Help me troubleshoot my beer's flavour!

[FooFighter]

Hello,

I'm looking for some assistance in troubleshooting a funny flavour in my first brew.

First up, here's my parameters:

• Mr. Beer Diablo IPA
• I pitched in the low 20's
• Fermented in the Little Brown Keg for 3wks @ low 20's
• Bottled right from the LBK in PET bottles using Coopers carb drops
• Bottles sat in the dark @ 17C for 2.5wks
• Fridge @ 7C for 2-3 days before I tried one

I had tried a sip on bottling day (flat) - it tasted quite good! No noticeable off-flavours, and was quite flavourful! Became very optimistic about this kit.


Beer was cloudy at bottling, but cleared up very nicely while bottle conditioning.
Turned out *crystal* clear by the time it went to the fridge.

Poured a pint last night and it looked great!
Nice dark colour and a fine, foamy head that didn't fall for several minutes.
Smelled a bit fruity and a slight solvent scent.

Taste starts off nice, quite bitter and hoppy... but finishes with a solvent-like flavour.
I would not describe it as "hot" tasting, like some of my reading suggested may occur.


Could this be from leaving it in the fermentor too long?
Any other ideas?

Thanks very much for your help, looking forward to improving my next batches!

 

[m00ps]

It sounds like a yeats off flavor. If you're using mr. beer Im guessing you are using dry yeast that may not be entirely healthy. How "low" into the 20s was it? it it was anything over like 21, thats a bit high for most non-belgian ale yeasts. 17 wouldve been better

 

[FooFighter]

It sounds like a yeats off flavor. If you're using mr. beer Im guessing you are using dry yeast that may not be entirely healthy. How "low" into the 20s was it? it it was anything over like 21, thats a bit high for most non-belgian ale yeasts. 17 wouldve been better

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, I used the dry yeast pouch that came with the kit.
It was average about 21-22C during fermentation. Toward the end I had moved it to the basement which is ~17C ambient.

 

[joshesmusica]

When speaking of the temps are you talking about ambient temps the whole time? Or actual fermenter temps? If ambient, then lower 20s is way too high for this style. Ambient temps should've been around 16-17 during the first 5-7 days. Then after that most vigorous part of fermentation is done and it's slowing down, you want to raise temps (not drop temps) in order to assure complete attenuation, and to encourage the yeast to clean up those off flavors.

As far as bottling (though this has nothing to do with the off flavor, just good practices), I would seriously get a bottling bucket and try batch priming. For bottle conditioning, if you wanna do that at around 17, no problem at all, just that you'll want to wait at the least three weeks before chilling. But you did goo by chilling for at least two days. Hopefully you didn't put the whole batch in the fridge before checking the carbonation on just one though?

To answer your one question, no 3 weeks is nowhere near too long in the fermenter.

It seems by your description that it's a black IPA, and if that's the case, was this an all grain kit, or an extract with steeping grains? If it's a black IPA, and the black only came from steeping specialty grains, then it's possible that you have a ph issue. It happened with me on my first couple of dark beers before I figured out the problem. The way to fix it in the future is to try doing a partial mash, and the addition of the base malts should help buffer the acidity of the specialty grains.

 

[FooFighter]

When speaking of the temps are you talking about ambient temps the whole time? Or actual fermenter temps? If ambient, then lower 20s is way too high for this style. Ambient temps should've been around 16-17 during the first 5-7 days. Then after that most vigorous part of fermentation is done and it's slowing down, you want to raise temps (not drop temps) in order to assure complete attenuation, and to encourage the yeast to clean up those off flavors.

As far as bottling (though this has nothing to do with the off flavor, just good practices), I would seriously get a bottling bucket and try batch priming. For bottle conditioning, if you wanna do that at around 17, no problem at all, just that you'll want to wait at the least three weeks before chilling. But you did goo by chilling for at least two days. Hopefully you didn't put the whole batch in the fridge before checking the carbonation on just one though?

To answer your one question, no 3 weeks is nowhere near too long in the fermenter.

It seems by your description that it's a black IPA, and if that's the case, was this an all grain kit, or an extract with steeping grains? If it's a black IPA, and the black only came from steeping specialty grains, then it's possible that you have a ph issue. It happened with me on my first couple of dark beers before I figured out the problem. The way to fix it in the future is to try doing a partial mash, and the addition of the base malts should help buffer the acidity of the specialty grains.

Thanks for the response!

This was purely an extract kit - Mr Beer 'Diablo IPA'
The temps I'm speaking of were read from a strip thermometer stuck to the side of the fermentor (the 17C the bottles conditioned at is ambient).

I have recently acquired some Ale Pails, and will use that to batch-prime and bottle my next batch as you suggested. I've got a bag of dextrose ready, and I'm reading up on calculating the amounts!

I did put the whole batch in the fridge, but I could feel the PET bottles were rock-hard after a week so I figured they were done carbonating. They carbed/conditioned for just shy of 3wks before I put them in the fridge.

So I'm thinking my 'lesson learned' here is to ferment in the basement where it's cooler.
And also to condition them a bit longer, while taking one bottle aside for early chilling/testing.

 

[joshesmusica]

Then that could be your other problem. Just extracts. Who knows what specialty grains they used, and with a black IPA you really don't want too many specialty malts, just something to give it the color without giving it too much of that roasty flavor. And again, there's no telling what they did to get the color.

But yeah for future batches I would focus on ferment temps and if you're gonna keep getting those sh!tty kits, then go ahead and buy some fresh yeast, something like safale us-05 is good for a lot of ale styles with ferment temps around 18-19 in the fermenter (so like 16 ambient).

 

[FooFighter]

Duplicate Post

 

[FooFighter]

Then that could be your other problem. Just extracts. Who knows what specialty grains they used, and with a black IPA you really don't want too many specialty malts, just something to give it the color without giving it too much of that roasty flavor. And again, there's no telling what they did to get the color.

But yeah for future batches I would focus on ferment temps and if you're gonna keep getting those sh!tty kits, then go ahead and buy some fresh yeast, something like safale us-05 is good for a lot of ale styles with ferment temps around 18-19 in the fermenter (so like 16 ambient).

In the future I hope to move on to all-grain, but for now I'm happy to try out extract and learn a thing or ten.

I'm not sure that this is a 'black' IPA, but I'm no expert. It's described as an SRM 11, ABV 5.5%, IBU 70... and looking at a colour chart in my browser window appears to be in the ball-park of 11 SRM.
I added some pictures of my results for reference.

Thanks again for the input, hopefully I can get my next batch to be more palatable!

 

[joshesmusica]

In the future I hope to move on to all-grain, but for now I'm happy to try out extract and learn a thing or ten.



I'm not sure that this is a 'black' IPA, but I'm no expert. It's described as an SRM 11, ABV 5.5%, IBU 70... and looking at a colour chart in my browser window appears to be in the ball-park of 11 SRM.

I added some pictures of my results for reference.



Thanks again for the input, hopefully I can get my next batch to be more palatable!

Yeah it looks more brownish than blackish. I was just assuming it was a black IPA by your description of a nice dark color.

No problem starting with extract only, but I would look at using steeping grains, it's super easy and you'll get more complexity in the malt bill that way.

It could be a mixture of high ferment temps, and possibly such high ibus. If you're not used to it, that's a lot of bitterness and not such high gravity to match it.

 

[douglasbarbin]

Sounds like a hot fermentation. Get that fermentation temperature down and pitch enough yeast.

Extract brewing is fine. I am an all-grain brewer who occasionally (rarely) does extract brews, but when I do, they are just as good as the all-grain ones.

 

[FooFighter]

Sounds like a hot fermentation. Get that fermentation temperature down and pitch enough yeast.

Extract brewing is fine. I am an all-grain brewer who occasionally (rarely) does extract brews, but when I do, they are just as good as the all-grain ones.

Thanks, I'll check on my fermenters tonight (brewed another batch last night) and make sure they're in a nice cool spot. I was weary of letting it get too cool because of the kit directions, but the more I read the less I think I need to worry about that.

It seems most people have trouble keeping things cool enough, whereas I'm blessed with a frigid basement!