Maris Otter/Citra Smash Low SRM?

Brownyard

Brownyard

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I just brewed this Maris Otter/Citra SMaSH, and it turned out ok, with a couple of issues...
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1289274/citra-mo-smash

It was my first BIAB All-Grain batch, and my first fermentation in the keg. All of the Gravity readings were dead on, until finish where it finished at 1.016, about 7 pts higher than predicted. This may have been due to the fact that my blow off from the gas post wasn't open, and a lot of pressure built up on the first day of fermentation, until I caught it. Could this have harmed the yeast?

Also, the beer turned out at about half the expected SRM. It's very light. Any ideas on possibly why? It was a 30 minute boil, but that was factored into the recipe to begin with.

20220811_161530.jpg
 
That color looks about right. MO is about 3°L? What were you hoping for?

As for finishing grav. Did you use a starter? What was OG? Ferm temp? Doubtful the pressure did much at the beginning. It will slow the fermentation down, but not stop it. Maybe it wasn't finished? How did you determine it was done?
 
Your grain bill is 100% a malt that is ~4L, so your beer turned out at ~4L, so that's totally normal and expected. I do 30 minute boils all the time without issue.

Yes, high pressure initially can inhibit yeast for the rest of the fermentation, especially ale yeast. I'm not sure what pressure your fermenter got to, but anything over 20 psi in the first couple days could negatively affect the yeast.

1.016 isn't terribly high, but if you pitched new dry US05 then I would expect the attenuation to be a smidgen better than that.

If I were you I would brew it again and see if you can fix the pressure problem, and see if turns out as you expected. But it looks like a really tasty beer! How did it turn out?
 
Minbari said:
That color looks about right. MO is about 3°L? What were you hoping for?

As for finishing grav. Did you use a starter? What was OG? Ferm temp? Doubtful the pressure did much at the beginning. It will slow the fermentation down, but not stop it. Maybe it wasn't finished? How did you determine it was done?
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All the gravity info is in the link. Post boil was predicted 1.053. Predicted SRM was 5.8 I believe. No starter, but full pack of SO5 for 3 gal. batch. It sat at 1.016 for several days after raising temp from 66 to 73.
 
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Sunfire96 said:
Your grain bill is 100% a malt that is ~4L, so your beer turned out at ~4L, so that's totally normal and expected. I do 30 minute boils all the time without issue.

Yes, high pressure initially can inhibit yeast for the rest of the fermentation, especially ale yeast. I'm not sure what pressure your fermenter got to, but anything over 20 psi in the first couple days could negatively affect the yeast.

1.016 isn't terribly high, but if you pitched new dry US05 then I would expect the attenuation to be a smidgen better than that.

If I were you I would brew it again and see if you can fix the pressure problem, and see if turns out as you expected. But it looks like a really tasty beer! How did it turn out?
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Yeah, I was wondering why the brewer's friend software predicted higher though. It's actually closer to 3 SRM, the photo shows a bit darker. It's not bad by any means, just super light for my taste. I wasn't really sure what to expect. The wife digs it though, which is always a bonus!
 
Brownyard said:
Yeah, I was wondering why the brewer's friend software predicted higher though. It's not bad by any means, just super light for my tastes. The wife digs it though, which is always a bonus!
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Absolutely a bonus! Were you looking for darker color and flavor or just darker color?
 
Sunfire96 said:
Absolutely a bonus! Were you looking for darker color and flavor or just darker color?
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I wasn't really sure what to expect, I was just going by the software, which predicted 5.9 SRM. I knew it would be kind of "plain", but the color being lower than predicted kind of threw me. I just wanted to make sure my process wasn't seriously off with this result.
 
Brownyard said:
I wasn't really sure what to expect, I was just going by the software. I knew it would be kind of "plain", but the color being lower than predicted kind of threw me. I just wanted to make sure my process wasn't seriously off with this result.
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Absolutely. I have no idea why the calculator predicted a higher SRM, that's a weird one. I recently did a Maris Otter and Citra SMaSH and loved it.

You could try 5-10% of Caramel 40 or 60 for some caramel/toffee flavors and an SRM closer to 10. Or if you just want color maybe 1-2% of Carafa malt
 
Sunfire96 said:
Absolutely. I have no idea why the calculator predicted a higher SRM, that's a weird one. I recently did a Maris Otter and Citra SMaSH and loved it.

You could try 5-10% of Caramel 40 or 60 for some caramel/toffee flavors and an SRM closer to 10. Or if you just want color maybe 1-2% of Carafa malt
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This is what I was gonna suggest too. Even 5-10% of munich would be nice in that
 
There isn't that much difference between 3°L and 6°L. I don't think I could reliably tell which was which without them being side-by-side. Sounds like you made a really good beer (looks tasty) that you can tweak the next time you brew it.
 
My first attempt at a Pale Ale had FG at 1.015, and I used S-05. It was a blessing because I liked it better than if it would have been dry. I believe my issue was a high mash temp which I was still getting used to at the time. Your beer looks awesome, and if the wife likes it.....BINGO.
 
How did you measure the final gravity?
Did you use a hydrometer?
If your mash temperature was a little high that could cause the under attenuation.
As long as you aren't bottle conditioning it I wouldn't worry about the FG.

That is a really, really nice looking beer you have there, congratulations on your first all grain batch!!!!
 
Craigerrr said:
How did you measure the final gravity?
Did you use a hydrometer?
If your mash temperature was a little high that could cause the under attenuation.
As long as you aren't bottle conditioning it I wouldn't worry about the FG.

That is a really, really nice looking beer you have there, congratulations on your first all grain batch!!!!
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I used a hydrometer. My pot did hold mash temp a lot better than I expected, and the temp took a while to drop once I added the grains. I won't take the temp as high on the strike water next time.

Wouldn't this have affected the pre-boil gravity too though? My pre-boil gravity was dead on.
 
Brownyard said:
I used a hydrometer. My pot did hold mash temp a lot better than I expected, and the temp took a while to drop once I added the grains. I won't take the temp as high on the strike water next time.

Wouldn't this have affected the pre-boil gravity too though? My pre-boil gravity was dead on.
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gravity wont necessarily be effected. but the amount of dextrins will be higher and cause attenuation to be lower.

read this: https://brulosophy.com/2018/08/13/mash-temperature-147f-64c-vs-164-73c-exbeeriment-results/

you can see that the higher temp produced a bit more gravity (more sugar), but it was less fermentable
 
Colour looks right to me; looks like a cracking beer.

I don't think that a Citra pale needs any malty/toffee flavours; the hop is the star for me. We do a version of this and just use a touch of torrefied wheat and some malted oats.

I'm curious about the attenuation of the yeast, where has 81% come from? Is that not a little high for US05?
 
Steve SPF said:
Colour looks right to me; looks like a cracking beer.

I don't think that a Citra pale needs any malty/toffee flavours; the hop is the star for me. We do a version of this and just use a touch of torrefied wheat and some malted oats.

I'm curious about the attenuation of the yeast, where has 81% come from? Is that not a little high for US05?
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Salale says 78-82%
 
A hoppy, crackery, Islamorada Ale type beer would make me very happy. Very awesome.
 
That beer looks very good. I agree with the other to brew it again using all of the same ingredients and process with perhaps lowering your mash temp a bit and let it rip.
 
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