Flavor question - Smash IPA "Mo Hops"

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Neowylif, Nov 18, 2017.

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  1. Neowylif

    Neowylif Initiate (0) Nov 18, 2017 California

    I've been brewing for the last year and half. This is like my 6th Home brew. To get better acquainted I chose to brew a single malt and single hop IPA. I was turned off by a certain flavor that seemed to permeate all of my brews, so with this brew I began doing BIAB with no extract. Tried to get better hop flavor by spreading hops 1oz @60,45,30,15 and 2oz whirlpool and dry hop. This brew went as usual - 3 weeks fermenting with no temp control and then bottled for for 3 weeks. Cracked and poured. Hazy orange, smooth hop aroma, sweet, some tartness. Smell is good, mouth feel is overall soft. I thought maybe I should have used more hops in my 60 min.

    Week 4, my wife pours a glass and the color is darker, the beer is clearer, a lil browner. The hop aroma is hard to find. Flavor seems harsher. Seems
    s like flavor is getting worse with time, will it get better with more time?

    Is this the natural progression of the fermentation process?
    Or due to my lack of temp control?
    Got ingredients from LHBS.

    Heading over to a friend's house to get a second opinion and try to get a better description of the flavor I'm getting.
    Prior to BIAB I was about to drop the habit due to all my beers having a specific flavor, that made them hard to finish as time went on. I thought it was the extract and my tap water. So now I'm doing BIAB and purified water from a dispenser at my grocery store. Since this brew I've also gotten a freezer, fermentation heat wrap and temp control. I just want to brew a clean tasty beer that taste better than $3 bottom shelf craft bombers. So any tips are appreciated. Thanks
     
    #1 Neowylif, Nov 18, 2017
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  2. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Welcome to the BA site, Veowylif. Your thread will draw a better response if it is placed in the Homebrewing forum, so I'll report it and ask for it to be moved.

    If you see this before any other replies, I'll suggest that you add a follow-up comment about any chemical adjustments that you might have made to your purified water. I'm not expert enough to tell you what might have been needed, if anything, but I've read enough threads such as this to guess that this sounds like it could focus on the water.
     
    #2 PapaGoose03, Nov 18, 2017
  3. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    The beer getting clearer is just the yeast settling out. The darkening and lack of hop aroma sounds like oxidation. What's your bottling process like?
     
    #3 MrOH, Nov 19, 2017
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  4. Neowylif

    Neowylif Initiate (0) Nov 18, 2017 California

    I'm not really monitoring my water. Not that sophisticated yet.
    Thanks MG for moving my post in the correct forum.

    & thanks MrOh for the oxidation info, I think it's spot on.
    Bottling is transferring from carboy to bottling bucket thru spigot and hose.
    From bottling bucket to bottle thru spigot and bottling wand.

    I have noticed that I have a hard time capping Lagunitas bottles. And my wife noticed that the off bottle was a Lagunitas, where as the Firestone (& a dogfish) bottles taste better.

    Thanks - I've been reading these forums for so long, finally had a reason to sign up and post. Appreciate the help. :slight_smile:
     
    #4 Neowylif, Nov 19, 2017
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  5. Brewday

    Brewday Zealot (721) Dec 25, 2015 New York

    Probably your issue. I had a idiot at a hbs give me the wrong bell for my capper. When i saw some foam by the caps i had to drink 18 22oz bottles fast.Another tip is to tilt the bucket and make sure the hose end is under the beer as it's filling up.
     
    #5 Brewday, Nov 20, 2017
  6. TooHopTooHandle

    TooHopTooHandle Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2016 New York

    From what you are describing it sure sounds like an oxidation issue.
     
    #6 TooHopTooHandle, Nov 20, 2017
  7. thebriansmaude

    thebriansmaude Crusader (472) Dec 16, 2016 Canada (AB)
    Trader

    I had a very similar problem to what you are describing in my early batches, an indiscriminate off flavor that pretty much made the beer taste cheap, inappropriately fruity , and occurred to some degree in all my batches. I can't say for sure what the problem was, but it was definitely fixed with proper yeast management. It is so important to pitch the appropriate amount of healthy yeast, and I noticed a massive improvement in the flavor of my beers when I started pitching large starters from a stir plate, and really focusing on shaking as much O2 into the fermenter as possible before pitching. From that point I went from inconsistent batches often with estery off flavors, to consistently commercial quality clean tasting beers.

    It sounds to me like you are taking good care with ingredients and process, what is your yeast pitching like?
     
    #7 thebriansmaude, Nov 20, 2017
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