Brewing a beer with more character ?

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Question:

I have made several batches of brew. So I am kind of new at this. Most of my beers are good but lack real character. I have followed the recipes but they never seem strong enough. I don’t use a hydrometer. Everything goes smooth from start to finish. Maybe I haven’t let it ferment long enough or added enough hops. Can you add too much hops? I might describe my first batches to be a bit sweet and smooth. I fermented them for several weeks. They taste Ok. Just not Reeeeeal good. Any suggestions? Sail /)

Response:

Sail /) says "Maybe I haven’t let it ferment long enough or added enough hops. Can you add too much hops? I might describe my first batches to be a bit sweet and smooth. I fermented them for several weeks. They taste Ok. Just not Reeeeeal good. Any suggestions?" Some people would say there’s no such thing as too much hops. I however like some balance in my life. You did’nt give a description of your procedures so I’ll just assume your going with canned syrups with little or no hop additions and no specialty grains. I’ll also assume you are using dry yeast packets. Changing any of the above should give a little more character. I do mostly all-grain these days, but for quick batches I use plain (unhopped) extracts so I can control the bitterness. Use late hop additions if you like the hoppy flavor/aroma of beers like Samuel Adams or Pete’s Wicked Ale. I usually steep (not boil) a bit of specialty grain to give it a character. The type of grain of course depends on the style of beer. Finally, I almost always use liquid yeast cultures to add fruity-tasting esters to ales, alts, weizens etc. Dry yeast packets work just fine, but they tend to be neutral yeast strains that don’t add much to the flavor, in my opinion. Don’t make all the changes at once, or you won’t be able to tell what each ingredient does for your beer and you. Bob Waterfall, Troy, NY, USA

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In article I have made several batches of brew. So I am kind of new at this. Most of my beers are good but lack real character. I have followed the recipes but they never seem strong enough. I don’t use a hydrometer. Everything goes smooth from start to finish. Maybe I haven’t let it ferment long enough or added enough hops. Can you add too much hops? I might describe my first batches to be a bit sweet and smooth. I fermented them for several weeks. They taste Ok. Just not Reeeeeal good. Any suggestions? Sail /) Try a partial or full mash, or use some grains as part of the recipe. If you really want character try chocalate malt or munich dark in a recipe… mmmmm..wha is the MD tastey. ALso throw in some aromatic hops in for the last ten minutes of boil, My brewing pard and I are partial to Mount Hood, an american version of hallertauer that has a very noble character, nice nose. Happy Trails KBB

If you are not using liquid yeasts, Do it Now! I’m partial to Yyeast Labs 1007 (James Bond Beer). A German Ale yeast which really livens my ales…kinda tangy (i don’t speek too good:<) and crisp! John

Response:

Hard to tell what you mean by "character". What kind of beers do you like? There are three main factors which can effect the character of the brew: ingredients, Ingredients, and INGREDIENTS. Since you didn’t mention how you brew I’ll assume you are a novice extract brewer. Here are some examples: 1. Malt Extracts – Don’t use sugar at all unless you have very hard water. Unless you are brewing very dark beers, use a good light malt extract as a base (Briess, Alexanders, M&F and others are good choices). 2. Specialty Malts – Use crystal malts to add to the malty character. Chocolate malt, black malt, and roasted barley add various degrees of color and roasted malt character. 3. Hops – Buy properly stored hops (preferable hops that are stored at 0F in air and light tight bags). I buy most of mine from hoptech in 8 oz bags. If I could use only one kind of hop it would be cascade. It is good for bittering, flavor, aroma, and dry hopping. 4. Yeast – Yeast (and the fermentation temp) has quite abit of effect on the final outcome of the brew. Various discriptions of yeasts include the words malty, clean, fruity, clove-like, etc. So you can see the yeast effects the overall character. –Russ

Response:

: I have made several batches of brew. So I am kind of new at this. Most : of my beers are good but lack real character. I have followed the : recipes but they never seem strong enough. I don’t use a hydrometer. : Everything goes smooth from start to finish. : Maybe I haven’t let it ferment long enough or added enough hops. Can you : add too much hops? I might describe my first batches to be a bit : sweet and smooth. I fermented them for several weeks. They taste Ok. : Just not Reeeeeal good. Troy’s response to this, I think, was excellent. I think my first few all-extract batches were exactly as you describe: yeah, we drank ‘em, but there was no joy. *MY* recommendation to get to better beer without getting all wrapped around an axle is: try to increase the amount of the total boil you do, and use unhopped extract with almost double the amount of boiling hops recommended in the recipe you’re using. In other words, if you can boil 3-4 gallons of a finve gallon batch, then try to do that, using the *least* amount of cold water possible to makeup to 5 gal. Actually, the one thing you can do to possibly improve your science with the least amount of wasted money is to go to 2.5 gal batches until you get a beer that makes you say, "*THIS* is the stuff!". This will allow you to experiment for less money, AND to do a full boil of, say, 3.5 gal for one hour, leaving a final volume of 2.5 gal. The next step is to find a "grain/extract" recipe that asks for some grain steeping–adding in the infusion goo to the pot. This will add some "character" to the wort without adding much at all to the complexity of the process. —

Response:

In article I have made several batches of brew. So I am kind of new at this. Most of my beers are good but lack real character. I have followed the recipes but they never seem strong enough. I don’t use a hydrometer. Everything goes smooth from start to finish. Maybe I haven’t let it ferment long enough or added enough hops. Can you add too much hops? I might describe my first batches to be a bit sweet and smooth. I fermented them for several weeks. They taste Ok. Just not Reeeeeal good. Any suggestions? Sail /)

Try a partial or full mash, or use some grains as part of the recipe. If you really want character try chocalate malt or munich dark in a recipe… mmmmm..wha is the MD tastey. ALso throw in some aromatic hops in for the last ten minutes of boil, My brewing pard and I are partial to Mount Hood, an american version of hallertauer that has a very noble character, nice nose. Happy Trails KBB

Response:

<snip, snip : esters to ales, alts, weizens etc. Dry yeast packets work just fine, but : they tend to be neutral yeast strains that don’t add much to the flavor, : in my opinion. Actually, Bob, I did a pale ale recently and had to repitch because of operator error. Circumstances were such that I had to repitch without delay and I went with Nottingham dry yeast to avoid the delay associated with starting a batch of liquid yeast. The pale ale came out somewhat dry, but with a very distinct fruitiness/tartness to it. Quite nice, actually. Sometimes mistakes provide lessons. — "Good idea, Chuck. But, syrup won’t stop them!" – Firesign Theatre

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