My beer isnt as flavorful as I had hoped...

[bjzelectric]

I am new to homebrewing and have been using the brewers best equipment and ingredient kits. My first batch was a pale ale, I didnt strain the wort. I got some trub in the primary and the batch was a little bitter, even for a p.a. I strained my next two batches as i poured the wort into the primary and both batches came out o.k. but not as flavorful as i hoped. I also sanitzed with bleach on these 2 batches and I am wondering if it was the straining or the bleach. I used a good amount of bleach but it was in a bathtub full of water. Any info will be much appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

I don't think either the bleach or the trub was the culprit. I'd be guessing here, but I think your kits weren't really fresh. They may have been sitting on the shelf for a while, and that makes a big difference. Still tasty, but not as flavorful.

Do you order online, or do you have a homebrew store locally? Fresh ingredients will make a huge difference, if you can order (or locally purchase) freshly crushed grain and fresh malt extract and hops.

 

[bjzelectric]

Yea I have a great homebrew shop 10 minutes away and it seems they have a fairly quick turnaround on the kits. Oh well, I guess I should start all grain brewing soon anyway. Thanks for the input.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Can you elaborate on what you consider "flavorful", i.e. what specifically you are looking for that these kits do not seem to be giving you? Such as "more body" or "more maltiness" or "more hop flavor".

 

[bjzelectric]

I was looking for more body. This recipe wasnt designed to be hoppy but it lacked in maltiness too. Overall it was carbonated and brownish in color and even had a pretty good beer smell but the taste just wasnt there.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I was looking for more body. This recipe wasnt designed to be hoppy but it lacked in maltiness too. Overall it was carbonated and brownish in color and even had a pretty good beer smell but the taste just wasnt there.

There are a couple of ways to add more body to an extract beer without affecting flavor significantly. The most simple thing is to add some maltodextrin, which is a largely unfermentable sugar. You can also steep some crushed Carapils (dextrin malt) along with your other steeping grains, which has a similar effect. Both should be available at any good homebrew store.

Maltiness is a trickier thing to achieve, because it means different things in different styles of beer. Malts like Vienna, Munich, Aromatic, etc. usually add some nice malty/biscuity complexity, but they need to be mashed, so if you are not yet comfortable with partial mashing, they won't help you at this point. Slightly increasing the amount of crystal malts you steep may be the next best thing, or even adding a small amount of Amber or Dark DME (depending on the style). It's probably best to be quite conservative about these increases and, if in doubt, add lighter crystal malts rather than darker ones - too much can cause the beer to taste a bit cloying and sweet.

Again, your homebrew shop will be able to hook you up with any of these.

 

[bjzelectric]

Good looking out. Depending on how my current batch turns out, I might try adding maltodextrin on the next. Thanks

 

[McKBrew]

How long are you waiting before drinking?

 

[bjzelectric]

this batch i tried after bottle conditioning for 10 days and it was even close to being carbonated. after 2 more weeks it was a lot better but i waited another 10 to 14 days and it was fine but had no head retention.

 

[jbambuti]

I did a hoppy amber a few batches ago that I was very unimpressed with initially. It seemed weak in flavor and body. I figured that it was a mediocre recipe from my LHBS and I kind of forgot about it for awhile. A couple of months later, I opened a bottle and was impressed by the difference. Good flavor profile and good head retention. This is a beer I'm currently drinking and it has really come into its own. I'd say put the batch aside and forget about it for awhile. Maybe a month or two will have a similar effect for you.