Any Sense in Saving This?

[Bramstoker17]

So, I had a two and a half gallon batch of DIPA I did in a Mr Beer keg, mostly grain with a pound of extract and some corn sugar. I was really excited for this one. It was in the bottle for about 4 weeks or so when I cracked one open. It was pretty bad. The taste is hard to describe, but its definitely not right.

I had messed up racking from the Mr Beer keg into my bottling bucket. I'm pretty sure I overdid the dry hops, 3 oz, in a small batch. With all those hops floating around, combined with racking from a mr beer being a pain anyway, my siphon got really blocked up. I ended up just opening the mr beer spigot and running the beer down the side of the bottling bucket as gently as I could, but I'm pretty sure I oxidized it. If thats the case is there really any point in saving this beer? I'm not aware of anyway I could fix it at this point, and time will only make it worse if oxidation is the problem. Any ideas? Really I just needed to vent! I guess I should be glad at least that this wasn't one of my five gallon batches!

 

[s4l]

Oxidation generally tastes like cardboard. I would just let it sit a few more weeks and see what happens.

 

[smonteton]

Give it time and see what happens. I've heard worse with fine results.

 

[JohnSand]

I'll third that. You have nothing to gain by pouring it out now except empty bottles and frustration. Patience Grasshopper. You will be ready to leave this place when you can snatch a beer from my hand.

 

[RM-MN]

How long between the time you pitched the yeast and when you opened the first bottle to sample. If the answer is less than 6 months, wait. It might take closer to a year for it to get really good.

 

[unionrdr]

It depends on the exact flavor you're experiencing. Oxidized beer is like wet cardboard or sherry-like. If you're tasting/smelling harsh hop bite kind of thing,then the beer may need to mellow from too much hops in a small batch. I've often thought over dry hopping in these instances might make that harsh bite.

 

[Bramstoker17]

I'm at work at the moment, so I don't have the beer in front of me, but I'll do my best to describe the taste. Maybe wet cardboard would be close, but I'm not sure. It has a good amount of bitterness, but not much of the hop aroma or flavor I was expecting given the hops I used. I was expecting more citrus than is coming through. It has a good bit of alcohol warmth too, though I thought I was pretty careful with my temps. In my year and a half of brewing, I've always been pretty careful not to oxygenate the brew, so I'm not sure what exactly to look for as far as taste goes. I've always wondered how well the MR Beer keg keeps oxygen out, especially with a heavily hopped beer. Maybe I should save big hoppy beers for the 5 gal bucket or carboy. Here's the recipe if that would help. Again, this is a 2.5 gal batch.

5lb 2 row
1lb light Munich
.4lb crystal 20
.25lb carapils
.5lb corn sugar
1lb Briess light DME added at flameout


Warrior 0.6 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 15.0%
Centennial 0.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 10.0%
Chinook 0.25 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 13.0%
Cascade 0.5 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 5.0%
Cascade 1.0 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 5.5%
Chinook 0.75 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 13.0%
Centennial 0.75 oz 1 min Boil Pellet 10.0%
Ahntanum 1.0 oz 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 8.0%
Centennial 0.5 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 10.0%
Simcoe 1.0 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 13.0%
Cascade 0.5 oz 7 days Dry Hop Pellet 5.5%

Safale S-04 dry ale yeast

Mashed at 152 for 60 min

 

[Bramstoker17]

I forgot to add I fermented for 3 weeks then bottled. It's been in the bottle for about 4 or 5 weeks. I've always heard IPA's are better young, but this is the biggest IPA I've done, so my experience here is limited. OG was 1.083, and it fermented down to 1.015. About 90 IBU. Tried to keep ferm temps around 65, but the first day it got up to 72 for a few hours while I was out of the house. I got it back down pretty quick.

Like you all said, I guess no point in dumping it, at least not till I give it some time and see what happens.

 

[MTate37]

How long between the time you pitched the yeast and when you opened the first bottle to sample. If the answer is less than 6 months, wait. It might take closer to a year for it to get really good.

A year for a DIPA? Will there not be pretty substantial loss in hop flavor and aroma in a year?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

With that high of an ABV, and with a high hopping rate, I'd give it more time to condition really. Yeah, IPAs are definitely best young, IMO, but some of the bigger ones I've brewed have taken over a month from bottling to come into their own. I doubt you'd be able to taste oxidation at this early stage, if you even did oxengenate, as those flavors tend to develop with time and not be too strong only a few weeks out. Relax, let the bottles continue to condition, have a (different) home brew and check another bottle in a week or two.

 

[unionrdr]

My feelings as well. I figured it just needed time to condition to where it's less harsh.

 

[RM-MN]

A year for a DIPA? Will there not be pretty substantial loss in hop flavor and aroma in a year?

Yes there will be loss of hop flavor but the base beer needs time to mature being high in alcohol. Such is the trade off with making a DIPA, you drink them when they are less than fully mature to get the great hop flavor or you wait for the beer to get good and do with less flavor. You did put in a lot of hops, didn't you. That should help keep the flavor around longer.

 

[jtratcliff]

Unless your trub is higher than the LBK spigot level, you can wedge your bottling wand into the spigot and clamp the trigger down. Bottle right from the LBK. I swapped out the original spigot for one from a bottled water dispenser that could be "locked" open. It worked well for the couple of times I used it before going to 5 Gal batches.

 

[Bramstoker17]

Unless your trub is higher than the LBK spigot level, you can wedge your bottling wand into the spigot and clamp the trigger down. Bottle right from the LBK. I swapped out the original spigot for one from a bottled water dispenser that could be "locked" open. It worked well for the couple of times I used it before going to 5 Gal batches.

I used to do that, and had their better spigot that can locked open, but its just easier for me to batch prime it in a bottling bucket. I've found I typically get more of the beer off the trub using the siphon too. In the future I'll save my super hoppy beers for the big buckets, just easier to siphon from.

 

[jtratcliff]

Oh yeah, definitely easier to batch prime in a bottling bucket... I only bottled from the LBK a few times before moving on to a bottling bucket. But if the choice is running it down the side or bottle priming and going from the LBK....

tough call

 

[Bramstoker17]

Oh yeah, definitely easier to batch prime in a bottling bucket... I only bottled from the LBK a few times before moving on to a bottling bucket. But if the choice is running it down the side or bottle priming and going from the LBK....

tough call

True, in retrospect strait from the LBK would have probably been easier!

 

[Bramstoker17]

Well, curiosity got the better of me and popped one more open. The beer does seem to have improved some, so I'll give it some more time.

 

[zacster]

On my first try at a Ruination IPA clone, a partial mash IIRC, I opened my first bottle at 3 weeks and it was undrinkable. I tried another a week later and it was the same. So I gave up on it.

3 months later I find myself out of beer (OMG!) and put one in the freezer to chill quickly, and then popped it open. Heaven. It tasted exactly like a Ruination. All the rest did as well and it was one of my favorite batches in the end.

Just be patient. Put it aside and forget about it for a while.

 

[Bramstoker17]

Quick update: The beer has substantially improved. I think I can do better as far as the recipe itself goes, but it turned into a pretty solid beer. Thanks to all for the advice.

 

[JohnSand]

Glad to hear it. Some of mine are taking their time coming along.

 

[MTate37]

This is quite encouraging. I brewed the Northern Brewer 115th Dream at the end of March and the last bottle I had about two weeks ago just wasn't good. If it does indeed need more time to mellow I hope there is still some hop profile left by the time it does.

 

[FermentedTed]

Quick update: The beer has substantially improved. I think I can do better as far as the recipe itself goes, but it turned into a pretty solid beer. Thanks to all for the advice.

I'd like to lay claim to one of these bottles if there are any left...

 

[Bramstoker17]

I'd like to lay claim to one of these bottles if there are any left...

Yep, I've got a few still. I'll make sure to save you one. The beer did improve quite a bit from when I started this thread, but I think it turned out almost more like a bit of a hoppier barelywine. A decent beer, just not what I had anticipated it turning out like. I've got another DIPA fermenting right now which should be inline with the style.