my stout is not right. need assist please

[scrawbag]

happy holidays guys. i splashed out some stout christmas day but its just not right so any thoughts would be v helpfull.
details as follows

coopers kit. 1.5 or 1.75 kg irish stout plus 1.5kg LME
the guy in the HBS said to only use 3/4 of the LME but i used the full can. is this why
1. no head after 60 sec. BTW i put one and a half carbonation drops in to bottles half way between the size for using 1 and 2 carbonation drops
2.very strong flavour/aftertaste that is just dark flavoured

temperature controll was none existant when fermenting. it went fron 20 to 26 degrees c in the transition from day to night.
it was around 11 days in the primary then bottled about a month before cristmas. it tasted better 2 weeks ago. lighter flavour
what is most likely to have caused no 1 or 2 above?

 

[bbbblaine]

I'm still somewhat new to homebrewing... but from what I have learned so far, you will get a much better, fresher beer if you add some specialty grains in your recipe. I would think that the poor head retention is because of a mix of the lack of specialty grains and temperature control during fermentation.

 

[ChillWill]

If you have a bottle conditioned stout that tastes good after 6 weeks of brewing, you're doing very well.

You'd want to primary for 3 weeks at least if not using secondary, then bottle and for a darker beer, you're really looking for at least a month in bottle before it'll be good, longer time on stouts are even better.

Also, try and get those fermentation temps under control! 26degC won't make good beer for a normal ale yeast.

 

[scrawbag]

i started my second stout a week ago and a got a glass 5gallon secondry for crimbo so this time round ill primary for close to 2 weeks and secondary for two weeks, also i have an aquarium heater keeping it at a constant 20 degrees c.
can anyone answer if any of my problems might be caused by the light LME or im i just being paranoid
wont be doing a partial for a while. want to get the rest right first

 

[bbbblaine]

I think the best ways to improve it would be the constant temperature during fermentation and just following the recipe as closely as you can (or finding a different kit/recipe to use).

As long as you are strictly using only malt extracts (either LME or DME), I believe your beer will only turn out "good" to a certain point. It will probably lack in areas that make a "real" stout.

The next biggest thing you can do to really improve it a lot would be steeping some specialty grains at about 150F for 30-ish minutes before you add the malt extracts and hops and start your boil. I did this kind of brew with my first beer (American Hefe clone) and it turned out great, though it was still a little light/watery for my taste.

 

[SkyHighBrew88]

Try serving the stout in a disposable plastic cup at 50F (10C). Fridge temps can be too cold for a stout intended to have lower (by style) carbonation levels.

It also could be that your glasses have a small amount of soap residue messing with your head retention (hence the plastic for a quick test).

How long have your bottles been conditioning at room temperatures?

 

[scrawbag]

thanks bbbblaine. doing a partial is still a bit scary sounding but ill brave it one of the days. the kits are pretty hard to improve on.
skyhighbrew88 ill have to check in a plastic cup but more than 20 have been poured and all heads gone after 60 seconds. they have been in the bottles for 3/4 weeks and the flavour gets stronger. could this be due to the conditioning temp being a little warm? say 70 f

 

[badlee]

I recently did a Copers original stout with 700gr of wheat malt and the head is great.
I did a two wek primary,bottled with 4gr of sucrose per 630ml bottle and afetr 4 days in the bottle(18 days after pitching) I got a 2inc head that went down to half an inch.
So maybe try some wheat malt or just wheat, as clarity is't a major factor with a stout.

 

[scrawbag]

now thats some good advice badlee. thats a good place to start a partial. thanks for that
this is your reward


hmmm. my nice boobs pic is not working, sorry guys

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