Red Ale is watery please help diagnose

[Drscott266]

I just tasted my second batch of beer ever, a Brewer's Best Red Ale kit. My first beer was BB Holiday Ale which turned out very well. The problem with the Red Ale is that it has no finish to it at all, and only a slight malty taste in the beginnint. Carb is good, and a good head forms when I pour it, but there is no taste!! The OG was 1.035 (a little low accordign the recipe) and the FG when i bottled was 1.008 (right on for the recipe). I follwed all the directions, and even added the hops after flame out in hopes of adding more of a hop taste, instead I have no hop taste what so ever.

My only thoughts are that the recipe called for a 2 gal boil, and I tried to boil as much as I could fit in my 4 gal pot. Could this be the problem? I figured that it would either need more water boiled initially, or more water added after boil to make 5 gal batch size... did I got wrong in boiling more water than the recipe called for? My first beer which turned out great, was definitely a 2 gal boil and topped off to 5. Please help, you all are great at this stuff!

 

[Yooper]

I actually made that kit when I first started, and I don't remember it being watery. The size of the boil shouldn't matter (if anything, it would be more bitter from better hops utilization from a larger boil) that much.

How long has it been in the bottle?

 

[jezter6]

hops AFTER flame out will be aroma based hops.

what was your hop schedule?

I've done this recipe a long time ago and it was awesome, but my friends recently did it and it tasted 'watery' as well. I couldn't put my finger on it other than maybe they didn't mix the top-up water in well enough.

 

[Drscott266]

That is what I have been reading should have happened, which is why I am so puzzled. It has been in bottle for almost two weeks, and the bottle I tasted was just a feeler bottle to make sure it wasnt totally garbage. What makes me even more confused, is during the fermentation I took a couple of readings for gravity, and after a week in the primary it tasted great. When I checked again in two days to see if fermentation had ceased it tasted watery and hasnt improved since. Does that make any sense? Thanks for the reply, I think I will try the recipe again and only boil the 2 gal to see if that in fact makes a difference.

 

[Drscott266]

I used the williamette hops that came with the recipe, boiled 2 oz's for the full hour, and then added 2 more oz's at 15 minutes. I am also wondering if my stove can only handle boiling about 2 to 2.5 gal's, as the full 4 gal didnt really get rolling. I wish i could use a propane stove, but for now, the cook top is my only option.
Is the aggressiveness of the boil something that could have ruined this batch, as it was not as rolling as when i only boil half the pots vloume?

 

[Silviakitty]

I just made this kit myself...it's still in the secondary, so I won't be able to add my input for a few weeks yet. As soon as it's carbed I'll post. I did it with a two gallon boil, hops as recommended.

 

[TheJadedDog]

Give it some more time. I am continually amazed at what time does for my beers. I recently made a Dead Guy Ale clone that had the same watery problem. 3-4 weeks under carbonation and it was markedly improved. I am sure 2 months from now it will be even better.

 

[jezter6]

I used the williamette hops that came with the recipe, boiled 2 oz's for the full hour, and then added 2 more oz's at 15 minutes. I am also wondering if my stove can only handle boiling about 2 to 2.5 gal's, as the full 4 gal didnt really get rolling. I wish i could use a propane stove, but for now, the cook top is my only option.
Is the aggressiveness of the boil something that could have ruined this batch, as it was not as rolling as when i only boil half the pots vloume?

It sounds possible that your boil was not sufficient. Did your kit use DME, LME, or both? Did you notice them completely dissolve in the boil properly and not leave floaty or sunken chunks behind?

At 60 and 15 minutes, you're not going to get a whole lot in hoppy flavor, which is ok for an Irish style red. I've thought that Killians (which is similar to your kit) is awful watery as well.

You say you came in a 'little low' - how low are you from the recipe?

Either way - don't dump it - let it sit and hope it gets better. If it doesn't, well then you can still drink it, but it's just not great.

 

[RICLARK]

What kind of water do you use, My tap water is very soft and makes some of my brews watery tasting.

 

[malkore]

give it more time. i've made that kit, and loved it (was the last extract kit I made before going AG)

the boil volume is NOT the problem at all. if you didn't have at least a hard simmer going, you likely didn't extract much hop bitterness.

is it possible you splashed the finished beer when racking and bottling? as I understand it oxidation starts as stale flavor (or lack of) and then turns into the wet cardboard flavor that defines oxidized beer.

Also were the hop pellets nice and green? aromatic? or were they brown/yellow? its possible it was an old kit who's hops oxidized.

 

[bigben]

It could be the yeast making the flavor bland. What yeast came with the kit?

Maybe try doing the same recipe but use some dry Danstar Nottingham or Safale S-05 and see if it's any different

 

[Drscott266]

Thanks for all the help guys, I waited another week and tasted another bottle and all seems to be improving. I guess this brew just needed more time before it started to come around, but it seems to be tasting more and more like I expected. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[whip]

Give it some more time. I am continually amazed at what time does for my beers.

I'm going to add my stern agreement to The JadeDog's comment. I'd always heard of aging wine and liquor, but never beer. My 2nd batch was an extract batch that I COMPLETELY screwed up. I experimented and changed things in the recipe before I know what it would do. I couldn't taste anything but burnt and bitter after 2 weeks bottle conditioning. I didn't have the heart to throw it out and I'm glad I didn't. After roughly 4 months I tried a bottle and much to my surprise, I had a very nice Black IPA.

 

[kh54s10]

I'm going to add my stern agreement to The JadeDog's comment. I'd always heard of aging wine and liquor, but never beer. My 2nd batch was an extract batch that I COMPLETELY screwed up. I experimented and changed things in the recipe before I know what it would do. I couldn't taste anything but burnt and bitter after 2 weeks bottle conditioning. I didn't have the heart to throw it out and I'm glad I didn't. After roughly 4 months I tried a bottle and much to my surprise, I had a very nice Black IPA.

Did you realize that you responded to a thread from 2007??

Good advice though. Most beers get better with a certain amount of age past when it is just "carbonated".