Same tasting beer with similar aftertaste

[BaldyBrew]

Hey Guys. Need some opinions on what might be going on here. I have just started back to the hobby after 10 years and I am having the same issues i was back then. I started with an English Brown Ale and American Cream Ale (2 beers that should not taste similar IMO) Brewers Best kits and both beers are similar in taste with a slight burnt flavor at the end. There are no off smells of any kind. Again, this was the same issue i was having ten years ago. I determined it was not the water years ago by trying different types, and all my SG and FG reading are on point with the recipe, and i am a sanitation freak, so i dont think that can be the issue either. The American Ale fermented in my closet and a week later I brewed the English Brown and it fermented in my freezer using a temp controller to keep it at 68F. There is always a tad bit (covers about 1/4 of the kettle bottom) of caramelization on the bottom of the brew kettle, but i can just wipe this up with my finger, so i dont think that it is scorched. I have read about the extract twang, but cant seem to find anything on similar tasting beers with the burnt aftertaste. I hope you guys can understand as i typed this on my phone and I am sure I have left something out, so please ask any questions. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[azmark]

With extract I would hope there wouldn't be anything on the bottom. When are you adding the extract? How long a boil?

 

[BaldyBrew]

Adding the extract after steeping the grains and boiling for an hour. Going to try partial mash, late addition extract this weekend.

 

[tooldudetool]

Hmm, are you using the same brewpot as 10 years ago? I'm just looking for the common denominator... Do you use an immersion wort chiller? Has it been cleaned well? I recommend Barkeepers Friend stainless steel cleaner, its amazing! It will make any stainless look brand new with minimal scrubbing.

 

[BaldyBrew]

It's a brand new brew kettle, and I do use pbw and barkeepers. Doing ice baths now, but had a wort chiller back then.

 

[sputnam]

do you remove the pot from heat source b4 adding extract?

do you stir well?

have you tried DME?

have you tried something other than cooper's?

 

[Flboy]

I think you are burning the extract. I turn off the heat while adding it because I had the same scorch on the bottom of my kettle. And stir, stir, and stir! The extract sinks like a rock when first added.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Also, depending in the amount of steeping grains you may not need to boil extract for full hour. Are you doing full volume boil? If you are doing full volume and steeping, you will probably have enough wort to isomerize the hops. In which case I would not add extract until the final ten minutes of the boil. The extract has already had the effects of protein breaks, etc at during processing, and does not need an hour long boil, you are in effect adding another hour to boil of extract, increasing the malliard reaction and thus darkening your extract.

If you are doing partial boil, then try using just a third or less of the extract, just enough to get hop isomerization. If you are using pre hopped extract, you don't need any of that.

 

[BaldyBrew]

I remove the pot from the heat source and stir like crazy before adding it back to the burner. Trying a late addition LME this weekend. I think I will go DME after this weekend