Pale Ale [Greg Hughes page 122].

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
This brew has a very different smell to the ones I brewed with Cooper's Ale yeast (which is all but one other of my AG brews). This one has been done with US05. Can't describe the smell; not unpleasant or 'off', but very different.
 
Eight days after pitching the Pale Ale has fermented down to a touch under 1008 - maybe 1007, so fermentation has gone well enough. I will leave it another six days and keg it next Monday.

The flavour is on the bitter side so far, though it will probably mellow out. Probably down to the no cool affecting the extraction of bittering flavours, though my other no cool brews have not had the same effect. I did use 20g Aurora at Flame out and that is a new variable, not having used Aurora before. The other changed variable is the use of US05 yeast instead of the generic Cooper's Ale yeast that I was using before. I doubt it is the yeast, but there is a distinct flavour and aroma about this brew that I have not had before. I'm tending to think it is the Aurora.

Early days yet to make a judgement. Maybe in another three weeks or a month, I'll be able to say whether it is a success or not.
 
Give it some time, sounds like you're not liking it. That combination of grain, hops and yeast should make a nice beer, in theory at least. I'm non plused about my latest brew atm, it doesn't taste how it should after about ten days in the bottle, I'm not liking it, scratching my head. I forgot the gypsum, and added a big of carafa at the last minute, but I don't think those things explain the outcome.
 
clibit said:
Give it some time, sounds like you're not liking it. That combination of grain, hops and yeast should make a nice beer, in theory at least. I'm non plused about my latest brew atm, it doesn't taste how it should after about ten days in the bottle, I'm not liking it, scratching my head. I forgot the gypsum, and added a big of carafa at the last minute, but I don't think those things explain the outcome.
Click to expand...

I haven't made any concessions to water treatment at all. I looked up the local water details and as others have said - it looks like a can of worms. Here the average calcium is 47m/l and the water is described as moderately hard. Not certain, but that might suggest I should stick to darker beers rather than lagers. I made three of your simple AG brews. All were different, but one was insipid. I think it needed a lot more hopping than it had. I did manage to drink it all, but it wasn't fun. :) The other successful beers have been hopped on the heavy side, or were darker.

You don't think the effect you dislike is down to the coffee flavour of carafa? Maybe this is a lesson in resisting impulsive last minute additions. reminds me of that daft move of mine chucking in a full pound (453g) of crystal in the Greg Hughes Summer Ale recipe that demanded 300g. In fact that is coming in very nicely now. It's a winner inspite of my impulsive move. Terrific flavour really, partly because of no cool over-hopping and also the extra crystal. Tastes like a big beer is the best way I can describe it.
 
US-05 shouldn't give off any distict yeast flavour, its one of its main qualities.

Maybe you're just trying it a bit early and perhaps things are a but unripe to trial yet.. have you tried aurora hops before?
 
Covrich said:
US-05 shouldn't give off any distict yeast flavour, its one of its main qualities.

Maybe you're just trying it a bit early and perhaps things are a but unripe to trial yet.. have you tried aurora hops before?
Click to expand...

No Covrich - never tried Aurora and yes it is certainly far too early to make any judgements, except that the taste is different to earlier brews. Time will tell, and usually cures ills.

Cheers.
 
US 05 is pretty different to Coopers yeast I think. But should give you less yeast flavour.

I do regret adding the carafa, it was only quite a small amount though, to provide some colour. It has affected the flavour nonetheless. The hops werere very subdued, which I can only put down to the gypsum omission.
 
clibit said:
US 05 is pretty different to Coopers yeast I think. But should give you less yeast flavour.

I do regret adding the carafa, it was only quite a small amount though, to provide some colour. It has affected the flavour nonetheless. The hops werere very subdued, which I can only put down to the gypsum omission.
Click to expand...

What's your water like? Calcium and magnesium I mean.
 
clibit said:
I'd go with some Aurora. Bitter with Admiral or Progress, perhaps, or Aurora, and use EKG and Aurora at flame out. Aurora are really nice. Often subbed for Styrian Goldings, but are different. Grown in the Styrian hop region.

Yeah I would just use Aurora and EKG.
Click to expand...


I think you and I are going to disagree about Aurora Clibit. The brew, though not ready yet, having only been kegged on the 10th August, has an unpleasant taste that I can only put down to Aurora. To me, it has a nasty medicinal taste on the back of the tongue. I really don't think I am going to like it.

There was nothing new about my method, no change of cleaning regime, no leaving of steriliser in any vessel. I am pretty dedicated to thorough rinsing even of no rinse cleansers.

The brew was made from:

4.3kg Pale Malt (MO).
0.095g Crystal Malt.

20g Admiral @60
23g EKG @ 0
20g Aurora @0

Mash temp 66C 1 hour.
Dunk sparge - pretty thorough - bashed the bag at 80C
62 minute boil

23 hour cool down (no cool).

Yeast US05


2 week ferment
Kegged on 10/08/15

It isn't infected - just has a disagreeable taste.

Would love to hear from anyone with experience of using Aurora, about its flavour. I've used all the other hops without this problem.
 
I'm not convinced Aurora would produce a medicinal taste, that's not my experience at all.
 
clibit said:
I'm not convinced Aurora would produce a medicinal taste, that's not my experience at all.
Click to expand...
There's nothing different about this brew to about four others I've done in recent weeks except the use of Aurora as a flavour hop. I can tell the difference between Admiral and EKG as a bittering hop and I can tell the difference between my no cool and cooled brews, but no other brew before or since has had this taste. There is the possibility of genetic susceptibility towards certain flavours.... My wife loathes citra and won't go near it, calling it 'cat wee'. Maybe this is the issue - I don't know, but t has a tang of TCP about it to me - most unpleasant at the moment, though it might mellow as it matures.

As an aside, the no cool issue will I think have to be revisited. The no cool brews have a harsher hop profile than the earlier small brews that were cooled in the sink. I feel an immersion chiller coming on and I am being drawn to plumbing supply shops.... :)

My experiments with wheat continue. Done two now, one with a kg of raw wheat and one with a kg of malted wheat.
 
Tony1951 said:
There's nothing different about this brew to about four others I've done in recent weeks except the use of Aurora as a flavour hop. I can tell the difference between Admiral and EKG as a bittering hop and I can tell the difference between my no cool and cooled brews, but no other brew before or since has had this taste. There is the possibility of genetic susceptibility towards certain flavours.... My wife loathes citra and won't go near it, calling it 'cat wee'. Maybe this is the issue - I don't know, but t has a tang of TCP about it to me - most unpleasant at the moment, though it might mellow as it matures.

As an aside, the no cool issue will I think have to be revisited. The no cool brews have a harsher hop profile than the earlier small brews that were cooled in the sink. I feel an immersion chiller coming on and I am being drawn to plumbing supply shops.... :)

My experiments with wheat continue. Done two now, one with a kg of raw wheat and one with a kg of malted wheat.
Click to expand...

The harsher hop profile your no chill brews may be increased isomerization of the hops as they spend longer in near boiling wort with no-chill than they do 'normally' unless you strained them out after tranfering to the FV

The tcp taste could be infection. Did you no chill the brew with the aurora hops? No chilling can lead to extra infection risk if you dont take extra care
 
MyQul said:
The harsher hop profile your no chill brews may be increased isomerization of the hops as they spend longer in near boiling wort with no-chill than they do 'normally' unless you strained them out after tranfering to the FV

The tcp taste could be infection. Did you no chill the brew with the aurora hops? No chilling can lead to extra infection risk if you dont take extra care
Click to expand...

Yes - it is one of the no-chill brews. I was pretty careful. In this brew I poured the near boiling wort into a sterile plastic fermentation vessel and sealed it up. Could the hot wort have leached something out of the plastic? I suspect not, as people use the same standard plastic tubs as boilers.

I think a good way to test if I just get something nasty from aurora would be to do what clibit says and add some aurora to some cheap bottled beer as a dry hop addition - re-seal and see how that goes down after a period.

I'm still hoping that as it matures it will begin to taste alright.
 
Tony1951 said:
Yes - it is one of the no-chill brews. I was pretty careful. In this brew I poured the near boiling wort into a sterile plastic fermentation vessel and sealed it up. Could the hot wort have leached something out of the plastic? I suspect not, as people use the same standard plastic tubs as boilers.

I think a good way to test if I just get something nasty from aurora would be to do what clibit says and add some aurora to some cheap bottled beer as a dry hop addition - re-seal and see how that goes down after a period.

I'm still hoping that as it matures it will begin to taste alright.
Click to expand...

I suppose it's possible something might have leached out of the plastic but I don't really see how as the near boiling wort would have killed everything.
The main danger with no chill is you need to get a good seal on whatever you put the near boiling wort into because as the boiling wort cools it contracts and sucks in air and any microbes with it.
To protect against this I use cling film and an elastic band. I know I've got an air tight seal because after putting the boiling wort in the FV and covering with the cling film the cling film bows out because of the steam then as the wort contracts it sucks the cling film in to form quite a deep concave.

Tbh, I think it's the time of the year. I've notice quite a number of threads recently with people probably/definately dealing with an infection.
 
MyQul said:
Tbh, I think it's the time of the year. I've notice quite a number of threads recently with people probably/definately dealing with an infection.
Click to expand...

I'm even more hopeful about the brew since this morning. This afternoon, I took a tiny sample of the two brews I have maturing in the kegs. The first was the part wheat beer I brewed about two weeks ago. I had a sip of that and though a wee bit harsh, it has potential I think. I can imagine it in a couple of weeks being very nice. Then I had a sip of the brew in question. It was better than the last time and I think it will get better over time as it clears. I'm going to shut up about it and wait a fortnight and try it again.
 
Tony1951 said:
I'm even more hopeful about the brew since this morning. This afternoon, I took a tiny sample of the two brews I have maturing in the kegs. The first was the part wheat beer I brewed about two weeks ago. I had a sip of that and though a wee bit harsh, it has potential I think. I can imagine it in a couple of weeks being very nice. Then I had a sip of the brew in question. It was better than the last time and I think it will get better over time as it clears. I'm going to shut up about it and wait a fortnight and try it again.
Click to expand...

It's amazing what lots of conditioning can clear up
 

Similar threads

Libigage
Greg hughes single hop pale ale
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
MashBag
MashBag
J
Planning the brew day
Replies
8
Views
741
jezbrews
J
Rodcx500z
Pale Ale
Replies
10
Views
628
JohnB
JohnB
jeg3
Oatmeal Pale Ale - AG #46
Replies
5
Views
628
Oneflewover
Oneflewover
Hengoedbrewer
Greg Hughes American Pale Ale- dry hop it?
Replies
0
Views
258
Hengoedbrewer
Hengoedbrewer

Latest posts

Back
Top