BeerBorg

ah, I think I have an epic fail here.
I say that because it was 8 gallons worth.
I tried out the saphir hops.
2nd time. First time, I mixed it in there, and there wasn't much "flavor" from them that I noticed.
Soo... powering through (should have hit the breaks more) I added a full ounce at flame out.
so, there was 1oz citra for bittering. I've done that. turned out ok.
so, there was 1oz cascade for flavoring. I've done that. turned out ok.
and there was 1 oz of saphir for aroma. never done that. um...
it tastes as it smelled on bottling day. Kinda real tart-ish.
This bottle: no carbonation. cloudy.
wouldn't say it was infected. I was able to swallow a wee bit of it without violent reactions from the rest of my body. but m y taste buds shot a message to the brain: "Really?!
I'm starting to think that 1/2oz is about max at flavoring. I guess I will have to wait until the next "brewing".

Maybe they'll settle down after more time in the bottle or keg. After my fusel problems, I was surprised how time helped even that flavor subside a good bit.
Sorry for your fail.

just another "not" success. I'll be attempting one a week for a long time. Can't come up with a new taste unless you kick the sides out of the box.

Well, now you know one thing that doesn't work. And you're right; sometimes trial and error is the best teacher, although it's kinda painful to spend the bux and waste all that time just to see what doesn't work.

I may have discovered another mistake today too. Because the basement is so cold, I've been carbing bottles by the kitchen baseboard. I left 52 bottles there before traveling. This morning I realized that the morning sun was hitting those bottles. This hasn't been a problem before because I used beer cases, but I was out and used assorted boxes without tops. Now, this was low angle occasional winter sun, so I have hope. I marked those most exposed to compare later.
As for yours Dag, give them time. I am now drinking some of last year's "failures" and they are okay.

John Sand wrote:I may have discovered another mistake today too. Because the basement is so cold, I've been carbing bottles by the kitchen baseboard. I left 52 bottles there before traveling. This morning I realized that the morning sun was hitting those bottles. This hasn't been a problem before because I used beer cases, but I was out and used assorted boxes without tops. Now, this was low angle occasional winter sun, so I have hope. I marked those most exposed to compare later.
As for yours Dag, give them time. I am now drinking some of last year's "failures" and they are okay.

Were they brown bottles? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Good job marking the most suspect ones, though. Our education continues....

Oh man, that's a downer!

You think the Saphir did it?

I think it's just an over dose of the saphir.
There is no telling if aging will mellow this one out. But I shall see.
One cannot always just post Grand Brews. every once in a while, there are boo boos to report and learn from

And it's an important lesson for n00bs; even people with as much experience as The Nong, or The Hat, or whomever....well, we come up with clunkers sometimes. It wasn't so long ago that I only just figured out why I was having gusher batches. The important thing is, we eventually suss it out. And we're still making good beer, for the most part.

Dag...what style of beer were you shooting for? The reason I ask is that I made a Pilsner with only Saphir hops. I used 2 ounces at 90 minutes, 1 ounce at 15 minutes and .5 ounce at 7 minutes. The grain bill was primarily pilsner, with a little carapils and just a few ounces of acid malt. It turned out to be an awesome Pilsner. I love it, and many of my friends love it too. In fact, it will be my house pilsner.

I'm wondering if it just didn't mesh well with the other hops or some of the grain that you used.

I was wondering the same as BD. Also that 3 ounces doesn't sound like a lot for 8 gallons.

Also I thought that Saphir was supposed to be a very good flavor and aroma hop.

Hopefully they will be okay with time.

Well was it sour/tart or was it bitter?

I have a hard time thinking 1oz of Sapphire as a finishing hop in 8 gallons of beer is even that noticeable. I use 1oz of hops in 2.5 gallons of beer as finishing hops quite often. I have used 1oz of Santium as a 20 minute addition in some beers (2.5 gallons) and it's a much higher AA and stronger tasting hop. Sapphire is more like a normal German noble hop - as in mellow.

3oz of hops total in 8 gallons isn't really that much.

FedoraDave wrote:And it's an important lesson for n00bs; even people with as much experience as The Nong, or The Hat, or whomever....well, we come up with clunkers sometimes. It wasn't so long ago that I only just figured out why I was having gusher batches. The important thing is, we eventually suss it out. And we're still making good beer, for the most part.

Dave, what was the cause of your gushers? I ask because my last 2 batches (zombie dust clone, Blind pig clone) both had smaller bottles that when I did my first taste test, usually 2 weeks after bottling, I had a gusher on each one. I figured since it was likely the last ones bottled, and had more sediment, it reacted to the sugars more severe.......but the other bottles were all fine.

RedBEERd wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:And it's an important lesson for n00bs; even people with as much experience as The Nong, or The Hat, or whomever....well, we come up with clunkers sometimes. It wasn't so long ago that I only just figured out why I was having gusher batches. The important thing is, we eventually suss it out. And we're still making good beer, for the most part.

Dave, what was the cause of your gushers? I ask because my last 2 batches (zombie dust clone, Blind pig clone) both had smaller bottles that when I did my first taste test, usually 2 weeks after bottling, I had a gusher on each one. I figured since it was likely the last ones bottled, and had more sediment, it reacted to the sugars more severe.......but the other bottles were all fine.

In your case, it was probably the trub bottles, if they were the only ones in the batch that gushed upon opening.

My problem was the entire batch -- every bottle -- was a gusher. I finally tracked it down to a single LBK, and I figure it had some tiny scratches inside it that were harboring something infectious. I wound up trashing that LBK, and I imagine it was about time, too. Eventually I'll be rotating out all my old LBKs in favor of 3 gallon Better Bottle carboys.

if it came down to it, I'd lean more towards sour.
here is the full billing. This is a NOT suggested by the Nong Brew. It has problems. I used two separate fermenters. So it's the basic brew it's self.
American 2 row 16 pounds, mashed
Caramunich I .5 pounds steeped
Carahell .5 pounds steeped
Caraamber .5 pounds steeped

steeped grains were added to mash at draining to the brew pot

Citra (14.4AA) 60 min boil (36.69IBU)
Cascade (5.5AA) 20 min boil (6.51IBU)
Saphire (3.6AA) 1 min boil (plus cool down) (1.06IBU)

Yeast Danstar Nottingham
Those are my notes. The Smell of the wort has not changed from the time of bottling.