I would like some help understanding why my second brew of the same recipe has no bitterness and very little flavor. Sadly, I do not have any gravity readings for either brew.
I brewed the Centennial Blonde from BierMuncher as my first all-grain brew and it came out great. Just before the bitterness became a noticeable distraction, the flowery/citrus flavor would kick in and leave a pleasant "I want more of that" taste when drinking.
I repeated the recipe but the results were very different. Now there is zero bitterness, but I would not say the beer is too sweet. So that is an ok result. But worse for me, there is very little actual flavor. There is only a hint of what could be the pleasant flowery/citrus flavor that was quite nice in the first brew.
I assume the lack of bitterness could be from the yeast not converting enough sugar into alcohol. I can live with a beer that is not bitter but not too sweet. I am mainly putting this description in to give you more info on the differences between the beers.
My main question is what could be the cause of the lack of flavor?
My process was basically the same, with the following differences.
First brew:
- Newly opened vacuum packed hops
- Last addition of Cascade hops was at 10 mins (not 5 minutes as specified in the recipe)
Second brew:
- Hops from the same packages, but stored in a zip lock baggy for one month in the freezer
- Last addition of Cascade hops at 5 minutes
Fermentation is done in my laundry room which fluctuates between 19 and 21 degrees Celsius (66 and 70 F).
What would the lack of flavor most likely be due to?
- variable fermentation temperatures
- older hops
- 5 minute difference in boil addition time
- something I've not tracked? (gravity, etc)
- something unknowable?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated to this very new brewer.
I brewed the Centennial Blonde from BierMuncher as my first all-grain brew and it came out great. Just before the bitterness became a noticeable distraction, the flowery/citrus flavor would kick in and leave a pleasant "I want more of that" taste when drinking.
I repeated the recipe but the results were very different. Now there is zero bitterness, but I would not say the beer is too sweet. So that is an ok result. But worse for me, there is very little actual flavor. There is only a hint of what could be the pleasant flowery/citrus flavor that was quite nice in the first brew.
I assume the lack of bitterness could be from the yeast not converting enough sugar into alcohol. I can live with a beer that is not bitter but not too sweet. I am mainly putting this description in to give you more info on the differences between the beers.
My main question is what could be the cause of the lack of flavor?
My process was basically the same, with the following differences.
First brew:
- Newly opened vacuum packed hops
- Last addition of Cascade hops was at 10 mins (not 5 minutes as specified in the recipe)
Second brew:
- Hops from the same packages, but stored in a zip lock baggy for one month in the freezer
- Last addition of Cascade hops at 5 minutes
Fermentation is done in my laundry room which fluctuates between 19 and 21 degrees Celsius (66 and 70 F).
What would the lack of flavor most likely be due to?
- variable fermentation temperatures
- older hops
- 5 minute difference in boil addition time
- something I've not tracked? (gravity, etc)
- something unknowable?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated to this very new brewer.