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MFTIC

MFTIC

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Really looking for where i went wrong with my Second batch so my 3rd will work.

Extract, some standard IPA with extra hops added
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/598379/awesome-recipehttps://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view
/598379/awesome-recipe
Sat in the fermentor (6.5gallon glass carboy) 7 days at avg. 64 deg f. ambient
blow off tube then airlock after 3 days filled with vodka
Racked to secondary (5gallon glass carboy) via auto siphon. 13 days at avg 66 deg f. ambient
Racked to bottling bucket ontop of 4oz of corn sugar (mistake!!) I used calculator at 5 gallons but only 4 gallons of usable beer was siphoned.
Bottled- probably total of 3.5 gallons total.
Tasted and tasted GREAT.
Bottled beer 13 days at avg 66 deg f. ambient.
2 days of cold crash then drinking
Beer had very little taste. Don't even think it made it on an IPA scale at all. Did not gush out when opened but very sparkly carbonation that does not go away with time.

I'm ready for my third (and maybe FINAL) batch of beer. Where am i going wrong? Not a clean freak but everything was dunked or soaked in Star San.

I would like to progress to BIAB but will not spend more money till i can brew consistently.
 
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You'll have to share your recipe. You've got it set to private I think.
 
i always clean my brewware with sodium percarboate *any type of bree cleaner before i soak it in phosphoric acid to knock off any remaining nasties and also creates a acidic surface bad bacteria are less.likely to harbour.

you may have got a lot of air mixed in with your beer when you transfered to secondary and bottling bucket and then into bottles this can greatly diminish hop aroma / flavour real quick.
 
thunderwagn said:
You'll have to share your recipe. You've got it set to private I think.
Click to expand...
Should be fixed but just in case
HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Awesome Recipe

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.059
Efficiency: 35% (steeping grains only)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.069
Final Gravity: 1.013
ABV (standard): 7.37%
IBU (tinseth): 64.05
SRM (morey): 17.04

FERMENTABLES:
9.15 lb - Liquid Malt Extract - Amber (64.7%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
5 lb - American - Aromatic Malt (35.3%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 31.96
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 19.35
2 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 12.74
2 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 14 days
2 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 14 days

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05
Starter: Yes
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 81%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 54 - 77 F
Fermentation Temp: 64 F

PRIMING:
Method: sugar
amount 4 oz

This recipe has been published online at:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/598379/awesome-recipe

Generated by Brewer's Friend - https://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2018-02-25 20:37 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2018-02-25 20:34 UTC
 
Is there any way you can take a quick class at your lhbs or watch someone else brew? I think there's something that we're missing by not seeing the brew in action.
My lhbs offers all grain and extract intro classes for about 20 bucks every so often. They're a good real world intro instead of just reading about it
 
One error I see is the recipe. No, nothing wrong with what I see aside from what you're calling a pale ale is well into the IPA range, it's just a bit too ambitious. See, IPAs are tough for experienced brewers. Getting hop flavor into a beer and keeping it there is one of the reasons I don't do many really hoppy beers. And you have dry-hop contact times of 28 days total (don't know if they're sequential or concurrent). That's too long. Start with something more simple, a 20-IBU 1.050 blonde. It'll tell you a whole lot more about what you're doing than a 65 IBU IPA. SMASH is a good place to start: Extract and steep. Aromatic needs to be mashed! Do something really simple, a kit, even, before attempting something that stymies experienced homebrewers.
 
The ones i'm doing are kits. The second one i just added more hops.

Opened a beer and went shopping came home almost 2 hours later and it looks like this. Did a fast glugging pour to work out some carb. Will wait longer to try

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Trialben said:
...
you may have got a lot of air mixed in with your beer when you transfered to secondary and bottling bucket and then into bottles this can greatly diminish hop aroma / flavour real quick.
Click to expand...
Was told this by someone else also. I honestly don't think i can be more careful than i am/was.
I'm going to simplify my process next time. I COULD ferment in the bottle bucket to knock out that variable??

Ozarks Mountain Brew said:
that beer doesn't need to age any more than 2 weeks from brew day, the longer you age the less hoppy it tastes
Click to expand...
I'm tending to agree, lol


fastengine said:
Let one sit out and go flat, see if the carbonation is hiding some of your flavors.
Click to expand...
Soooo. Now i'm getting the bittering and can at least tell it is an IPA. No other flavors nor aroma. I'm still thinking it's a carbonation thing.


I'm listening to EVERYONE here. Thank you. Looking for some classes or something as i type. Definitly going to simplify the next one. I would still like to do at least 2 different hops thought.
 
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Was the 14 day dry hop a part of the recipe? I can't say that I am the best maker of IPAs, but the best I've made usually had a 5 day dry hop.
 
+1 on "no secondary." I just started avoiding a secondary transfer (except for very strong beers) in the last year or so and it's a lifesaver because even the best of us get oxygen into the green beer when we transfer it. Also saves time and that's the biggest reason I'm happy about skipping it.
 
Michael_biab said:
+1 on "no secondary." I just started avoiding a secondary transfer (except for very strong beers) in the last year or so and it's a lifesaver because even the best of us get oxygen into the green beer when we transfer it. Also saves time and that's the biggest reason I'm happy about skipping it.
Click to expand...
I just started foregoing “Secondary” as well. Especially now that I’m using the Ss BrewBucket!
 
Yeah, i had "kinda" decided to skip it. I like the process but am willing to do without to nail this down.
Concerning oxygen in the beer. Just followed the link on here to read an exBEERiment on oxygen. If he can basically pour the beer and people can't tell the difference, how can i possible be doing that wrong? Of course that was in a keg and i bottle....
 
At our scale and on general homebrew drinking timelines I suspect oxygen is wildly overblown as an issue.
 
MFTIC said:
Yeah, i had "kinda" decided to skip it. I like the process but am willing to do without to nail this down.
Concerning oxygen in the beer. Just followed the link on here to read an exBEERiment on oxygen. If he can basically pour the beer and people can't tell the difference, how can i possible be doing that wrong? Of course that was in a keg and i bottle....
Click to expand...
Yep, people can't tell the difference. LoDo sounds like magic to me, do all these steps exactly or your beer is DOOMED. I find good pH control and pitch rate do more for my light lagers than any degree of fear of O2. But some have had different experiences or we wouldn't be having this discussion. Bottom line, learn, make your own decisions, experiment....
 
Keep in mind confirmation bias is a very powerful thing. As is priming someone to come to a conclusion in advance.
 
MFTIC said:
STEEPING GRAINS:
5 lb - American - Aromatic Malt (35.3%)
Click to expand...
Just curious...did you actually steep 5 lbs for a 5 gallon batch? I'm trying to imagine the results and can't quite come up with an estimation. A pound or two is usually enough. And Aromatic? As far as I know, that's a type of fairly heavy melanoidin malt. Since I really don't like that flavor, it makes me cringe a little.
This is just a thought, but did you confirm pre-boil gravity and is it possible that it was higher than you think? With the right steep in that sort of malt, you could end up with higher efficiency and any significant difference in boil it can lower the IBU's. The recipe is not only out of range for a Pale, but actually up into the Double IPA range, it ends up on the low end of the range for hoppiness there. Since the steep is so large and the beer is so dark and malty, any diminution of hop character is going to make it seem like there's not enough. I don't care for over-hopped beers and I've had DIPAs in the 100 IBU range that didn't register as too hoppy because of the huge, dense malt character and flavor. Something worth thinking about.
If you're concerned about your methodology, maybe try something simple and relatively light that will be unlikely to hide any missteps or miscalculations. A simple Blonde Ale or actual Pale with a pretty bold hop presence might yield results that are more encouraging for you. ;)
 
Sorry JA. I was fooling around with the recipe software trying to change things up. Somehow i messed that up as well, lol. You are right. It does say 1lb.

This was a kit
Dead Ringer® IPA Extract Kit w/ Specialty Grains
from NortherBrewer

Bought extra hops but ended up just using the centennial and cascade thinking i was going over the top.
I would like to try another kit and getting it right before going to biab. Maybe i should try another place than Northerbrewer? Pretty much only drink IPA's so am reluctant to try anything mellower
 
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