HOMEBREW Digest #0144

Published in

· 8 months ago

HOMEBREW Digest #144		             Fri 05 May 1989 

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES 
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator 

Contents: 
  Re: "fading taste" and re: "Old Ale Query" (Timothy C. Phillips) 

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Date: Thu, 4 May 89 18:33:33 PDT 
From: tcp@esl.ESL.COM (Timothy C. Phillips) 
Subject: Re: "fading taste" and re: "Old Ale Query" 

Two questions dear to my palate have come up recently: 

First of all, David Benjamin writes: 

>I've just brewed my first batch of beer..... 
>it tastes almost like water by the time it gets to the back of the tongue 

I also have noticed this in my first couple of extract brews (I began 
brewing four months ago).  I noted the reply from florianb about using 
gypsum, and will try this in the future.  Prior to this, however, I 
was told by my local homebrew shop to add malto-dextrin (i.e. nonfer- 
mentable sugar).  I haven't personally verified this approach yet. 
Does this also work?  What are some other thoughts on how to fix the 
fading taste? 

Secondly, Andy Newman writes: 

>Well...on Monday I bottled the stuff.  If had fermented to completion. 
>The hydrometer was stable at 1.020 (o.g. was 1.058) and the fast bulk 
>of the yeast had settled out.  Out of curiosity I tasted some of the 
>green beer still in the fermentor.  It was INCREDIBLY bitter and ... 

I just brewed a batch of Edme Strong Ale that had very similar qualities 
at bottling time.  O.g. was 1.060 and f.g. was 1.017.  I have tasted my 
other beers at bottling; they were flat and yeasty, of course, but they 
were at least drinkable.  This stuff was well beyond what I could stomach, 
and in general I like bitter (hey, I even chew my aspirin without water!). 
Frankly, I am scared to open a bottle of this stuff (it has been in bot- 
tles for a week now).  Will aging help that much?  I am asking both for 
curiosity's sake and for a friend that will be brew the same can of  
strong ale in about a week.  Further comments will be greatly appreciated! 

-Timothy C. Phillips 

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #144, 05/05/89