Spoke Norton's Brown Ale ...

[Finn]

... is a label on one of my beer taps. Basically, when a bottle gets accidentally overcharged, and either domes the cap or makes two quarts of foam when you open it, I open all the bottles and dump 'em in the Cornie.

Right now, Spoke Norton is tasting really good. There was a gallon left of fairly insipid brown beer comprised of roughly 3 parts Orfy's Northern Mild and one part Ordinary Bitter. To this, I added 10 22-oz. bottles of IPA ...

The IPA was dang near the best beer I ever tasted when I bottled it. Tasted very much like grapefruit, and was heavy and sweet and malty. In the bottles, it has totally changed over the course of about a month -- now it's dry and hoppy and not much grapefruit. Clearly the fermentation stuck, I thought it was done so I bottled it, and it kicked off again. I think this happens because I don't climate-control my fermentations this time of year, and they get down to 45 degrees overnight before climbing into the 70s in the day ... I need to leave them in glass for longer, especially the biggies.

No problem, and now the Spoke Norton is delicious and I'm pretty sure it won't last long. But any tips on how to keep that sweet, grapefruity, underattenuated character? I'm going to be chasing that beer for years, I can tell ...

Grazie ragazzi!

--Finnzo

 

[WBC]

I think you may not be aging your beer enough before bottling. I primary for 14 days and then keg if I am not dry hopping. I do not use a secondary fermenter. If you do not age at least 30 days your ale may not be finished. To keep that worderful citrus grapefruit taste you should dry hop but only after the primary has gone 14 days or it goes out of the carboy with the CO2. Put the hops right in the primary and let it sit another 10 to 14 days and then siphon off to the bottling bucket or keg it. You can age ales right in the primary for a month with no ill effects and this is the method I prefer. Temperature control is very important if you want consistantly good beer. Always pay attention to the yeast MFG's recommendations for the range of temperature to ferment. I use a temperature controlled (Ranco digital controller) freezer to ferment in and it holds plus or minus 1 degree for ales or lagers.

 

[Finn]

I think you may not be aging your beer enough before bottling. .

Gotta be, especially the IPA. The latest group is staying on the trub for a month, then going straight to glass (or keg!) -- that should keep them in line!

Thanks for the tip. I bought a couple ounces of Cascade Pellets at the LHBS this afternoon -- I guess if I pitch 'em into the IPA a week short of bottling, it'll likely be more citrusy -- and I'm planning to drop a sack of leaf hops into the keg for the other one.

cheers!

--Finn