Watery beer

[Nephron]

Was it the thing I know I did wrong, or something I didn't consider?

I bottled my first brew today, a kit called "Oktoberfest", and sampled a bit. No 'off' taste (to my untrained tongue), just watery. The kit had one can of LME, two bags of DME (dunno the weights) and a steeped bag of specialty malt.
I learned about air/oxygen too late, so did none. I stuck pretty closely to the maker's directions.

The OG was 1.042, and FG 1.015, so I guess that's 64% attenuation.

It sat for 22 days at 64-66 F.

When I learn enough to justify all-grain, I'd like to do that. So if watery is the penalty for using a kit, so be it. But if watery confirms I have more to learn, then it's not time for that expense.

 

[ong]

I doubt that your not shaking up the wort had any real negative effect. I think it's maybe just that this recipe is fairly low gravity, so it tastes watery. Maybe just not what you were expecting? There is certainly no problem with brewing extract kits for as long as you like -- that won't cause what you're describing.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

I am not sure what would be giving the watery taste, what yeast did you use?
Many Oktoberfest's are made with a lager yeast which need to go through a lagering process--a controlled drop in temp to the mid 30's-40's and then stored for a couple weeks to months. I am told that the yeast do great things making the beer much more 'crisp' during this process.
I did a NB Oktoberfest kit (extract w/grains) last year, but i did my best to lager it (before my ferm chamber died) and cold age it for about 2 months before kegging it, and i was very happy with it.
Not if that helps much...

 

[norcalhomebrewer]

It's a 3.5% beer, sounds like you should increase the gravity if you want a less watery beer. Also it could be lower gravity then that since you do not have your #'s of fermentables.

 

[Nephron]

Well, as a first-ever beer, there's a lot I don't know (including the yeast type). I can say that the instruction didn't call for the time or temperature that I read you use for a lager. I think the company knows their customers are new at this. But I see the point about the OG...it seems a lot of beers start above 1.060.

 

[ong]

Most beers in the Oktoberfest style are in the 1.050 to 1.057 range, so this one is a bit light. Sounds like everything went pretty well, though, apart from it being a bit lighter than you wanted! Congratulations!

 

[estricklin]

Often times an uncarbonated beer will taste watery, especially if it's on the low side of the ABV levy. Once it's carbed you may be a lot happier with it.

 

[RM-MN]

Was it the thing I know I did wrong, or something I didn't consider?

I bottled my first brew today, a kit called "Oktoberfest", and sampled a bit. No 'off' taste (to my untrained tongue), just watery. The kit had one can of LME, two bags of DME (dunno the weights) and a steeped bag of specialty malt.
I learned about air/oxygen too late, so did none. I stuck pretty closely to the maker's directions.

The OG was 1.042, and FG 1.015, so I guess that's 64% attenuation.

It sat for 22 days at 64-66 F.

When I learn enough to justify all-grain, I'd like to do that. So if watery is the penalty for using a kit, so be it. But if watery confirms I have more to learn, then it's not time for that expense.

The highlighted sentences are your answer. Beer that hasn't been carbonated will be thin and watery, especially a lighter colored beer. Leave this beer in the bottles for 4 more weeks and it will change dramatically. In the meanwhile, knowing that you have that long of a wait, start another beer. This time make sure you start fermenting the beer cooler, then after a few days let it warm up for the remainder of the 3 weeks in the fermenter.

 

[flars]

Unless you exceeded the volume of the recipe in the fermentor, RM-NM is correct. Before a beer is fully conditioned it will have the flavor of the finished product, but not the mouth feel. Four weeks at 70°F to 75°F will finish the beer, then chill a couple for three days before your next taste.

What is the brand name of the kit?

 

[Nephron]

The kit maker is "BSG Handcraft".

I found my notes with answers I forgot:
Yeast was 6g of Munton's Ale
3.3 lb Amber LME (Munton's)
1 lb DME (Munton's)
8 oz 'melanoidin' malt (Weyemann)

2 oz Liberty hops (pellets) for the 60 minute boil

 

[mcbar]

Second the above posters who mentioned that the taste will improve once the beer is carbonated. Serving it cold helps as well.