I brewed a porter, all grain. At fermentation I had about 5 1/2 gallons and bottled a couple weeks ago. Last night I opened a bottle and it tasted slightly watery. Any suggestions on how to improve that? I was thinking of brewing another 5gallon batch but at fermentation put 4 1/2 gallons and than combine the two batches and re-bottle. Thoughts?
My beer taste slightly watery.
- Thread starter dsdeez
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You don't want to rebottle at this point. You'd have to open all the bottles, and pour them into a bottling bucket. They'd be carbonated, and you'd definitely oxidize them by pouring them into a bucket or fermenter and rebottling.
I'd just make careful note of the recipe, and make changes in the next batch.
It's possible that the mouthfeel will improve with some aging also.
brewbama
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Early on I asked a very similar question on another forum and below is what I was told. I've found a balance of 153-154*F mash works for most of the 4.5-5.5% ABV beers I brew.
"The mash temp is one of the variables that will affect the relative fermentability of the resulting wort.
The two enzymes responsible for breaking down starch into sugar are alpha and beta amylase. Alpha amylase works best at temps between ~150-160 (ish) and creates a minimally fermentable wort. Beta amylase works best at temps in between 140-155 (ish) and creates a more fermentable wort.
so by mashing at 148 you maximize the beta amylase activity and therefore, in theory maximize the fermentability of the wort. a mash temp of say 154ish should produce a moderatly fermentable wort and a really high mash temp like 162 creates a minimally fermentable wort.
Less fermentable worts will produce a thicker mouthfeel and body with more residual sugars and more fermentable worts produce a more 'digestable' beer with a lower final gravity, and a lighter mouthfeel with less body.
generally speaking I mash at 148 for big belgians, big barley wines that I want to finish pretty dry, and the like. I mash at 155ish for everything of moderate gravity that shouldn't be bone dry and 162 for small beers that I want to leave with a relatively large amount of body."
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
"The mash temp is one of the variables that will affect the relative fermentability of the resulting wort.
The two enzymes responsible for breaking down starch into sugar are alpha and beta amylase. Alpha amylase works best at temps between ~150-160 (ish) and creates a minimally fermentable wort. Beta amylase works best at temps in between 140-155 (ish) and creates a more fermentable wort.
so by mashing at 148 you maximize the beta amylase activity and therefore, in theory maximize the fermentability of the wort. a mash temp of say 154ish should produce a moderatly fermentable wort and a really high mash temp like 162 creates a minimally fermentable wort.
Less fermentable worts will produce a thicker mouthfeel and body with more residual sugars and more fermentable worts produce a more 'digestable' beer with a lower final gravity, and a lighter mouthfeel with less body.
generally speaking I mash at 148 for big belgians, big barley wines that I want to finish pretty dry, and the like. I mash at 155ish for everything of moderate gravity that shouldn't be bone dry and 162 for small beers that I want to leave with a relatively large amount of body."
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
