Muddy Brown Beer

[Warne2020]

Hi
I am new to the brewing process and have just opened a NEIPA recipie (prob a bit ambitious for 2nd batch) and upon pouring the beer out of the bottle is brown/muddy. The SRM was supposed to be 9.25 so something has gone wrong? Any ideas on what has gone wrong or more importantly any way of fixing it? It has been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[J A]

Looks like a bad pour.
When you're bottling it's best to start with cold-crashed, clear beer for priming. Even if it's still cloudy when you bottle, it'll eventually settle out.
Leave it undisturbed in the fridge for a week, handle it carefully, pour slowly and stop when you see some of the sediment from the bottom starting to pour out. You'll end up leaving an ounce or two in the bottom of the bottle but your glass will have a nice clear pour.

 

[Warne2020]

Awesome great. Thanks for the reply. It wasn’t cloudy when I initially bottled but I’ll put the rest of the bottles in the fridge and see the results after a week. This bottle (and another) we only refrigerated for 2 days!

 

[Semper Sitientem]

What was the grain bill? The SRM in your picture looks like it would be in the 20’s. Agreed that it’s cloudy, but not sure settling will give you the yellow/gold color of a standard NEIPA.

 

[Warne2020]

Thanks for the help Semper. The grain bill was.
2.25kg Pale Ale (Joe White) Trad Ale
0.630 kg of Wheat Malt (Joe White)
0.500 kg of Rolled Oats
0.420 kg Meloinidin (Castle) (sure the spelling is not right on that one

 

[Semper Sitientem]

One thing I forgot to ask was, what is the batch size? Two possibilities in my mind. Melanoidin could be the culprit as this malt, usually used in darker beers, imparts a dark reddish color to the final product.

My other thought is that the beer is could be oxidized. Did you secondary? If not, it could of happened during the bottling process. Does it takes good? Oxidation will cause a wet paper/leather/mushroom flavor.

 

[Warne2020]

It’s a 9Litre batch so a small size.

It was only used in a primary fermenter then bottled. It doesn’t taste too bad but the dark muddy colour I think subconsciously is making me think it’s worse than it actually is. It’s certainly not the citrusy bright beer that I was hoping for. There are some flavours I’m not used to in the beer.

The original recipie called for honey malt which my home brew store didn’t have so they suggested Melanoidin as a substitute. I was as careful as possible with the bottling but oxidisation could be possible.

Will leaving the beer for a week in the fridge settle the colour? Or is it a sink tipper?

 

[Semper Sitientem]

I would definitely do what JA suggested and see if there is an improvement. It can’t hurt. I just don’t think you’re going to get that golden/yellow color. As far as dumping, since it’s a small batch and you want to drink it, that’s fine. But, never feel bad about dumping a batch - it’s one of the commandments of home brewing. We’ve all done it and will probably continue to do it in the future. That just the nature of home brewing.

As an FYI, my grain bill for IPA is 83% pale ale, 20% crystal 20L and 7% flaked oats. It gives a nice golden color of around SRM 6-7, and a good platform for hop additions.

 

[Warne2020]

Awesome. Thanks so much to both of you for you’re help I’ll let you see at the end of the week. I’m glad others have had batches dumped.

That grain bill sounds good. I’ll give that a crack. Would you just add the hops at 0 mins to make it more in the NIEPA range?

 

[Semper Sitientem]

The hop additions is where your artistry and preferences come into play. NEIPA rely on late addition and dry hopping. The average IBU range is 30-50. Depending on what hops you are using and their alpha acid level will determine when and how much. I assume you’re using the recipe builder? Use that as a guide. Play around with it and see how your numbers turn out. Personally, I don’t do flame out. I’m usually at 30 minutes for my bittering and then 10, 5 minutes for aroma/flavor and then 7 day for dry hopping. But this is for a standard IPA with an IBU of 70. So, when playing with the builder, don’t be afraid to do like a 20 minute bittering, 5 minute addition and then dry hop. Again, it’s hard to give exact advice because it depends on your hops.

 

[Head First]

Thanks for the help Semper. The grain bill was.
2.25kg Pale Ale (Joe White) Trad Ale
0.630 kg of Wheat Malt (Joe White)
0.500 kg of Rolled Oats
0.420 kg Meloinidin (Castle) (sure the spelling is not right on that one

All other advice aside melanoidin is not a good substitute for honey malt. Melanoidin flavors are very different and it is darker than honey malt. Not bashing your LHBS but you just created a different beer with that substitution. Did you run the change through the recipe builder? If not that would tell you how much difference in color there would be but those 2 malts have very different flavors.

 

[jmcnamara]

All other advice aside melanoidin is not a good substitute for honey malt. Melanoidin flavors are very different and it is darker than honey malt. Not bashing your LHBS but you just created a different beer with that substitution. Did you run the change through the recipe builder? If not that would tell you how much difference in color there would be but those 2 malts have very different flavors.

I was thinking the same thing with the subbed malt. Maybe some crystal 20 would have been a better sub. Better luck next time!

 

[Megary]

All other advice aside melanoidin is not a good substitute for honey malt. Melanoidin flavors are very different and it is darker than honey malt. Not bashing your LHBS but you just created a different beer with that substitution. Did you run the change through the recipe builder? If not that would tell you how much difference in color there would be but those 2 malts have very different flavors.

+1
Not only is it not a good substitute for Honey malt, but at 11% of the grain bill, it's way too much! I'd say 5% tops. Agree with @jmcnamara , C20 would have been a better sub.

 

[Warne2020]

Yep I use the builder. I’ll give your grain bill a go and add later hop additions. I’ll also skip using melanoidin for NEIPA recipies.

@jmcnamara I did put it in the builder and it came out at 9 SRM. But I’ll take that out next time and try the Crystal 20 that was suggested. Hopefully the beer settles a bit more.

 

[Warne2020]

Thank you all for your advise/suggestions!

 

[Warne2020]

Couldn’t wait a full week but cracked a cold crashed one open tonight.

The one on the first one was my initial pour. The second is the cold crashed one. I can smell citrus which I was hoping for. And doesn’t taste too bad just not as juicy as I was hoping. I’ll just have to make sure the ingredients are more carefully thought out next time. I don’t think there is oxidisation and it’s drinkable just as I said not the juicy flavours I was hoping for.

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

If it is drinkable, call it your Brown IPA. That will have them guessing

 

[Craigerrr]

Moroccan IPA?

 

[Warne2020]

Both options are great. Thanks for everyone’s help!