I made a Holiday Spiced Dark Ale a couple of weeks ago. I followed a recipe that came from a friend's book to a T, and its OG and FG were spot on. So how come, a few days before I bottle it, the beer is so watery in flavor? Will it get better after I add the priming sugar and let it sit in the bottles for a couple of weeks? Or did I do something egregiously wrong? If so, is it correctable before I bottle the beer?
This is my first attempt with beer, so I'm really hoping it goes well. It will really suck to have 60 bottles of watery dark beer. :mad:
Although I have a hydrometer I rarely have used it, so honestly I can't tell you what the 'right' OG/FG should be for any given brew.
I'm going to guess priming it will help, since pre-carbonated beer always tasted very odd to me. Just FYI, it's been about 7 years since I've actually brewed beer, though I've done wine, cider, and mead since then--I am still bulk aging a batch of blackberry mead that I started almost 2 years ago. :cool:
Also, can you post the recipe for me to look at? I'm wondering if you used DME with no adjuncts other than the holiday spices.
If your OG and FG were right, I wouldn't sweat it. I had a similar experience when I first brewed. It's going to have more taste once it's carbonated. Ever taste flat beer?
Also don't over-do the priming sugar-- your beer will taste cidery otherwise.
Bottle it and let it sit. Without a recipe, there can be no more advice. Sorry.
The type of malts used, the nature of the spices, etc., all figure into it. Also, pH and mineral content of the water. If it has a lot of darker malts, low hops, it should be a lower pH.
Recipe is as follows (from The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian):
7 lbs plain light malt extract (don't remember the brand I used)
1 lb clover honey
1/2 lb crystal malt
1/8 lb black patent malt
2 oz Cascade hops (boiling)
1/2 oz Saaz hops (finishing)
1 oz freshly grated ginger root
6 inch stick cinnamon
grated orange peels from 4 oranges
1 packet ale yeast (used liquid yeast, no idea what brand)
OG - 1.060
FG - 1.018
Alcohol content - 4.5%
I used tap water, which is pretty good. It's fairly soft water with almost no build up from hard water anywhere in the house. It's in a secondary at the moment, though I know that's not really necessary. I'll be bottling it this weekend after a week in the secondary, a glass carboy. (It spent 11 days in the primary, which was an Ale Pale. Don't judge.)
Oh, it's a Papazian recipe? You should be fine. Never had any of those go wrong.
Also, these days Scip is a better reference for you than me when it comes to brewing beer. :)
Quote from: Caliga on September 28, 2012, 06:42:01 AM
Also, these days Scip is a better reference for you than me when it comes to brewing beer. :)
I didn't know. You were the only one I remembered as a brewer. :blush:
5 gallon batch?
I prefer more crystal malt, but Papazian's recipes are superb.
Today, Max and I bottled two cases of the Papazian beer, a gallon of Hard Cider, and a half-gallon of Spiced Hard Cider. I've got two gallons of Mugwort Mead in the hopper, and I'll be brewing up a five-gallon batch of Spiced Cranberry Mead later this week. Oh! And I made a half-gallon of Cranberry Vodka Cordial, too.
The beer smells like beer, so I must have done something right. I'll know in two weeks. Question: How long will the beer be good? There's no way that I'll drink two cases of beer before next spring. Will it last that long? (It's stored in a cool, dark place.)
The next beer I make is going to be a gruit, probably 14th Century Gruit Ale (http://www.gruitale.com/rec_14th_gruit.htm) or Bog Myrtle Ale (http://www.gruitale.com/rec_gale.htm). Anyone tried a gruit before? It'll be a first for me. I've heard that gruits are a bit more bitter than the average modern beers, but that's a good thing so far as I'm concerned.
I've got the book both of those recipes come from, and I'm kind of reading through it to see if there aren't any other interesting recipes to try, too. These are all whole-grain brewing, which kind of scares me a bit, but I figure why not give them a shot and see what happens.
i thought caliga and merithyn were married. :unsure:
Quote from: Count on October 28, 2012, 11:38:44 PM
i thought caliga and merithyn were married. :unsure:
:unsure:
Quote from: Count on October 28, 2012, 11:38:44 PM
i thought caliga and merithyn were married. :unsure:
Divorced but still on good terms.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 28, 2012, 11:49:09 PM
Quote from: Count on October 28, 2012, 11:38:44 PM
i thought caliga and merithyn were married. :unsure:
Divorced but still on good terms.
:lmfao:
No, Count. Maximus and I are married, and have been for the entire time I've been on Languish. Princesa and Caliga are married. But thanks for the laugh. :D
are Grumbler and CdM split up too? is nothing sacred?
Quote from: Count on October 29, 2012, 12:02:38 AM
are Grumbler and CdM split up too? is nothing sacred?
:( Mother always told me May-December relationships never last. Especially in grumbler's case when it's, like, 4 Decembers from now.
I don't think I've seen grumbler post in the last month. :unsure:
He's been logging on.
Unlike so many Languishites, after so many years there's only so much to say anymore.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 29, 2012, 05:31:24 AM
I don't think I've seen grumbler post in the last month. :unsure:
He recently posted in the Skyrim thread.
Quote from: merithyn on October 28, 2012, 11:24:38 PM
Today, Max and I bottled two cases of the Papazian beer, a gallon of Hard Cider, and a half-gallon of Spiced Hard Cider. I've got two gallons of Mugwort Mead in the hopper, and I'll be brewing up a five-gallon batch of Spiced Cranberry Mead later this week. Oh! And I made a half-gallon of Cranberry Vodka Cordial, too.
The beer smells like beer, so I must have done something right. I'll know in two weeks. Question: How long will the beer be good? There's no way that I'll drink two cases of beer before next spring. Will it last that long? (It's stored in a cool, dark place.)
The next beer I make is going to be a gruit, probably 14th Century Gruit Ale (http://www.gruitale.com/rec_14th_gruit.htm) or Bog Myrtle Ale (http://www.gruitale.com/rec_gale.htm). Anyone tried a gruit before? It'll be a first for me. I've heard that gruits are a bit more bitter than the average modern beers, but that's a good thing so far as I'm concerned.
I've got the book both of those recipes come from, and I'm kind of reading through it to see if there aren't any other interesting recipes to try, too. These are all whole-grain brewing, which kind of scares me a bit, but I figure why not give them a shot and see what happens.
Your beer will likely not make it to the spring intact. Keeping it cool and dark will help, but a 4.5% beer with that little hop character is going to 1) lose all of its hops, and 2) lose body.
Quote from: Scipio on October 29, 2012, 12:46:43 PM
Your beer will likely not make it to the spring intact. Keeping it cool and dark will help, but a 4.5% beer with that little hop character is going to 1) lose all of its hops, and 2) lose body.
Okie doke. Party time!! :punk:
Hand them out to everyone you know and watch their faces as they awkwardly tell you it tastes 'awesome'.
At least that's what I do :D
Quote from: derspiess on October 29, 2012, 01:38:39 PM
Hand them out to everyone you know and watch their faces as they awkwardly tell you it tastes 'awesome'.
At least that's what I do :D
I've always wanted to try making beer, until I remember how not awesome every home made beer I've ever tried was.
Quote from: Barrister on October 29, 2012, 01:42:57 PM
Quote from: derspiess on October 29, 2012, 01:38:39 PM
Hand them out to everyone you know and watch their faces as they awkwardly tell you it tastes 'awesome'.
At least that's what I do :D
I've always wanted to try making beer, until I remember how not awesome every home made beer I've ever tried was.
The sad thing is that I'm surrounded by brewers who all make amazing beer. Mine is so going to suck comparatively. :blush:
Both of those beer recipes come from a time before hops. No one really knows what gruitfrecht was, so most modern approximations are a huge guess. As Randy Mosher says, I've tried a few gruitfrecht beers, and I've come to the conclusion that either modern tastes have evolved, or the recipe is missing something.
http://www.amazon.com/Tasting-Beer-Insiders-Worlds-Greatest/dp/1603420894
Quote from: Scipio on October 30, 2012, 12:54:42 PM
Both of those beer recipes come from a time before hops. No one really knows what gruitfrecht was, so most modern approximations are a huge guess. As Randy Mosher says, I've tried a few gruitfrecht beers, and I've come to the conclusion that either modern tastes have evolved, or the recipe is missing something.
http://www.amazon.com/Tasting-Beer-Insiders-Worlds-Greatest/dp/1603420894
Yeah. I have a number of books on brewing pre-hops (English Ale pre-1500). Some have period recipes, but most are approximations since the recipes were closely guarded guild and/or family secrets. But that's why I want to try to make one. I'd like to see how they taste.
I popped open the first one today. It's freaking amazing! I wasn't sure if it would have much of a head, but it appears to be just fine. And it tastes fantastic!! :mmm:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi151.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fs152%2Fmerithyn%2FIMG_02551.jpg&hash=4edc6f307e9be90ea539798a5a80cef622e4aed3)
Looks like a collection of my urine samples for Georgetown Hospital.
My head was bigger, too.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 10, 2012, 07:17:13 PM
Looks like a collection of my urine samples for Georgetown Hospital.
My head was bigger, too.
Or those urine jugs I had to use in the hospital.
<_<
Nice looking. If they are peeing stuff that looks like that they will be passing those kidney stones soon.
Quote from: PDH on November 10, 2012, 07:47:13 PM
Nice looking. If they are peeing stuff that looks like that they will be passing those kidney stones soon.
Already done that. :glare:
Quote from: PDH on November 10, 2012, 07:47:13 PM
Nice looking. If they are peeing stuff that looks like that they will be passing those kidney stones soon.
My diuretics have me pissing all sorts of things, everywhere at all hours now. I am: old.
Elaborate.
Quote from: The Brain on November 11, 2012, 08:45:37 AM
Elaborate.
His cells are breaking down and fewer cells are being generated to replace them. :(