Palmer's Cincinatti Pale Ale question

[Oscbert]

I followed the reciepe and let it ferment for 19 days. Last night I bottled it.
I tasted it last night and it was fairly tasteless. Could barely detect any hops. Tasted more like a Budwesier than a Pale ale. Will the flavors come out more as the beer conditions in the bottles?

 

[Oscbert]

Will hop flavors come out more with bottle conditioning?

 

[MacBruver]

No- if anything they decline over time. Tell a bit more about your whole process- there are a lot of things that can contribute to a lack of hop utilization and flavor.

How big of a boil did you do?

How long did you boil it for?

Did you taste it before you pitched the yeast?

 

[Oscbert]

My boil was pretty weak because my stove couldnt produce enough heat.

I boiled 6 AAU's Nothern Brewer hops for 60 minutes. Boiled half of my finishing hops 5AAU's Cascade hops for 30 minutes. Boiled the rest of Cascade hops for 15 minutes.

I didnt taste it before pitching the yeast.

 

[MacBruver]

Hmm... I think maybe you didn't use enough hops. The book says 12 AAU's of bittering and 5 AAU's of aroma hops for 5 gallons.

 

[Oscbert]

my book says 6 AAU's of bittering and 5 AAU's of finishing... I never thought about the boil issue. That is probably what it was. Bummer. My Pale ale wont be very hoppy, but I will still drink it. I will have to invest in a turkey fryer or risk using a lid to get the wort at a boil.

Thanks for the help!

 

[MacBruver]

Ah, that is weird. I don't have the book, but I keep the website bookmarked. It's double on the website: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7.html

Whenever I do stovetop, I always have to do a split boil. The more water you boil, the better your hop utilization will be, too. If you can only do a partial boil, it won't be as hoppy as if you are boiling the full 6 gallons. But yes- switching to a turkey fryer made a huge difference.

And you're in luck- turkey fryers are cheap right now, and will be even cheaper the 1st week of december when places want to clear them out!!

 

[Oscbert]

oooohhh. Good point. Stores will overstock for Thanksgiving. Awesome!

 

[McGarnigle]

Palmer's website assumes a partial boil, all extract upfront, and therefore calls for more hops than the book, which assumes either a full boil or late extract addition. So I think that would account for recipe differecnes.

Also, a weak boil will adversely affect hops.

 

[Oscbert]

That makes sense. Would have been nice if it was mentioned in the book. Especially since i paid for it and the website is free.... Lesson learned..