My cal common just tastes...boring.

[Rustyhub]

5 gallon batch.
Target OG 1.054 (OG achieved 1.068)
Mash temp 148°F
Finishing gravity 1.012
Fermentation schedule 2 weeks at 65. 3 days at 70. Conditioned at 40 for 3 weeks.

7.5lb pale ale (50.7%)
4lb Pilsner (27%)
1.5 crystal 40 (10.1%)
1.3 victory (8.8%)
0.5 honey malt (3.4%)

0.5oz perle at 60
1oz mosaic at 20
1oz perle at 20
1oz mosaic at 5

Yeast WLP810


I kegged and carbed it last weekend and tried it.
It tastes like...beer. Just plain old boring beer.
It tastes a little thin. Hop flavor is rather boring, and hop aroma is nonexistent.

Anyone have any tips or critiques?

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Keg? Pitch some orval dregs in there for a month or three at 70f.. boring no more.

 

[Aristotelian]

Cal Common is not the most exciting kind of beer in my opinion. I have been kinda tired of American styles in general. I am on a saison kick now and dreading the winter months when I have to go back to making APAs and stouts. Then again, there is nothing wrong with making "just beer" that tastes good. Better than making beer that is noticeably bad.

 

[Rustyhub]

Keg? Pitch some orval dregs in there for a month or three at 70f.. boring no more.

Orval dregs? Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is that?

 

[porterpounder]

Double the hops and add at 5 and 0, not 20. Dry hop with 3 oz of mosaic. Malt complexity should be there with that bill. Up the mash temp a couple degrees to give it some backbone.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

"Dregs" are yeast from another beer. Orval. It is like Cal Common. But after it has been mopped up from a barnyard floor and carbonated.

 

[Rustyhub]

Cal Common is not the most exciting kind of beer in my opinion. I have been kinda tired of American styles in general. I am on a saison kick now and dreading the winter months when I have to go back to making APAs and stouts. Then again, there is nothing wrong with making "just beer" that tastes good. Better than making beer that is noticeably bad.

That's sort of the problem. I LOVE cal commons. Normally they have big full malt flavor and exactly the right bitterness flavor, aroma. I was really excited to make my own cal common!

But this just doesn't taste right. It tastes thin, but I'm confused as to why since my OG was over by a ton. Maybe I mashed at too low a temp and just caused it to have too much fermentable sugar?

Like nothing stands out at all. It's almost like it's too clean and balanced. Normally I can point out specific flavors in a beer, like caramel or nutty, etc, but this one, I can't.

 

[porterpounder]

Orval dregs? Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is that?

Orval is re-fermented in the bottle with Brett (Sach??) Bruxellensis. Pour out most of the bottle and leave the yeast (dregs). Flame the opening with a torch for a second then dump the dregs into a starter or into the beer in secondary. It's a while new 'nother world.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Orval dregs? Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is that?

It is a trappist ale that is conditioned with Brett. Off the shelf, at a bottle shop in the states, the beer can be a a year old or more leading to a pretty funky barnyard effect, but for your batch, if you sample it as it develops you can catch a real fruity profile before it gets too funky.

 

[Rustyhub]

Double the hops and add at 5 and 0, not 20. Dry hop with 3 oz of mosaic. Malt complexity should be there with that bill. Up the mash temp a couple degrees to give it some backbone.

Thanks! This is the kind of advice I was looking for. Maybe mash at closer to 154?

What is your reason behind moving the hops to 5 and 0 instead of 20?

 

[Rustyhub]

So the amount of yeast in the bottle will be enough to affect 5 gallons? That actually sounds pretty interesting, so maybe I will do that!

 

[mongoose33]

That's sort of the problem. I LOVE cal commons. Normally they have big full malt flavor and exactly the right bitterness flavor, aroma. I was really excited to make my own cal common!

But this just doesn't taste right. It tastes thin, but I'm confused as to why since my OG was over by a ton. Maybe I mashed at too low a temp and just caused it to have too much fermentable sugar?

Like nothing stands out at all. It's almost like it's too clean and balanced. Normally I can point out specific flavors in a beer, like caramel or nutty, etc, but this one, I can't.

I'd suggest mashing at 152 or even a tad higher. Lower = better attenuation, but thinner tasting. Higher = less attenuation, more unfermentables in the resulting beer.

I have an english bitter right now that is really good...but just a tad sweet. I want it to finish a bit drier, so I'm dropping the mash temp down a bit. Opposite problem from you.

 

[porterpounder]

Thanks! This is the kind of advice I was looking for. Maybe mash at closer to 154?

What is your reason behind moving the hops to 5 and 0 instead of 20?

152-154 usually gives a nice body without being too heavy. Moving the hops later in larger quantities will give the oils less chance to boil off, resulting in more intensity in the final beer. You may lose some IBUs, but that depends on your process.

 

[porterpounder]

So the amount of yeast in the bottle will be enough to affect 5 gallons? That actually sounds pretty interesting, so maybe I will do that!

It usually takes the dregs of a few bottles with healthy yeast to have enough to make an impact. Or you can acquire a commercial Brux pitch and have enough the easy way.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

Keg? Pitch some orval dregs in there for a month or three at 70f.. boring no more.

If you go down this path, beware of the slippery slope into the world of sour beers! Also, a gentle reminder is in order that anything you use on a sour is at risk for being permanently contaminated with Brett. So, if you have an AutoSiphon, tubing, whatever, and use them on the sour, they are committed to your sour program. You should probably have fresh equipment for your fresh, un-sour beers. Of course, once on the slippery slope, you may not want to go back!