Teej
10-15-2005, 03:10 PM
Short story: Tasted some of the beer about 3 days into the primary ferment. Tasted OK on the way in but left behind a..strange...finish. Tasted like my tongue/cheeks had been coated with something...perhaps yeast/diacetyl/phenol I guess....(?). Certainly not something I'd want to drink at this point.
Long story:
OK, I took my first stab at all grain. I've done a few (but not too many) extract and/or speciality brews that have all come out fine. I'm being seduced by the sound of easy mashing with batch sparging...
Now...I screwed this one up by the numbers, so I wasn't expecting a potable brew - I just finished it off for the experience.
Equipment: rect. cooler with ss braid drain system (ball valve). Converted keg boiler, superb burner (35kbtu).
First I mucked up the mash-in - I dumped the grain in the cooler and threw the water on top. I now see how that could have formed "dry spots" despite my stirring. I did maintain a decent ~ 150ish temperature through the mash, however.
Added the first portion of the batch sparge and started to vorlauf. I tapped about a quart or two and re-added...did it again and was still getting (surprisingly) husks. Then...the drain all but stopped. Uh oh. Tried a few "tricks" but clearly I'd gotten it stuck.
I scooped a bunch of the mash into my "other" heating kettle and found that my homemade ss screen hadn't held its place properly. I re-fitted it , replaced the mash and went through the batch sparging procedure...but forgot to do a proper vorlauf.
boiled, added hops as normal. added the irish moss. Used the immersion chiller.
During the boil, I cleaned and sanitized my 6gal carboy that had just had my batch of wine bottled from it.
I then made my next big mistake of allowing a Brewer's Best thermometer to fall into the kettle from a few inches too high, breaking open the outer jacket and allowing some of the shot in. I'm figuring it's damn unlikely they use anything poisonous in there...the red alcohol/measuring fluid was intact.
So I transferred it into the carboy (keg is tapped a bit off the bottom so I know I got no shot/glass into the carboy...plus I poured into the carboy through a screened filter...sanitized of course).
Added the yeast +airlock.
OG was a bit low - I only got 4 gallons out of the boil and it was barely 1.050. Being my first try at AG and especially with the screwed up sparge I wasn't surprised.
Pitched yeast and left it in a ~ 60 degree room. Ale yeast.
At 12 hours post-pitch, there was a thin yeast layer forming. 24 hours had a 1/4" kraeusen and you could see the wort "boiling" in its fermenting. Worked it's way up to about a 3/4" krauesen and then backed down. 60 hours (at ~ 62 degrees average) after pitching, the bubbling had all but stopped. Drew off the sample to taste and measure and it was at 1.010 with the noted foul finish.
Racked it to secondary ~ 6 days after boil and same taste is still there.
Is this worth keeping or is it past the point where this is likely to "heal"? I don't feel bad if it is. It _was_ just an experiment...
I'm no BJCP judge and I never particularly "like" the taste of uncarbonated beer...but this is different and not something I've tasted before.
Also this is a particularly...cloudy brew at this point. I realize clarity isn't required (or always desired) for best flavor, but aesthetically I prefer a somewhat clearer beer than this is looking to be...is this simply lack of proper vorlauf or something to be expected in a batch sparge?
Teej
Long story:
OK, I took my first stab at all grain. I've done a few (but not too many) extract and/or speciality brews that have all come out fine. I'm being seduced by the sound of easy mashing with batch sparging...
Now...I screwed this one up by the numbers, so I wasn't expecting a potable brew - I just finished it off for the experience.
Equipment: rect. cooler with ss braid drain system (ball valve). Converted keg boiler, superb burner (35kbtu).
First I mucked up the mash-in - I dumped the grain in the cooler and threw the water on top. I now see how that could have formed "dry spots" despite my stirring. I did maintain a decent ~ 150ish temperature through the mash, however.
Added the first portion of the batch sparge and started to vorlauf. I tapped about a quart or two and re-added...did it again and was still getting (surprisingly) husks. Then...the drain all but stopped. Uh oh. Tried a few "tricks" but clearly I'd gotten it stuck.
I scooped a bunch of the mash into my "other" heating kettle and found that my homemade ss screen hadn't held its place properly. I re-fitted it , replaced the mash and went through the batch sparging procedure...but forgot to do a proper vorlauf.
boiled, added hops as normal. added the irish moss. Used the immersion chiller.
During the boil, I cleaned and sanitized my 6gal carboy that had just had my batch of wine bottled from it.
I then made my next big mistake of allowing a Brewer's Best thermometer to fall into the kettle from a few inches too high, breaking open the outer jacket and allowing some of the shot in. I'm figuring it's damn unlikely they use anything poisonous in there...the red alcohol/measuring fluid was intact.
So I transferred it into the carboy (keg is tapped a bit off the bottom so I know I got no shot/glass into the carboy...plus I poured into the carboy through a screened filter...sanitized of course).
Added the yeast +airlock.
OG was a bit low - I only got 4 gallons out of the boil and it was barely 1.050. Being my first try at AG and especially with the screwed up sparge I wasn't surprised.
Pitched yeast and left it in a ~ 60 degree room. Ale yeast.
At 12 hours post-pitch, there was a thin yeast layer forming. 24 hours had a 1/4" kraeusen and you could see the wort "boiling" in its fermenting. Worked it's way up to about a 3/4" krauesen and then backed down. 60 hours (at ~ 62 degrees average) after pitching, the bubbling had all but stopped. Drew off the sample to taste and measure and it was at 1.010 with the noted foul finish.
Racked it to secondary ~ 6 days after boil and same taste is still there.
Is this worth keeping or is it past the point where this is likely to "heal"? I don't feel bad if it is. It _was_ just an experiment...
I'm no BJCP judge and I never particularly "like" the taste of uncarbonated beer...but this is different and not something I've tasted before.
Also this is a particularly...cloudy brew at this point. I realize clarity isn't required (or always desired) for best flavor, but aesthetically I prefer a somewhat clearer beer than this is looking to be...is this simply lack of proper vorlauf or something to be expected in a batch sparge?
Teej