Watery IPA...

[HOP-HEAD]

Allright, I know it's early, but I sampled my IPA after 1 wk primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 1 week in the bottle. I'm waiting another 2 weeks before I crack a bottle, but dipped into the plastic bottle that I filled at bottling time to monitor the carbonation (Palmer).

Good hops, decent flavor, but no body. Watery as hell compared to a side-by-side with some Hop Devil. Will time in the bottle cure "watery" like everything else everyone says it will, or did I do something wrong during brewing?

 

[nukebrewer]

What was your recipe? You may not have used enough malt or not have gotten very good efficiency if you steeped specialty grains or did AG or PM.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

The watery taste will improve over time for sure. In fact, if this is a high gravity IPA it will take longer that a "nomal" 1.050 beer to develop a nice body. Give it at least 3 weeks in the bottle before you make any judgements on the flavor...it really does take that long to properly carbonate and for the flavors to blend.

 

[Jamo99]

Once it properly carbonates the mouthfeel will definately be different. Give it some time before giving it an honest critique. A recipe will help to see if you added anything that would give it more body (i.e. carapils, flaked wheat, etc.)

 

[HOP-HEAD]

1 can (3.3 lb) Muntons Light Malt Extract after steeping prior to initial boil

Grains:
1 lb crushed crystal malt 60L
8 oz. crushed victory

Hops:
2 oz. cascade bittering (6.3% AA) @ 60 min
0.5 oz. cascade finishing (6.3% AA) @ 30 min
0.5 oz. cascade finishing (6.3 %AA) @ 10 min

1 can (3.3 lb) Muntons Light Malt Extract at 5 min
Nottingham Danstar 11g Dry Yeast

Brewed as a half batch added to 2.5 gallons of pre-boiled water to top off in fermenter.

OG - 1.052
FG - 1.011

 

[WBC]

1 can of muntons (3.3lbs) and 1.5 lbs of grain is a very light beer and it would be weak and watery.

 

[shertz]

If I read this right, he added 2 cans of LME, one at beginning of boil and one at the end.

 

[The Pol]

I use S-04 in my last APA recipe... it will leave more residual sweetness. My last one was OG 1.056 and FG 1.018! 1.011 is pretty dry if you like a fuller beer. Nottingham is a lot like say US-05, and attenuates like mad.

By the way, that APA turned out KILLER good...

 

[HOP-HEAD]

If I read this right, he added 2 cans of LME, one at beginning of boil and one at the end.

Yes, 1 at the start, the other near the end of the boil.

 

[TeleTwanger]

with an og of 1.052 and fg of 1.011 it shouldn't be that watery. Victory uses pilsner malt and that beer (hop devil)has a good body with lots of malt backbone. Maybe next time mash a few pounds of vienna malt along with the victory and crystal and maybe throw in some dextrine. Or just use a maltier yeast like sa04 or any British strain.

 

[The Pol]

with an og of 1.052 and fg of 1.011 it shouldn't be that watery. Victory uses pilsner malt and that beer (hop devil)has a good body with lots of malt backbone. Maybe next time mash a few pounds of vienna malt along with the victory and crystal and maybe throw in some dextrine. Or just use a maltier yeast like sa04 or any British strain.

The OG though doesnt have anything to do with whether it is watery or not... only the FG... and 1.011 is pretty low... the lowest FG I have ever brewed was a dry 1.008. You can start at 1.080 and end up at 1.011 and it will be just as watery as say an OG of 1.040 and an FG of 1.011, being that there are identical ammounts of sugar left in the final beer.

 

[Endovelico]

Bumping this because i've just tasted my first batch (IPA) two weeks into aging and the same thing happened. My OG is 50 and my FG went down to 14, im getting along with the RDHAHB mindset, but i just cant help but wonder how in the hell is the beer going to change so drastically in one more week (I know it can take more).

Quick question, the (small) sample i took was from a flipflop bottle. Since i opened it, is it still a good representation of the other bottles during the various stages of aging, or is the escaped CO2 going to cause different results in the same timespan compared to the other bottles?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Bumping this because i've just tasted my first batch (IPA) two weeks into aging and the same thing happened. My OG is 50 and my FG went down to 14, im getting along with the RDHAHB mindset, but i just cant help but wonder how in the hell is the beer going to change so drastically in one more week (I know it can take more).

Quick question, the (small) sample i took was from a flipflop bottle. Since i opened it, is it still a good representation of the other bottles during the various stages of aging, or is the escaped CO2 going to cause different results in the same timespan compared to the other bottles?

Well, it's been over two weeks since the OP started the thread...I'm wondering how it tastes now? How about it? Any improvement with age?

 

[hcarter]

My Irish Red (B3) had an OG of 1.055 after a week in the bottle (FG of 1.012) it too tasted watery. 3 weeks in the bottle at 70* has done wonders. IMO, this beer tastes as good as any Irish Red I've had. Give it time. It should be fine.

 

[HOP-HEAD]

Well, it's been over two weeks since the OP started the thread...I'm wondering how it tastes now? How about it? Any improvement with age?

Incredible difference between week 2 and 3.

It was flat (of course) and very watery when racking to bottling bucket, but had decent flavor.


At 1 week it had carbed up quite a bit, but still had no body, really watery, thus my original post.

Week 2 showed very little noticeable change from week 1.

Week 3 marked a sudden, major improvement. Not sure how it developed all of a sudden, but it did.

It's been just over 4 weeks now, and it's even better. I'm very happy with the results "body-wise". Saving as many for weeks 5 and 6 as possible, hoping it only gets better....