Recipe thoughts-dark ale

[BeerBrain83]

Hi everyone,

After almost 2 weeks in fermenter I thought I'd take a hydrometer reading and a taste test for my first ever all-grain brew, which I was hoping to be a dark, fruity ale. The ingredients I used were:

- Munich: 3.04 lb
- Caramunich: 2.38 lb
- Pilsner: 1.52 lb
- Redrye Crystal: 1.28 lb

I mashed for 60 mins at 154 Fahrenheit.

My hops were:

2 oz Bramling Cross for 60 mins
1 oz Tettnang for 20 mins
0.5 oz Tettnang for 5 mins.

I then used Mangrove Jack's M15 Empire Ale Yeast, which I probably pitched slightly too hot.

My aim was to make 13.5 litres for the fermenter and I hit 13 litres so I was reasonably happy with that. It fermented well and looks as hoped.

My reading was 1.051 before fermenting and I've just taken a reading of 1.020. The former being lower than I hoped- I was aiming for 1.070 for my OG and the latter being currently too high I thought. I suspect I did not sparge long enough which caused my lower OG?

Anyway, my main reason for asking was, although my beer smelt great, exactly how I thought it would, it tasted quite watery and had a (real) strong spicy (not bitter I don't think) aftertaste. I was hoping to prime and put in bottles on Saturday if my hydrometer reading had stabilised, although it is slightly too high I think.

Any thoughts on my ingredients would be gratefully received please and thank you? The taste is disappointing, far off the smell, and I'm hoping the bottle carbonation will save me. I tried to make something from reading ideas online. Also I have very hard water, which I thought would be better for a darker beer. Thanks!

 

[MyQul]

Not used to lb's as I normally work in kg so cant really tell from just looking at your recipe, but the spicy taste would have come from the red rye crystal (Im not sure whether 1.28lb is a lot tbh)

 

[BeerBrain83]

Not used to lb's as I normally work in kg so cant really tell from just looking at your recipe, but the spicy taste would have come from the red rye crystal (Im not sure whether 1.28lb is a lot tbh)

Ah yeah sorry

Munich: 1.34 kg (37%)
Caramunich: 1.07 kg (29%)
Pilsner: 0.68 kg (18.5%)
Redrye: 0.58 kg (15.6%)

Is that too much then you think?

 

[MyQul]

Im not familiar with rye crystal but use regular crystal a lot. For regular 15% is a lot. 10% is around the top end

 

[MmmBeer]

I initially suspected that the low OG was due to low diastatic power (ability to convert the starch into simple sugars) in the selected malts, with only the Pilsner having a high value, but with crystal/ caramel malts, this conversion has already taken place during the malting process, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Your mash temperature was towards the warm side, which can result in some unfermentable complex sugars in the final beer, leaving a sweet taste and high FG.

Crystal Rye is described in Crisp's Malt Handbook as spicy, sweet and warming and recommends a maximum of 10% of the grain bill, so confirms what MyQul said.

I would have been tempted to include some of the Bramling Cross as a later addition as it has more robust character than Tettnang, more suited to a dark ale.

My general rule for a stuck fermentation (always seems to occur at 1.020) is give it a gentle stir and if possible raise the temperature by a degree or two for a couple of days.

 

[BeerBrain83]

Ok brilliant, thanks all. Have got to almost two weeks of conditioning and the taste is not so pronounced but definitely still there. Will take on board the feedback for next time! Cheers