I have been having some problem with my beer as of lately. I brew All Grain and I have notice that my last couple of batches all taste bland and lack any real flavor. I am not sure what could be causing this.
Here is my process.
Mash temperature is usually around 152 in a cooler. I brew mostly pale ales IPA and amber style of beers. OG is around 1055-1062 depending on the style. I Batch sparge to get 6.25 gallons of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, cool with immersion chiller. My brew efficiency is all over the map, sometimes I am around 70% and another time it will be done to 60%. I have not been able to be consistent with brew house efficiency.
Sits in primary for 3-4 weeks then bottle beer. Let the beer condition for 2 weeks sometime longer.
Here are my thought
I use a really cheap thermometer so could be off on temperature during the mash.
I use tap water for all of my brews, and I have not pulled a water report to see what the mineral content is of the water. I have notice that when I have tried to make a malty type beer it never turns out well. I have had better luck with more bitter type of beers.
Let me know your thoughts or if you need anymore information.
I am going to guess that it is most likely my thermometer giving me the issue.
Buy a thermapen. I know they are expensive, but if you do any grilling or eat meat in general, it will pay for itself in both good beer and tasty flesh.
As far as your specific question, I’m not sure it can be diagnosed with a simple symptom of “bland”. Are they lacking malt backbone? No hop character? Could it be just that you are tired of APAs and IPAs? Typically those styles are not overly complex in the malt.
I would also try your next batch (SAME RECIPE! i know its hard for me to do too) with reverse osmosis water (maybe add some gypsum for your styles…check with Brunwater) to rule that out as well. Try the beers side by side, and try not to change anything else in your process. If the treated RO one is better, it likely could have been weird bicarbonates or something that scrubbed out good flavors.
My bet is on mash temp though. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, as I’ve had this exact experience. With thermometers, you can try to go cheap, and over a few years end up with a drawer full of junk that doesn’t work (I literally had floaties, LAB THERMOMETERS, and others), or spend the money once, and never buy another thermometer.
water plays a big part in beer. i used to have bland ipa’s, just not as bright as i wanted.i have soft water and i found out i needed to add gypsum to bring them to life. maybe you need a water report to know exactly where your water is.
I very much agree about getting a handle on your water and what is in it. Get a report from Ward Labs to check it. Good thermometer as well.
However, you say it is bland “as of late” - implying it did not used to be that way. So… if it used to be fine, and now it is not … . . why? What changed?
Water from a different faucet (from water softener?) Different ingredients? Old or cheap grain. New brew store? Bad crush? Are you brewing the same recipe’s? Different yeast, etc. I guess that would be the first thing I would look at if your beer used to be one way, and now it is a different way.
Is beer getting oxidized transferring to bottling or kegging routine? I could see oxidation being percieved a little bit as bland maybe.
Just to clarify when I say blandness i mean it has no flavor, it taste a lot like a miller light. The hop character does not seem to come through in my beers.
It sounds like water and my thermometer might be my source of the blandness. More likely the water.
If it is indeed his water, many times municipalities change the chemical cocktail that is being mixed into the water supply at different times of the year (more chloramine, flouride, etc.).
Me, I’m a simpleton. I check the stuff that is fully under my control first (like the mash temp).
You can do a quick test to see if gypsum will help your beer. Bring a cup of water to a boil, then measure out 2 oz into a small cup, add 5g of gypsum, and stir to dissolve. Add 1mL of the solution to a glass and pour a 12-oz beer on top. I’d be surprised if you don’t see a major improvement.
This is the equivalent of adding 5g of gypsum to the kettle (for a 5-gal batch).
[quote=“Shadetree”]You can do a quick test to see if gypsum will help your beer. Bring a cup of water to a boil, then measure out 2 oz into a small cup, add 5g of gypsum, and stir to dissolve. Add 1mL of the solution to a glass and pour a 12-oz beer on top. I’d be surprised if you don’t see a major improvement.
This is the equivalent of adding 5g of gypsum to the kettle (for a 5-gal batch).[/quote]
So it would help bring out flavors after the fact?
[quote=“560sdl”]So it would help bring out flavors after the fact?[/quote]Yes. It’s similar to adding salt to a bowl of soup, but there’s also a pH component - if the beer’s pH was a little high (which leads to flabby beer), it’ll help that too. But obviously it wouldn’t help with any mash pH issues.
[quote=“Shadetree”]You can do a quick test to see if gypsum will help your beer. Bring a cup of water to a boil, then measure out 2 oz into a small cup, add 5g of gypsum, and stir to dissolve. Add 1mL of the solution to a glass and pour a 12-oz beer on top. I’d be surprised if you don’t see a major improvement.
This is the equivalent of adding 5g of gypsum to the kettle (for a 5-gal batch).[/quote]
