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Spudhead94

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Hello Everyone! The other day I embarked on my first all grain brew, I had an issue initially with keeping the mash temp at 67c but managed eventually to maintain it. I made a Galaxy Smash (maris otter) and aimed for an 8L batch, OG read 1.042 and today 6 days later reads 1.005. The only issue i have is the colour of my brew... it looks like a neipa yet should look nothing like one! Admittedly I didn’t use Protofloc or any clarification products I did when filling the fermenter filter the brew through a sanitized new muslin cloth and strainer yet still provided this murky colour? I tasted the brew earlier and it tasted quite flat / sour (i mean flat as in no flavour) does this look like a failed brew? :(

Any Help is appreciated!
 

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I've always used an opaque fermenter, so have never seen the colour of the wort/beer as it ferments, but that does look a bit unusual. The first thing I would say is leave it a bit longer before testing; my normal practice is to bottle 14 days after pitching and measure the FG then. Even when the FG is right down, the yeast is still doing useful work, munching up some of the miscellaneous fermentation products that could lead to off flavours. The sour flavour you described sounds more concerning, but again this may disappear if left undisturbed for another week.

I made an Old Peculiar on Friday, (which incidentally I forgot to add any protofloc to, as well) this started bubbling wildly throughout Saturday and Sunday, but has slowed down significantly already. I will still give it the full 2 weeks before bottling.
 
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Ignore it for week. Don't panic. And most of all, don't mess about with it, it could have failed, but most likely hasn't. Looks like fermenting wort to me, with yeast in suspension, which will sink and clear.
 
Plus you may want to check your hydrometer
1.005 seems low. What yeast are you using?

Re- tasting flat, without your recipe it is hard to judge what it should taste like
 
Plus you may want to check your hydrometer
1.005 seems low. What yeast are you using?

Re- tasting flat, without your recipe it is hard to judge what it should taste like

Using Safale-05 and my recipe was 1.5kg Maris Otter and 16g of Galaxy Hops (4,4,8) after boil off i was 1 litre under due to initial error on my behalf so i added 1 additional litre to the fermenter

1.5kg maris otter steeped at 65-67c
small sparge of 500ml
60 min boil hops at 60,30,15 mins
chilled to 24c
siphoned, filtered and chilled to 20c pitched yeast

i aimed for around 8L yield
 
I think the hop timings are all wrong for what you were looking for/expecting.

I would have dropped the 30 and 25 min additions and done a flameout addition and a dry hop
 
Using Safale-05 and my recipe was 1.5kg Maris Otter and 16g of Galaxy Hops (4,4,8) after boil off i was 1 litre under due to initial error on my behalf so i added 1 additional litre to the fermenter

1.5kg maris otter steeped at 65-67c
small sparge of 500ml
60 min boil hops at 60,30,15 mins
chilled to 24c
siphoned, filtered and chilled to 20c pitched yeast

i aimed for around 8L yield

US 05 can give you quite plausibly 85% attenuation, so it all sounds good to me.
 
Just looks like suspended yeast to me too, like this:-

IMG_20171111_102810.jpg

That had finished "fermenting", but the yeast was still cleaning up after itself, and there was still enough residual CO2 in solution to keep the yeast in suspension. Given a bit longer, it finishes cleaning up, and more CO2 leaves solution, and the rest of the yeast drops out. You can get even more to drop out, giving you even brighter beer (will help with any proteins in there too, from not using protafloc), by cold crashing if you are able.

That was a pale malt SMASH as well by the way, difference was I did a very very insane 90 minute boil. Some on this forum may still remember the "legend" of how I turned 14 litres of wort into 6 litres post boil, much fun was had by all poking fun at that one :laugh8:.... Turning what should have been a distinctly pale golden beer, into a much redder hued one... :laugh8: This was my 2nd all grain, proof that we all make little mistakes when starting out. athumb.. Tasted amazing though, as I am sure will yours! :cheers3: Just take a deep breath, and leave it alone for a couple of weeks. That's the secret you see, beer likes to be ignored for a bit, it's the real hard part of brewing! aheadbutt
 
US-05 can be slow to flocculate in my experience. As the others have said, give it some time to clear. Your recipe sounds fine too. I've just made a beer with almost exactly the same hop addition timings.
 

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