My beer tastes crap

[pickledkipper]

Hi, I've just finished my second bash at kit brewing, this time using a Woodforde's Wherry Ale kit. As far as I can tell I followed all the instructions to the letter, this time trying some new things like hydrating the yeast, using brewing sugar and adding a campden tablet to neutralise the chlorine. After it stopped bubbling and settled around 1014 I syphoned it into a keg.

Since then it's been sitting in my bathroom at 18 degrees (as cool as my flat gets) for several weeks and it just ain't getting any better! Like the first batch I brewed it looks great, clear, good colour and with a decent head. But it tastes sharp, bitter, and with a spirit taste to it, possibly a bit yeasty. Just not mellow in the way I'd hoped. Any ideas where I'm going wrong?

Wondering if it just needs to sit a while longer, or if it needs to be cooler or have an enhancer added to it or what. Thanks so much for any help!!

[stevezx7r]

Just a thought but it may be that you simply don't like that particular style of beer?

Failing that, it sounds liek you've done everything you can to get it right.

I personally bottle/keg mine at about 22C for secondary for a few weeks then I move it to my fridge for a week or so to carbonate (if it's a lager).

I think you can get an enhancer - dry beer enzyme iirc which makes the dextrins in the beer into fermentable sugar, this may help with the sharp taste but you may loose some body in the process.

[fivetide]

That's really irritating for you. I can only add that ignoring it entirely for as long as possible in as cool a place as possible might sort it out - I've had brews totally change while I spent time fiddling with the next one - don't sink it, it could easily come good and surprise you.

What did you use brewers sugar for by the way? Other than priming or the starter?

There isn't a hot water pipe running along the wall close to it is there?

[monk]

I've noticed that I've had to watch the brews I've done using brewer's sugar or some other simple sugars very carefully. I think the use of sugar makes the yeast go turbo, and could lead to higher temperatures than intended. Just a thought.

[fivetide]

...but it's an all-malt kit.

[pickledkipper]

Thanks for the replies! In answer to a few questions:

I do like this style of beer! But not when it tastes like this!

I followed the instructions with the campden tablet, adding it to the wort ten minutes before adding the yeast.

I did thoroughly sterilise and rinse everything, and fermented it at about 21 degrees.

I used the brewing sugar as the main sugar in the fermentation (as recommended on the kit), and then added normal granulated sugar at the end as a primer.

No, there’s no hot water pipe in the bathroom, but it’s 19 degrees in there in the day and I can’t really get any colder unless I put it outside, something that doesn’t seem a good idea!

Probably what’s best is if I just leave it a while longer, it’s had about 4 weeks but may improve with age, unless anyone else has any suggestions?

[fivetide]

Bummer. Spraymalt is a good idea in future but substituting that wouldn't turn bad taste to good so I can only see the conditioning temperature and length as a problem. When I did Wherry i kept at 19 deg for week conditioning but then had luxury of being able to stick it outside in a shed. Don't know what to suggest but time and good luck.

[Jim]

...........I followed the instructions with the campden tablet, adding it to the wort ten minutes before adding the yeast....

You should add the campden tablet to the water before you make the kit up. That way it removes the chlorine from the water before it gets a chance to react with the malt. Putting it in just before pitching the yeast may also have inhibited the yeast a bit.

Having said all that, many people don't treat their water at all and still get acceptable results.

[delboy]

I followed the instructions with the campden tablet, adding it to the wort ten minutes before adding the yeast.

When using campden to remove chlorine you add it to the water before its mixed with the extract (it then becomes wort). The chlorine in the water reacts with compounds in the extract giving you phenolic compounds and associated off tastes, its not so much to do with the fermentation process with the yeast etc.

I wonder is this where you went wrong?

[Madbrewer]

Do you live near a home brew shop? Could you take a small bottle along and ask what they think the 'sharp' taste is?

[PeteH]

that taste sounds a bit like what happened to my Muntons brew I did. I ended up binning most of that.

[Stonechat]

Unless the kit advice for Woodfordes Wherry has changed, I can't remember having to add any sugar. I think it was a 3kg kit consisting of x2 tins, each with 1.5kg of concentrated hopped malt in them and all you had to do was add water. Is there now a different size kit? If not, the addition of sugar could be giving the "twang".

[pickledkipper]

Interesting, I got the campden tablet information from a guy in this shop: Art of Brewing

Something to bear in mind for next time.

Maybe I'll also try wrapping it in a blanket and sticking it outside for a week or so, keeping an eye on the overnight temperature!

[edited by admin to shorten link]

[Jim]

These wine preservative tablets can also be used as water treatment for beer. You can neutralise the chlorine in the water for a 40 pint beer brew by adding 1 Campden Tablet to the wort 10 minutes before you add the yeast. These tablets are often incorrectly referred to as Camden.

That advice is completely wrong.

[pickledkipper]

Unless the kit advice for Woodfordes Wherry has changed, I can't remember having to add any sugar. I think it was a 3kg kit consisting of x2 tins, each with 1.5kg of concentrated hopped malt in them and all you had to do was add water. Is there now a different size kit? If not, the addition of sugar could be giving the "twang".

Errr... oh yes, you're right! Do you think adding 1kg of unnecessary brewing sugar might be the cause of the sharp, bitter taste? If so I only have myself to blame One of these days I'll get this right!!