notice.

1) In the front of the mouth the beer is not crisp. It just feels flat. However, there is plenty of carbonation in the beer.
2) There is a slightly bitter after taste on the back of the tongue that is not hops. It tends to linger around.

I plan to let the beer sit for a few weeks at 55 degrees and see if I can age out some of the deficiencies. My biggest concern is 1) as that was what I was really going for with this beer. I wanted a nice cool crisp bite on the front of the tongue.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

 

[redllama]

What temperature did you ferment at? If you kept it at 76* thats over the recommended temp range for the yeast. You would want to ferment at 68* or lower for a crispness with this yeast and if that is what you are looking for I would look at a different yeast choice.

Also, even with burst carbing it can sometimes take a few days for everything to stabilize even though the beer is fully carbonated. You may just want to keep it at your serving temperature for a week and you should have a better idea of how the beer will finish.

 

[Br3w4u]

The bitterness could be carbonic acid from the co2. It will tame out over time. Could take a couple of weeks though.

 

[JustinL]

I fermented primary at around 68-70 (basement temp). By the secondary I had my fermentation chamber built and had it pegged at 72.

 

[redllama]

I fermented primary at around 68-70 (basement temp). By the secondary I had my fermentation chamber built and had it pegged at 72.

I would let it age for a week or so in the kegerator and see where you are at. In the future I would go with 1056 or 2565 (Kolsch) in the future which should give you the profile you are looking for.

 

[JustinL]

Thanks, has anyone ever post-treated a beer to add flavor? This is very low on the IBU scale and i'm wondering if adding a hop shot or something to it would make it slightly more interesting.

 

[Cevan65]

Maybe start with your water profile and mash pH.

 

[redllama]

Thanks, has anyone ever post-treated a beer to add flavor? This is very low on the IBU scale and i'm wondering if adding a hop shot or something to it would make it slightly more interesting.

You could keg hop it like some do with NEIPAs or potentially add some fruit. If adding fruit put it in a muslin bag/paint strainer and treat it like a dry hop. Depending on the fruit should only take 2-3 days to get some nice flavor going and then pull it out and recarbonate.

 

[beermanpete]

Try replacing the sugar with malt extract. Also, try a different brand of malt extract. Dry vs. liquid for example. I make blondes with 1056 with good results. Cool the wort more before pitching and ferment a bit cooler, in the mid-60s, if you can.

 

[JustinL]

Trying another glass today.

Here are the flavors I taste thoughout.

front of the tongue: Very light almost like flat water with a slightly sweet flavors.
middle of the tongue: A little more crisp here. Slightly sour tastes on the sides of the tongue.
back of the tongue: lingering bitter.

Do any of these seem like obvious defects? It could also just be the wrong ingredients. I have no idea what the beer should taste like.

I'll let it set 2 more weeks at 65. If that doesn't help the flavor profile then I'll look at adding some fruit.

Do you need to boil the fruit first? Should I just add something like boiled apple juice. This would give it a bit more sweetness and tartness on the front of the tongue which would help cover the bitter aftertaste.

 

[redllama]

I wouldn't boil it. I've used strawberries and blueberries where I just washed them then pureed them in a sanitized blender. Currently I have a beer sitting on some Goya Passionfruit Puree that smells amazing. I found it in the frozen section of my grocery store and at Walmart and it is pretty cheap. Depending on the store they have a variety of different tropical fruits if that is what you are looking for and they should be sanitary.

 

[beermanpete]

Trying another glass today.

Here are the flavors I taste thoughout.

front of the tongue: Very light almost like flat water with a slightly sweet flavors.
middle of the tongue: A little more crisp here. Slightly sour tastes on the sides of the tongue.
back of the tongue: lingering bitter.

Do any of these seem like obvious defects? It could also just be the wrong ingredients. I have no idea what the beer should taste like.

I'll let it set 2 more weeks at 65. If that doesn't help the flavor profile then I'll look at adding some fruit.

Do you need to boil the fruit first? Should I just add something like boiled apple juice. This would give it a bit more sweetness and tartness on the front of the tongue which would help cover the bitter aftertaste.

It sounds like the beer is ok with regard to off-flavors. Blonde Ale is a fairly light style and is not aggressively hopped. For a commercial examples try Firestone 805 or Kona Brewing Big Wave Golden Ale if you can get them your area.

 

[JustinL]

Thanks, I didn't think I had any extreme off flavors. I was just surprised by the front. I told the beer store what I was looking for and this is what they suggested. I suspect the lack of flavor on the front is due to the kit. It isn't bad but it just isn't that interesting

 

[grampamark]

Oh, this is about a flavor deficiency. From the thread title I was going to suggest drinking more beer.

 

[portguy]

Maybe start with your water profile and mash pH.

This. Check your water.

 

[RM-MN]

I fermented primary at around 68-70 (basement temp). By the secondary I had my fermentation chamber built and had it pegged at 72.

Wyeast 1272 has a fermentation range of 60 to 72 so your basement temperature would be within that range.....except that the yeast give off heat as they ferment the beer and your beer temp without active control was probably outside the range which probably got you some esters you didn't want. At the higher end of the preferred range the yeast activity would likely raise the beer temp by 5 degrees or more.

If you want to add fruit to change the flavor do not boil it. That will set any pectin in the fruit and get you a permanently hazy beer. Instead, slowly heat the fruit to 150F, keep the temp there for a few minutes to pasteurize it, then cool it before adding it to the beer. The sugars in the fruit will cause another fermentation so let it have time in the fermenter to complete.