Grass Metallic Taste, need help

[doc280]

Do you really believe Lord Vader died in 1983?

[squeegeethree]

But, but the dark side...

[doc280]

“I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire.”

[squeegeethree]

I would have also accepted "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

[doc280]

Three weeks conditioning in the bottle and the good news is no off flavors, however something has changed. The IPA remains good, no very good, but I sense a loss of some of the citrus punch, it had before. I have been drinking this brew now for three weeks, so maybe I have become muted to citrus flavor. But I do believe the citrus is waning. The bitterness between the two samples is now very close to one another, but the corn sugar sample has a feel of more more carbonation and I like it better.

[squeegeethree]

The citrus from the citra hops does fade with age. Best drunk young IMO. I start drink my IPAs and wheats after a week on conditioning because I like to find that sweeet spot of freshnesses/ vs maturity. It varies for each recipe. Since I started making starters controling my temp I've never had to age out unfavorable flavors.

[doc280]

I have to agree, so my notes, for the Kama Citra IPA, will include, prime with table sugar and condition, in the bottle, for seven to ten days.

Just to let you guys know I have the Nut Brown Ale in the fermentation chamber. It will remain there for 21 days. The only thing I did different was the late extract addition.

[sneezles61]

Hey Doc, I use a thought about the IPA's aroma and flavor... As close to the kettle as you can get... IPA's are great... So when I say as close... I'm talking time... not distance, but that also helps too! Sneezles61

[dannyboy58]

That's IPAs.

I haven't bottled in a long time but the experience is similar in kegs. I dry hop in the keg at room temp 68-70ish for 3 days to a week or til i get an open space in the chest freezer. I find 3-4 weeks on tap they all begin to lose some aroma and at least some perceived flavor.

Depending on the volume of the keg I might add more dry hops. Usually perks them right up though you have to embrace the hop haze for a few days and you still won't get the full aroma of DH at room temperature.

[doc280]

Week four conditioning in the bottle and here are the results, for this Kama Citra IPA. Now I have not been drinking, any of this brew for the past week, so I am coming back to it kinda fresh. It definitely has that familiar citrus note when bringing the glass up and a slight grapefruit taste at the end. There are no off flavors and I would say nothing has really changed from last week.

This is the last of the Kama Citra IPA, so after my four weeks of taste samples and many pints in between, this brew is better young and green, week one was the best. The reason week one was the best was the citrus pop it had. By week two the pop was diminished to fizzle and by week three, it is there, but you are searching for it.

The great thing is no signs of the off favors of my previous failed batches. I am leaning towards the reason for my earlier failures, but the Nut Brown Ale, which is in the LBKs, I think will tell me more.

[doc280]

Ok, I have been drinking the brown ale, however I am calling this "Mystery Ale". I noticed when steeping my gains the wort was very light in color, but I went with it, what else can you do.

However the final product is good and I like it, but in no way is this a brown ale. The great thing, no taste of the awfulness I experienced before.

I did cold crash one LBK and the other I did not. There is no taste difference between the two, but I did end up with a half a bottle more beer for the cold crashed LBK.

Cold crashing did not seem to effect the chill haze this brew got, but who really cares when in taste good.

[squeegeethree]

How long and at what temperature did you steep?

[sneezles61]

Theres not even hint of brown malt there... nothing... Perhaps the pH wasn't low enough in the steeped grains... pH will help to clear your brews up too... Ever use Irish moss during the boil process? Either gelatin or biofine will clean them up too. Sneezles61

[doc280]

Steeped at 154f for 30 minutes.

[doc280]

I have not played with anything dealing with clearing the beers. I wanted to solve the awful taste favor first. Water used distilled.

There is zero hint of brown malt, it has a taste very similar to Yuengling, with a fruit note.

I really think the grains were wrong, because the brewing process and water has not changed. Look how light the color is, anyway it is actually a good beer so I am not complaining.

I may try some Irish moss in the future, but for now I will drink out of my stainless steel pint glass.

[flars]

I would go to the NB website and use the "chat with brew master" option. Describe the color of your beer for their opinion on what may have happened. They do replace kits, no questions asked, if their may have been a mix up.

[doc280]

If I had contacted them right after steeping, I believe they would have sent out some of the correct grains. After brewing the kit, drinking it and enjoying it, I really think not. I understand mistakes happen and this one turned into a happy one, so I would never pursue a replacement kit.

[doc280]

Quick question about the Irish moss. I know with a 5 gallon brew the instructions is to use 1 teaspoon. With extract brew the kettle contains between between 2 1/2 to 3 gallons of wort. Do you guys use a 1/2 teaspoon or the full teaspoon?

[flars]

I use the 1/2 teaspoon on the premise the wort is concentrated in the boil kettle.

[porkchop]

I'd think that NB would still want to know about the issue, even if you don't want a replacement kit. If there was an error on building the grain bill, that's feedback that I would want if it were my department. I mean, not all customers are going to be as understanding as you and if the error is on their side, they probably want to fix it before someone goes writing a bunch of negative reviews all over the internet.