Will this beer age out?

[seabush]

Will this beer ever grow up?

I made a big IPA (OG 1.065). I let it ferment in primay for 6 days until the bubbles stopped. I dumped the yeast/trub from my conical to take it to secondary. 14 days later, FG was stable at 1.006 (I was expecting 1.011). I figured it was done. I carbed it up, gave it a swig and was smacked my what tasted like beer mixed with rubbing alcohols. I don't know what a tea bag tastes like, but I think it was more alcoholy then bitter.

I think were I went wrong was not tasting prior to going to secondary, and again before kegging. The beer has now been cold crashed, filtered, carbed, and is sitting in my kegerator. Since the filtering took out all the yeast, will this beer ever age and mellow out what I think to be fusels?

I pitched 2 packages of Safale US-05 and fermented in a fridge at 65 degrees using a thermowell.

Thoughts?

 

[RevKev]

Will this beer ever grow up?

I made a big IPA (OG 1.065). I let it ferment in primay for 6 days until the bubbles stopped. I dumped the yeast/trub from my conical to take it to secondary. 14 days later, FG was stable at 1.006 (I was expecting 1.011). I figured it was done. I carbed it up, gave it a swig and was smacked my what tasted like beer mixed with rubbing alcohols. I don't know what a tea bag tastes like, but I think it was more alcoholy then bitter.

I think were I went wrong was not tasting prior to going to secondary, and again before kegging. The beer has now been cold crashed, filtered, carbed, and is sitting in my kegerator. Since the filtering took out all the yeast, will this beer ever age and mellow out what I think to be fusels?

I pitched 2 packages of Safale US-05 and fermented in a fridge at 65 degrees using a thermowell.

Thoughts?

Can you share mash temp and grain bill with hop schedule?

 

[brick_haus]

My experience with IPAs is that they do not get better with age.
Your issue will probably not age out.

 

[SteveHeff]

What were your fermentation temps like?

 

[day_trippr]

Presumably the 65°F as stated. Which certainly would not result in fusels with US-05.
And given the low FG, I suspect something else happened and the off character isn't from fusels...

Cheers!

 

[bobeer]

my .02 is 6 days isn't very long to keep it on the yeast cake without taking a gravity reading before moving it to secondary. Just because the bubbles stop doesn't mean the yeast are done doing their job. Once primary fermentation is done the beer will benefit a lot by leaving it on the yeast and warming it up a bit, to about 70 degrees, to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves. If you've brewed this beer many times and know it's done after 6 days then that's one thing but taking a gravity reading before moving to the next step is a good idea.

As a side note, assuming this is a 5 gallon batch, pitching 2 packs of us05 is a bit much but shouldn't really contribute to the off flavor you're describing. 1.065 isn't really a huge beer that would require this much yeast. If it's a 10 gallon batch then you're probably more on point with using 2 packs. Again, just my .02.

1.065 to 1.006 makes for 7.72% abv which without some, or too little, whirlpool hops/dry hops could come off as a bit boozy as your describing. My advice is to put some dryhops in your keg and leave them there during the duration of the life of the keg. You will not get grassy flavors or anything else from doing this. What you will get a nice hop nose and a nice hop resin flavor to your beer that will probably mask a lot of what you're trying to age out. I'd use about 3oz of hops in a muslin bag in the keg, wait 3-5 days, then pull a pint and see where you're at.

Good luck!

 

[jrgtr42]

Like others have said, we need your recipe and procedures to start to have an opinion on what happened.
I think your temps were pretty good, kept at 65 is pretty spot on for what is wanted. 2 packs is a bit over pitched, but it's less that what will develop naturally in the fermenter.
I do think 6 days is a bit short in primary - were you working off a kit? The instructions on those are pretty bad with what we know now for best practices on a homebrew scale.
Personally, I don't bother with a secondary unless I'm bulk aging a beer - on fruit, wood, or souring. I leave it in primary for about 3 weeks. I watch the first 3 days or so to make sure there's action, then forget about it for a couple weeks. I'll test gravity about 2.5 weeks out, then again on (hopefully) bottling day. That's it. Haven't had a batch go bad due to fermentation issues yet (knock on wood.)

 

[kh54s10]

I suspect some form of infection. I have never had US05 take any beer that low.

The only other things I can think of: 1) would be the use of a lot of very easily fermented sugars, like a few pounds of cane sugar or corn sugar. 2) really out of balance hop additions. Either way too much bittering or very little.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

I had a Maris Otter DIPA that, thanks to using a fresh slurry of mixed US-05 and BRY-97, went from 1.068 to 1.007 in 10 days.

It definitely tasted hot for about 2 weeks after bottling, then I said to heck with it and tossed the whole batch in the fridge. I waited about 10 days before cracking another one, and the burn had subsided. Sure, there was still some booze taste, but not near as bad as it was.

 

[seabush]

Thank for all the advice and help. The recipe was for a kit * bows head in shame*. But it's hard to say no for a $20 dollar kit with 10oz of hops. This is the recipe.

5 gallon batch

15 lbs American pale (2 Row)
.5 Lbs each of white wheat, carapils, crystal 40L

Total 16.5 lbs grain
Mashed at 152 for 60 mins
Boiled for 60 mins
1 oz cluster 60 mins
1 oz centennial and Columbus for 15 mins
1 oz cascade and chinook for 5 mins
1 oz citra and crystal for 1 minute
Total, 7 oz boil hops

Pitched 2 packets of Safale US-05 at 65 deg. Primary for 6 days

Secondary for 14 days.
1 oz each of centennial, citra, chinook for 5 days

Cold crash for 3 days, filter and carb


I think I will take bobeer's advice, toss 3 oz citra in the keg and see what happens

I have never heard of taking the temperature up after primary is done in order to let the yeast clean up, is that a common practice?

Thanks again for all the advice

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

The recipe was for a kit * bows head in shame*. But it's hard to say no for a $20 dollar kit with 10oz of hops.

Dude, that's a heck of a deal! At my LHBS the hops alone would have been $25. I probably would have bought it too.

 

[seabush]

Well, after a few weeks. The Heat subsided. I have never dry hopped in a keg before, so I decided to take it for a spin. I dropped 3 oz of citra in and after an hour gave it a pull. Best aroma I have ever made at home, but boy did it taste like grass/dirt. I'm gonna give it a while and see if it mellows. Gross. Is this normal for the initial dry hop?

 

[Schlenkerla]

Well, after a few weeks. The Heat subsided. I have never dry hopped in a keg before, so I decided to take it for a spin. I dropped 3 oz of citra in and after an hour gave it a pull. Best aroma I have ever made at home, but boy did it taste like grass/dirt. I'm gonna give it a while and see if it mellows. Gross. Is this normal for the initial dry hop?

Move it to another keg to get it off the hops. I would never leave it more than a week with that much hops.

The alcohol hotness fades with time. Let it sit in a carboy or keg. Many defects improve with time. I don't consider hotness a defect though. I typically don't make many big beers since I rather not have too age them to let the hotness fade. The exception is if my keezer is full and they are gonna sit around regardless.

I can tell you time fixes beers. Here's a few of my experiences where patience paid off for me.

I once lost a small, 1" diameter, steel mesh screen in a batch of beer. It fell through the funnel as a poked at hops clogging the funnel. I never found it when I racked the beer out of the carboy. I dumped the sludge into the sink and searched by hand looking for it. Never found it and concluded it disolved into the beer. It tasted terribly metallic. I bottled it anyhow and let it sit for a month. Was aweful after 30 days in the bottle. After 4 months of sitting in the corner of my basement, I decided to dump it all out. Opened one started to pour. Said, ah feck... lets give it one more try. Shockingly, it was cleared up, and perfectly drinkable. I think it was wheat beer.

I also once captured wild yeast off an agar slant that I left out on my deck for a few hours. Just sitting in the breeze. I stepped it up into starters, and made a wheat beer. Tasted it before bottling, good floral, smell and taste. Once carbed, awful it was. It tasted like a sweaty leather glove. Tasted it months later, just as bad. Three years later, it tasted just like it did when it was flat. Who'd a thunk it.

Be patient. Don't dry hop it too long. If you do, the grassiness will fade with time. ~ 4 months.

You can also hit it with amylase enzyme (AE) if you keep it at room temp and at zero pressure. The powered AE will take the gravity to 1.000 and CO2 will push out some of the residual grassiness. It bumps up the ABV though. The AE needs to clear another two weeks after it finishes.

You can also brew another beer and blend the two. Make the other low in ABV and hops. Test it with 1/2 of a similar commercial beer.

I had a buddy make my Hoegaarten Clone. He accidentally used 10X of the required coriander. He called it "Tarded's I Love Coriander Beer!". He diluted it with bud light in a growler. Never threw any of it out.

 

[seabush]

Great advice Kerla, I think I'll pull the nylon bag of hops and let it hang out for a couple weeks. Patience is easier when you have two other beers on tap.