Beer tastes watery

[Heavywalker]

First, I have been making wine for a while now but prefer to drink good beer in the summer months, so thought I would try my hand at brewing. I have done a few Mr. Beer kits but that is about it.

Anyways I just bottled a Mutons Gold Indian Pale Ale kit, I followed instructions, except I let it sit in primary a little longer before bottling (instructions said wait 7-8 days I went 13 days). I added corn sugar to bump the ABV up to 6% and hit the FG per the kits optional instructions.

Last night when I was bottling I put a few ounces in a glass and tried a taste. As the title suggests it was lacking the flavor I expected and tasted watery. I bottled and will patiently wait 3 weeks before cracking a bottle open for a taste, but was wondering if this is normal. Is the watery taste because it is not carbed yet, or should I expect a watery tasting beer in 3 weeks?

 

[neosapien]

I suspect the corn sugar bump to 6% might come into play a little bit in making the flavor thinner.

 

[kontrol]

Should be fine when carbed dont worry. I had the same question with my first brew and when it carbed it was really different.

 

[Heavywalker]

Could be, the kit instructions said to add 2KG of corn sugar to bump the ABV, if they would have said "you can add the corn sugar to bump the ABV and get watery tasting beer" I wouldn't have done it.

 

[Heavywalker]

Should be fine when carbed dont worry. I had the same question with my first brew and when it carbed it was really different.

That is what I was hopping (pun) for.

 

[ICWiener]

You'll probably be alright. Your beer might be on the thin side, but the carbonation and a couple weeks of aging will bring it around.

 

[ehope411]

Carb up time should help. But how much sugar / water did you use to prime ("bump")? Mr Beer only holds 2-gal, I think, so you wouldn't need a whole lot.

 

[Heavywalker]

This isn't Mr. Beer it is a 5 gallon kit, I used a priming calculator for 2.4volumes of Co2 I think it came out to 4.31oz at 70 degrees and just enough water to dissolve the sugar.

 

[ICWiener]

I think it came out to 4.31oz at 70 degrees and just enough water to dissolve the sugar.

Wait a sec, I'm a little confused now. If you added corn sugar to bump the ABV you would need to add at least .5lb if not more (probably closer to 1lb).

Is the 4.31oz all you added? Because if it is, that's not a gravity bump, that's just your priming sugar to carbonate the beer. It will have a negligible effect on your alcohol level and it won't add any watery-ness to your beer.

 

[Heavywalker]

I added 2 kg before pitching the yeast, to bump the ABV to 6% it fermented out to the FG that the kit said it would have if additional sugar was used.

Last night at bottling I added 4.31 oz of priming sugar.

 

[ehope411]

This isn't Mr. Beer it is a 5 gallon kit, I used a priming calculator for 2.4volumes of Co2 I think it came out to 4.31oz at 70 degrees and just enough water to dissolve the sugar.

My mistake. Saw Mr Beer in your post and jumped to conclusions. I think you'll see a difference after bottling. Might be interesting to try a couple after 1, 2, and 3 weeks to compare the flavors. Enjoy!

 

[ICWiener]

Gotcha. Thanks. Sorry for the confusion.

Either way, you'll be alright. I think I've only ever had one beer not overcome the "watery" taste. And even then, it was more than drinkable.

Just make sure to give it a good 3 weeks in the bottle. Even then, it'll continue to improve. My pale ales usually hit their peak around 6 weeks.