strained wort; low flavor after ferment

[akimbo78]

so i was having a problem losing too much beer on my 2 previous batches. it was suggested that i was maybe losing so much because i was not straining my wort from boil to fermentation bucket. i brewed AHS pumpkin ale which has gotten rave reviews. this time i strained the wort. it tasted wonderful after the boil. fast forward 3 weeks and i'm transferring to secondary for clarification and to check the flavor profile. my volume was awesome, problem fixed. flavor was majorly lacking. did i strain out all flavor? let it sit too long? to remedy i put a stick of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla in the secondary. i hope it helps.

 

[h22lude]

You don't lose flavor from straining. You are just removing the hot and cold break material and the hops you added. If you don't strain it, you won't gain flavor. All that will settle down to the bottom and become part of the trub with the yeast.

It will also condition in the bottle. It should still taste like beer as long as you brewed it correctly. It might not be as pumpkiny as you would like so next time add more spices to the boil.

Not part of your question but you said you have left it in primary for 3 weeks. Any reason why you want to transfer it to secondary? I would leave it in primary for 3 to 4 weeks and then bottle or keg it. No need to transfer to secondary.

 

[akimbo78]

transferred for clarity and to check flavor profile. it does very much taste like beer, but seems thin with only a hint of the spices. after boiling and top off the spices were more prominent.

 

[h22lude]

The spice flavor and aroma will go away as time goes on. They will be the most prominent right as you put it in the boil and from there on out they are starting to lose flavor and aroma. Similar to chocolate in a chocolate stout. Typically these type of "spiced" beers aren't the best for aging a long time.

I would recommend bottling soon. I just made a pumpkin ale and will be kegging after 3 weeks of primary. I may put in a vanilla bean or two right in primary for a day or two.

A little off topic - Keeping in primary longer will actually clear the beer better than racking. The yeast are what clears the beer. If you rack off the yeast, you are taking away the clearing agent. I would only rack to secondary if you are putting something like fruit, oak chips, chocolate nibs, dry hopping or anything like that in your beer. If you aren't adding a large amount, I would just keep it in primary for 3 to 4 weeks and then bottle.

 

[Zixxer10R]

What was your recipe like? Perhaps the AHS recipe is just lacking in body a bit more than you were expecting? What method did you use (i.e extract, AG, mini-mash)?

Post the ingredients and someone would be able to tell you how "meaty" that body should be. Of course i could just be misunderstanding you and thinking that by "low flavor" you really just mean low pumpkin and spice flavor...

 

[akimbo78]

What was your recipe like? Perhaps the AHS recipe is just lacking in body a bit more than you were expecting? What method did you use (i.e extract, AG, mini-mash)?

Post the ingredients and someone would be able to tell you how "meaty" that body should be. Of course i could just be misunderstanding you and thinking that by "low flavor" you really just mean low pumpkin and spice flavor...

it was an extract batch with steeping grains and a spice pack. i'm trying to get my methods down before i start experimenting, the pumpkin being my 3rd batch. thats also the reason i'm trying clones for my other batches, because i know what the originals taste like. i was expecting a bigger spice flavor. my wife tried it and said the same thing. it lacked spice and seemed to be "watered down."

 

[Zixxer10R]

There's no problem with extracts, and you can experiement plenty with that method.

Also, you'd be surprised how different a beer tastes after it's been carb'd up. Most of my hydrometer samples taste watered down and then when i finally get them car'b up they taste great. The carbonic acid thats created when water and CO2 combine really brings out spice flavors, especially compared to when your beer is warm and uncarb'd.

Obviously don't dump it, it will be beer. My suggestion at this point would be to let it finish out the fermentation and conditioning stages, get it carb'd up and then repost and let us know how it turned out. If it turns out well, then the only problem you have is what i've posted above this paragraph. If not, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

DO NOT DUMP IT!

 

[akimbo78]

i would never dump. thanks for the input and i'll let you know sometime between halloween and thanksgiving.