O.K. I brewed a NB Irish Red extract in November. Normally do all grain but was cramped for time and thought WTH I’ll do an extract …should taste as good. Well that was a mistake. This stuff tastes just plain bad. Not infected just bad. I brewed on 11/1 and kegged on 11/28, Tapped on 12/7 and as of 12/13 it still tastes bad. It was super cloudy so I added gelatin and it’s still a little cloudy. No issues brewing, hit all the gravity marks, used Safale-04 just rehydrated at 85° wort was 72° I wonder if leaving it in the primary for 4 weeks caused an issue? My son says it has a cabbage taste? IDK just tastes crappy to me, hard to describe the taste.
Edit: Just tried it again and it’s more of a “bite” or a bitter aftertaste than a cabbage taste. Almost like there is too much hops. Did I mention I despise IPAs I tried some of that Sam Adams Hoppy Red and this beer I brewed still ain’t that horrible. I used a hop bag as well. There is 1 oz of Williamette and 1 oz of US Goldings.
Some people think DMS has a cabbage taste. Of course DMS is created in the mash and you didn’t mash it… Did you boil well with the lid off?
Seems to be similar to the last Irish Red I brewed. I rushed the fermentation though. Two weeks in the primary and six weeks bottle conditioning. On St. Patrick’s Day it was cloudy and almost a cabbage off taste. I believe I somehow oxidized this beer. I don’t have any notes on how it was three weeks or so later, so it must not have gotten any better.
Danny, It’s not really a cabbage taste to me. It’s a sharp bitter after taste. I always boil with the lid off. I’ve been brewing for a while so I just assumed …hell I’ll make a quick Irish Red it will be good as I’ve done many times before, but this time it just turned out bad … I can’t figure out why?
Flars, don’t think I oxidized. I’m very careful when I keg to run the line to the bottom of the keg to minimize contact wit the air. I also prime the kegs with co2 as well and also purge well before cooling. I’m obsessed with sanitizing and have never had an infected batch. I have a great fermentation chamber so that is never an issue.
I’m wondering if I’m just tasting that Willamette ? Not a big fan of that variety. Some hops almost has a petrol aftertaste that SA Hoppy Red is a good example…it’s hideous 
I assume this kit also came with grains? How did you steep them? Did you treat the water?
Yes, it comes with a couple of handfuls of grain you steep. I treated the water as well. This is basic brewing 101 that we all started off with. I’m wondering if it’s the kit and not anything I did wrong. If this was my 1st or second batch I would just assume I did something wrong but I’ve brewed about 30 batches of beer and am pretty sure I know what I’m doing when it comes to a simple extract brewing? I’m just pissed that it tastes like crap.
Anyone besides me think that the problem may have been a pitch at 85* and a fermentation at 72*? Quite high temps for s-04, and I’d be surprised if there WASN’T off-flavors.
I think he rehydrated the yeast at 85. But i do think that fermenting at 72 with s04 is on the warm side. Im not a huge fan of that yeast. It gives this tangy bready type flavor.
Scalded it could very well be the kit. Without looking at it or the directions one thing that I remember about extract kits is that everything was ‘round’ numbers. You wouldn’t use .8oz of hops at 60 mins, you would use 1oz at 45, etc. So it could very well be that it is simply too bitter and needs some more aging.
I was thinking that the 85° on the yeast may be a bit high. The wort was 72° when I pitched but actually fermented at about 65°. I like the s-04 never had any issues with it. I wish one of you guys could taste it to tell me what’s wrong…I have no one around here that can offer any constructive criticism.
I would give it the taste test if you can fill a bottle from the keg.
Thought when you do extract kits you should use Distilled Water?
I still do extract kits every few months and always used Distilled Water and never had an issue. Maybe by playing with the water your profile is off?
You can use your water but your correct in that your water could very well throw mineral levels out of whack as minerals are set in the extract by the manufacturer. This could easily be done if building a profile and then using extract.
