Dlawrence529
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- Jul 30, 2018
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I brewed my first beer (partial mash) in about 2 years. It came out with some pretty bad off-flavors (Bitter, Astringent, Grainy/Husky). I was hoping to get some help troubleshooting my process. There were definitely a few spots that didn’t go so well. Hopefully someone can help eliminate 1 or 2 of the possibilities. The recipe is a collaboration between a local brewery and home brew shop to create a clone of one of their flagship beers, so I would like to think the recipe is well thought out and balanced (not considering this as a source of the off-flavor).
Possible Sources of Error:
-Mashed at too high of temp. I tried to brew from memory and started mashing at 170 degrees instead of 150 degrees. I noticed I was wrong after 17 min and brought the temp down to 152 degrees. I mashed for 60 minutes after the temp was brought down (77 min. total mash time).
-Water/Mash pH. I used grocery store brand “natural spring water”. I didn’t check pH of the mash. I haven’t found much guidance on pH for partial mash brewing. Should I follow guidance for all-grain mash pH?
-Sparge volume/time. This is the first time I’ve sparged mash. I haven’t found much guidance on sparging for partial mash. I put my muslin bag in a metal strainer and poured 155 degree water over it until it ran clear. Would this be considered over sparging?
-Trub in fermenter. At least 50% of the trub made it into my fermenter. I’ve seen a lot of people say this isn’t an issue, but I thought I would list it anyway.
-Yeast not fully activated. My smack pack of Wyeast didn’t break. I poured the yeast and nutrient pack into the fermenter. It hit the target FG, so the yeast appears to have worked well.
-Fermentation temp a little high. My fermenter temperature ranged from 70-74 for the first week. The target range for my yeast is 60-72. I bought a cooler bag for my fermenter, but I only had it for the 2nd week in the fermenter. Temperatures were 67-70 after I got the cooler bag.
Recipe
Fementables:
5.0 lb US 2-row (Grains crushed by local homebrew shop)
1.0 lb dextrose
3.3 lb Pilsen Light LME
Specialty Grains:
0.75 lb Flaked Barley
0.75 lb Flaked Wheat
0.5 lb Flaked Oats
0.5 lb 2 Row
Hops:
0.5 oz Columbus (60 min)
0.5 oz Columbus (15 min)
1.0 oz Falconer’s Flight (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Summit (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Centennial (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Falconer’s Flight (Dry Hop)
1.0 oz Centennial (Dry Hop)
1.0 oz Columbus (Dry Hop)
Yeast:
Wyeast 1272
Targets:
SRM=4
OG=1.059-1060
FG=1.012-1.013
Batch Size=5 gal
Procedure
-Heat 2.5 gal to 184 degree
-Add Specialty Grains and 5.0 lb US-2 row in muslin bag. Mashing done in brew kettle with lid. Adding heat with propane burner as needed to maintain temp
-Realize I should be mashing at 150 instead of 170. Drop temp after 17 min by adding 0.5 gal water
-Mash for 60 min at 150 degree
-Sparge grains by placing muslin bag in metal strainer. Pour approx. 2 gal of water at 155 degree until clear water comes out of muslin bag.
-Bring to boil. Add dextrose and LME.
- Boil for 60 min with hop additions
-Kill heat and add hop stand for 15 min
-Chill with copper wort chiller. Beer reached 70 degrees in 14 min.
-OG measured as 1.060 (Target 1.059-1.060)
-Transfer to 6 gallon glass carboy.
-Pitch yeast. Smack pack didn’t break. Poured yeast and nutrient pack into fermenter.
-Added dry hops after 1 week.
-Bottled after another week (2 weeks total in fermenter)
-FG measured as 1.012 (Target 1.012-1.013)
The beer has a slight alcohol taste to it. It is pretty bitter/astringent. There is a slight toasted grain aftertaste to it (Grainy/Husky?).
It seems like the obvious problem is my mash temp, but I also hit the target OG and FG.
I’d like to hear what others have to say about the sparging technique I used. I’ve read over-sparging can cause these flavors, but I’m not sure if this falls under over-sparging.
My fermentation temp was a little high. Is this high enough to cause off-flavors?
Does anyone see any other issues?
Possible Sources of Error:
-Mashed at too high of temp. I tried to brew from memory and started mashing at 170 degrees instead of 150 degrees. I noticed I was wrong after 17 min and brought the temp down to 152 degrees. I mashed for 60 minutes after the temp was brought down (77 min. total mash time).
-Water/Mash pH. I used grocery store brand “natural spring water”. I didn’t check pH of the mash. I haven’t found much guidance on pH for partial mash brewing. Should I follow guidance for all-grain mash pH?
-Sparge volume/time. This is the first time I’ve sparged mash. I haven’t found much guidance on sparging for partial mash. I put my muslin bag in a metal strainer and poured 155 degree water over it until it ran clear. Would this be considered over sparging?
-Trub in fermenter. At least 50% of the trub made it into my fermenter. I’ve seen a lot of people say this isn’t an issue, but I thought I would list it anyway.
-Yeast not fully activated. My smack pack of Wyeast didn’t break. I poured the yeast and nutrient pack into the fermenter. It hit the target FG, so the yeast appears to have worked well.
-Fermentation temp a little high. My fermenter temperature ranged from 70-74 for the first week. The target range for my yeast is 60-72. I bought a cooler bag for my fermenter, but I only had it for the 2nd week in the fermenter. Temperatures were 67-70 after I got the cooler bag.
Recipe
Fementables:
5.0 lb US 2-row (Grains crushed by local homebrew shop)
1.0 lb dextrose
3.3 lb Pilsen Light LME
Specialty Grains:
0.75 lb Flaked Barley
0.75 lb Flaked Wheat
0.5 lb Flaked Oats
0.5 lb 2 Row
Hops:
0.5 oz Columbus (60 min)
0.5 oz Columbus (15 min)
1.0 oz Falconer’s Flight (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Summit (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Centennial (Hop Stand)
1.0 oz Falconer’s Flight (Dry Hop)
1.0 oz Centennial (Dry Hop)
1.0 oz Columbus (Dry Hop)
Yeast:
Wyeast 1272
Targets:
SRM=4
OG=1.059-1060
FG=1.012-1.013
Batch Size=5 gal
Procedure
-Heat 2.5 gal to 184 degree
-Add Specialty Grains and 5.0 lb US-2 row in muslin bag. Mashing done in brew kettle with lid. Adding heat with propane burner as needed to maintain temp
-Realize I should be mashing at 150 instead of 170. Drop temp after 17 min by adding 0.5 gal water
-Mash for 60 min at 150 degree
-Sparge grains by placing muslin bag in metal strainer. Pour approx. 2 gal of water at 155 degree until clear water comes out of muslin bag.
-Bring to boil. Add dextrose and LME.
- Boil for 60 min with hop additions
-Kill heat and add hop stand for 15 min
-Chill with copper wort chiller. Beer reached 70 degrees in 14 min.
-OG measured as 1.060 (Target 1.059-1.060)
-Transfer to 6 gallon glass carboy.
-Pitch yeast. Smack pack didn’t break. Poured yeast and nutrient pack into fermenter.
-Added dry hops after 1 week.
-Bottled after another week (2 weeks total in fermenter)
-FG measured as 1.012 (Target 1.012-1.013)
The beer has a slight alcohol taste to it. It is pretty bitter/astringent. There is a slight toasted grain aftertaste to it (Grainy/Husky?).
It seems like the obvious problem is my mash temp, but I also hit the target OG and FG.
I’d like to hear what others have to say about the sparging technique I used. I’ve read over-sparging can cause these flavors, but I’m not sure if this falls under over-sparging.
My fermentation temp was a little high. Is this high enough to cause off-flavors?
Does anyone see any other issues?