Tasting First AG brew.... Very Grainy....

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m3taL

Well-Known Member
Joined
5/11/12
Messages
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Location
Point Cook, VIC
First Ag Brew
BIAB
No-Chill

Simple Saaz Blonde

4kg Breiss Pilsen
500g JWM Pale
120G JWM Cara
100g Breiss Victory (biscuit)

10G Cascade @ 60
30g Saaz @ 60
10g Saaz @ 5min
Whirflock @ 5

Safale S04

90 Min mash @65c
No Mashout........ ...... .... ... ... ...... .

OG @ 15L 1057
OG @ 18L 1044

FG 1010

Ended up way under volume and over OG so i diluted........ (may have fucked it)

Now we have that out of the way...... its shit! i know its only 2 weeks in the bottle but all i taste is Grainy wort..... no hops just grainy pilsen.... i reckon iv had a beer like it..... and spat it out....

will be quite happy to throw it down the drain if it doesnt improve over the next few weeks which im doubting....

any comments other than u fucked it by diluting it..... anything else? hahaha

I am coming off a 37IBU pale too... which i enjoy so maybe its just that....
 
Actually now i think of it.... i'm quite pissed.......

a carona tastes like this when moving from a COopers Pale to the carona.... so yep its shit :p
 
ok i finished it and its shaping up definatly a move from the bigger IBU beer.....
 
It's not a hop driven beer, so the grain is the hero in this beer and it usually drinks very well.

Personally I wouldn't have used the s04 in this. Maybe a couple of extra gravity points lower may have helped a bit too.
 
Don't feel too bad. I've made some shockers with DMS that I just could not stomach and had to tip. Doesn't happen much anymore though.

jyo said:
It's not a hop driven beer, so the grain is the hero in this beer and it usually drinks very well.

Personally I wouldn't have used the s04 in this. Maybe a couple of extra gravity points lower may have helped a bit too.
Yeah, I think S04 wouldn't have been the best choice for your first AG until you've sorted things out. Maybe US-05 or a liquid Cal Ale yeast to keep it fairly plain. I've been finding the blondes and "Tasteless" lagers hard to master because of the subtle tastes.

I'm thinking for your recipe that I'd have removed the victory. And even maybe the Cara but it could still work at a low level. The hopping looks ok. I think the Blondes suit earlier hop additions and not much late (if any).

What was your fermentation like? Controlled? I find S04 more susceptible to off flavours if left to its own devices.

Another thing I did was pick a recipe that was tried and true for my first AG so I could hone in on my process. Dr Smurto's Golden Ale is probably a good start.
 
Agree with Jyo and Jacknohe - sack your yeast adviser. Bradsbrew has a good question - how was your boil (length/vigour)??
cheers
BBB
 
I think you'll find its a recipe issue....
too much crystal malt for the light hops your using.
to take a guess i'd say your getting a big whack of pale crystal coming through.
Give it a few more weeks to mellow and age and/or put it down to experience.
 
Nice recipe, boring yeast. Although you do seem to have quiet a bit of crystal there.
 
That recipe is the beer equivalent of a Millwall football supporter after ten Stellas and a 4:0 loss.
 
Nick JD said:
That recipe is the beer equivalent of a Millwall football supporter after ten Stellas and a 4:0 loss.
Do you mean it's angry or just plain confused about the world.
 
Ok...

Boil was 60min and fairly vigorous got a 2 ring burner so it boils well.

I was quite parched when i tucked into it main reason i did is cos its all that i had left in the fridge.... got wife to taste it and she said it wasnt all that bad just a bit strong..... so im guessing thats the crystal...

DMS is probably a good reason also, iv only just learned about nochill and DMS over the last week, next AG boil will be 90min.

S-04 was used as i had it in the freezer a mate sent me a few differnt ones to try and i used all the us05 up

Fermentation was controlled well at 20c maybe a little high but it went from OG to FG in 72 odd hours, left it another 2 days and brang it upto 22c but still no more attenuation.

Was racked to sec for 3 days, Cold Crashed for 3 days, then bottled....

I'll give it 2 more weeks then try a session on it straight off the bat, i'll be out of everything else by then anyhow.... it will taste ok when its all iv got i betya!!! haha
 
Depending on what your tasting but graininess is sometimes associated with overly hot sparge, shredded husk or toasted malts.

The sparge and shredded husk thing will be encouraged by alkaline water/mash and possibly mineral content of your water.
 
The original recipe uses Nottingham fermented cool at 15-16'', 500 gms wheat instead of the pale malt and caramalt as the crystal. Never had any cloying sweetness with this recipe (and caramalt in these quantities isn't cloying IMHO), just good balance. Yes, I am crying a bit. :D
 
It is also worth bearing in mind that it is your first AG brew, and brew number one is always a massive learning curve. Out interest did you draw up the recipe yourself, or did you get it from someone?

I missed all my targets on my first AG (hell I brewed yesterday and under did my mash temp and was a bit off on my pre-boil gravity) and was worried it was going to be no good as I sampled one way too soon but it turned into one of the best beers i've made. Give the beer another couple of weeks and try it before you drink anything else. Going from a heavy IBU or malty beer back to a simple ale is always going to play tricks on your taste buds.

FWIW I didn't make up any of my own recipes for at least 10-15 brews. I always used tried and tested recipes (i.e. DrSmurto's Land Lord, Argon's LFPA, Les the weiss guy's hefe etc). It is only now after nearly two years of AG brewing that I am starting to feel confident enough to formulate my own recipes.

Give it time. It takes a while to work out the process and your gear and there are plenty of WTF, or oh s&%t moments along the rd to consistency.


JD.
 
its the Simple Saaz Blonde from the DB on here....

recipie poster stated he had done it with both cascade and saaz, so i used some cascade for bittering as i didnt quite have enough Saaz to kick the IBU upto 20.

i'll let it go a bit longer and yeah like you said try it on the first over not part way though an innings.....

might do another AG on monday

iv put a recipie up to be critiqued and has been

but as a notion JDW do you have a Simple Pale recipie thats around 35IBU that you could pass on?
 
Brew this one again but the recipe exactly as originally stated. Best way to learn if it's a recipe issue.
 
manticle said:
Brew this one again but the recipe exactly as originally stated. Best way to learn if it's a recipe issue.
was concidering that too as a means to also work out my effincency properly with the adjustments that i made in beer smith to try hit my volumes etc
 
m3taL said:
JDW do you have a Simple Pale recipie thats around 35IBU that you could pass on?
I actually don't at the moment. I've been brewing English styles and a lot of hefes lately and only have them saved. Beersmith crashed about 8 months ago and I lost all of my recipes and I've only replaced them with stuff I've been brewing.

I can give you Argon's LFPA if you want that (not such a simple pale ale though). I've made that a few times and have been very happy with it. Lots of hops though
 

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