Amber Brew a little disapointing....

[MrGibbon]

Hye Guys, I followed this recipe and laid it down in a couple of bottles and a keg about six weeks ago:

Morgans Royal Oak Amber Ale
1kg Light Dry Malt
500g Dextrose
Pale Ale grain pack
12g Morgans Fuggles hop "T bag"
1 sachet Safale S04 Yeast

http://www.brewerschoice.com.au/recipes/55-beer-kit-recipes/195-malsters-shovel-amber-ale.html

all went well, I followed the instructions pretty closely, set ferm. fridge to 20 degrees etc.

Having opened a bottle last night, I was a bit disapointed, it was quite yeasty in flavour and didnt taste like an amber really should.
Would this be just a matter of time, might it improve with age?
I didnt filter or cold crash this time, but may do the next time, I love a good amber!

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Yob]

too much dextrose, not enough hops, hate S-04...

whats in the pale ale grain pack?

 

[Florian]

For starters try cold crashing your bottles in the fridge for a few days, then carefully decant off the yeast into a glass or jug. That should remove most of your yeasty flavour.

 

[wbosher]

I'm not familiar with this type of brew at all but how long did you ferment for? Did you take any gravity readings? The instructions really are crap.

 

[MrGibbon]

yeah, I fermented for 2 weeks in the primiary only. At 20 degrees. Before bulk priming in the keg and adding some drops I had lying aroud for the 4 bottles I did. Apparently the grain pack Contains 200g Crystal Malt.
SG 1033, FG after 14 days was 1014 (stable for two days)
Actually, looking now at my log it was kegged/bottled on the 3rd Feb.

 

[meathead]

I did a K&K with Morgans amber ale a few weeks ago
Only added 1kg ldme and the fuggles and its turned out fine
Used us05 tho

 

[carniebrew]

All signs point to the S-04 yeast being the problem here. Next time switch it out for US-05, and there will be no need for filtering or cold crashing to change the taste.

 

[mahonya1]

yeah, I fermented for 2 weeks in the primiary only. At 20 degrees. Before bulk priming in the keg and adding some drops I had lying aroud for the 4 bottles I did. Apparently the grain pack Contains 200g Crystal Malt.
SG 1033, FG after 14 days was 1014 (stable for two days)
Actually, looking now at my log it was kegged/bottled on the 3rd Feb.

That would give you a 2.5% ABV beer. Also ingredients sound like an english ale not an American Amber if that's what you were expecting.

 

[carniebrew]

Good pickup, that's true...you sure your original gravity was only 1033? I've plugged your ingredients into my software...that kit can with 1kg dme and 500gm of dex should have made a 1047 OG, that's not even counting the grain.

If 1033 is correct, 1014 sounds like a very high final gravity from such a low starting point...it would suggest a yeast attenuation of less than 60%, rather than the 75%ish you'd normally expect.

 

[Glengine]

I've found with kits I've made I've been disappointed not because the beer is bad, but because it didn't taste how I expected it would. Let other people try it and they think it's a great beer. I've never tried to make the same beer twice because I had so many things I want to try, but I'm now just getting to a point where I want to go back and try and refine some recipes.

The fuggles definitely seems odd for an American amber ale. I've also read people can find fuggles taste a bit 'dirty' but I personally didn't have this problem the one time I used them.

Just a comment on the yeast, I used I just bottled an APA that used US05, it tasted very yeasty for the first 2 weeks in primary, after 3 it was better, but I cold crashed it for 2 days before bottling and that made a substantial difference from the sample I tasted while bottling.

 

[GuyQLD]

For what it's worth that kit isn't an American Amber and your ingredient list is basically the Brewcellar pamphlet kilkenny clone. I made it once and I'll be honest, it's not very good. Carnie is right your OG has to be wrong, that kit and 1kg of dex is 1.045 or so from memory. Chalk it up to experience and stay away from the royal oak.

 

[AndrewQLD]

S-04 is not that bad of a yeast, I've got three beers on tap using it, all dropped bright and clear very quickly in the fermenter and there is no yeasty taste I can detect.
How that recipe could even faintly resemble J.S Amber ale is beyond me, where's the willamette?
My vote is on the recipe, 1 kg dex, 500g dry malt and from what I can tell 250g crystal malt is a lot more than i'd like to add to the Amber kit.