Malt flavor

[evandam]

Ok just tried my second brew, which granted I force carbonated a bit of it in a 2 liter with a carbonator. It is a extract Cream Ale. This one like the first seems to have a bit more of a malt finish than I would like. Just seems like it should be a bit more dry. The FG was 1.012. The first brew got better with time and Im sure this one will too. This one will see a week in the keg before I sample again.

The QUESTION is. If I make a starter will this lower the FG and will that reduce the malty sweet taste?

 

[Scotty_g]

If you make a starter you will get a more vigorous initial fermentation and decrease off-flavors. Unless you way underpitched and didn't let it finish fermenting (you *did* check the gravity two days in a row, right? ), not using a starter is probably not the problem.

Letting the beer sit longer will almost always help any flavor problem (except infection), especially if you let it remain at fermentation (or cellar) temperatures. If you throw it in the fridge, it will probably be too cold for any remaining yeast to do too much (unless you used lager yeast, which I assume you didn't since this is a cream *ale*).

We need more information to provide a good answer: What was your OG, and what yeast did you use? Some yeast are not as attentuative (they'll leave more fermentables remaining, meaning more maltiness and a lower alcohol content). In general, most yeast are in the 68% to 75% attenuation range...so if you started out in the 1.050 range you actually finished up about right (50 x (1-.75) = 12.5, or a FG of 1.013).

Since I suspect you did things right (gave it enough time, etc.) you may just need to use a higher-attentuation yeast, or throw a little less of that crystal malt in next time--or add a little more hops to balance out the maltiness. It may not be a cream ale, but it's still beer.

 

[evandam]

That is sort of what I figured. No off flavors for sure. The OG was 1.043 and FG was 1.012, the yeast was Wyeast #1056 American Ale. Not sure how to calculate the attenuation from that. It was not bad at all and I'm sure I will enjoy it, it just seems that I get alot more malt flavor from my home brew than commercial. Granted I have brewed 2 beer styles that I don't drink alot of (never heard of a cream ale). We will see when the Pale Ale comes out, cause I drink my share of that. I found in my first batch that some time in the keg improved it quite a bit. If I had not had a party coming up that I wanted a keg of my own for, I would have given it another week in the secondary. I'm sure it will turn out fine. Thanks for the advice.

I checked the FG once in primary and got the same reading (1012) 4 days later so I went to secondary to clear it up a bit. Would it help at all to get the FG down to agitate it a bit in primary or secondary to resuspend the yeast?

So far I'm pretty happy with my first two batches. All have been drinkable and enjoyable. I look forward to getting an all grain setup one of these days. The possibilities with that are fascinating. :rockin:

 

[Scotty_g]

More flavor in homebrew than commercial beer? Very likely. Unless you have a thing for washing dishes, that's the point. (If you do like washing dishes, I'm looking for a roommate.)

The info for the Wyeast 1056 is here: http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=5

From 1.043 to 1.012 seems a *little* low; assuming I am not screwing up the formula it's 31/43 = 72% attenuation. If there was even a 0.001 error in one of the gravity measurements you'd be in the 73% range so I'd say you're good--especially if your readings were constant.

Unless you get a stuck fermentation (which you'd see at a much lower attentuation) shaking, re-aerating, or repitching are not usually necessary. Using a starter (which you seem to have a good feeling for) will go a long way towards preventing stuck fermentations. I've been oxygenating and using starters for nearly all of my beers and the lag times are very low. I was able to tell when the oxygen bottle ran out (16 hrs lag, not 4), which was proof enough for me.

Enjoy your beer! It sounds like your cream ale was better than the one we brewed, which was decidedly mediocre.

 

[Brett0424]

Extract beers often end up a little sweeter than their AG counterparts (depending on mash temp, etc.). Extract beers tend to have that "twang" that is hard to get around without more control of your fermentability. It's possible you didn't let it attenuate all the way but more than likely you just need to go AG!

 

[McSwiggin']

question that may help........ What hops, how much and when. You may not have hit the IBU's you were looking for. How big was the boil? (i.e. was your hop usage right?). If this was a kit, and it called for a 3 gallon boil and you used 2 gallons, you may not have had enough water for the hops.

I am geussing that you had enough hot break and your gravity numbers seem to be in order.

 

[IFP]

Extract beers often end up a little sweeter than their AG counterparts (depending on mash temp, etc.). Extract beers tend to have that "twang" that is hard to get around without more control of your fermentability. It's possible you didn't let it attenuate all the way but more than likely you just need to go AG!

Hmm, my experience has been quite the opposite. My purely extract beers usually come out quite dry and even a little "thin". Moving to partial mashes and taking advantage of slightly higher mash temps has given me the malty backbone I was looking for in certain beers.