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How to mellow a beer's flavor?

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beninak

beninak

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2007
385
1
0
Anchorage, AK
I recently brewed a batch of "Goat Scrotum Ale" as per the recipe from Charlie Papazian's THE COMPLETE JOY OF HOMEBREWING with one exception: while the recipe called for 5lbs of dark liquid malt extract, I could only get it in a 7lb can, and not wanting to waste anything or have 2lbs of leftover LME that I wasnt going to use for anything else anytime soon, I used all 7 lbs.

Problem is, I just racked it to secondary and took sample for taste-testing, and its kind of got a harsh bitter edge to it that I'm guessing is from the extra dark malt extract. This is supposed to be a Porter-ish brew, and definitely has some potential if I can do something to adjust it to compensate for my deviation from the recipe.

The best two options I can think of to mellow off the bitter edge are to add either some honey or corn sugar in water or a combination of both and let it ferment out again. Should kick up the ABV a bit, which I wouldnt mind, and maybe mellow out the flavor.

Does this sound like it might work? Or is there a better alternative?
 
How long ago did you start this beer? If it's really young still, I'd just wait awhile and the bitterness should fade some (assuming it's hop or "green" beer bitterness). If it's dark malt bitter, going drier (adding honey and fermenting again) wouldn't help, IMO. You could add some lactose to boost the sweetness, which might cover the bitterness. But really, I would just wait a little and see how it goes. Young beer, especially with more alcohol than originally intended, just takes time to mellow. Give it a few weeks to a month and check again.
 
Beninak,
You are in for a bit of a wait. I consider 2 extra pounds of dark malt to be a pretty big addition, but I don't think you have all that much to be concerned about. My brewbuddy made an all grain batch in Nov '06, and it is still aging in the keg. He puts it on tap on occasion, but it is such a strange brew, it can't be drank in mass. His took about 3 months before it was what I would call drinkable. Feel free to bottle/keg it, but give it time, and it should mellow.

Cheers!

Greenblood
 
Hey Beninak !!!!

How's the Scrotum? Goat Scrotum Ale, that is !!!!! :tongue1:

FWIW, I found through first-hand experience that home-brewed beer improves, and I do mean improves, with age. Some of the best homebrews that I've made thus far have been either bottle aging (Chocolate Vanilla Porter, Basic Braggot), or bulk aging (Barleywine Braggot, Scottish Wee Heavy) for 12 - 14 months. I realize this thread has not been responded to in about 6 months (which should have toned-down that Scrotum significantly), and am curious what type of improvements to that beer were realized during that time.

Please let us know !

- GL63
 
Wel, I just tried another bottle and ave to say I like it alot better than I did when I started this thread. The flavors have mellowed and blended alot better with age, The juniper berries give it a nice evergreen taste that makes it seem like it would be a great holiday beer, or good for drinking at a campsite in the middle of a forest.

Being a newbee brewer, I really underestimated the impact that the extra 2 lbs of dark LME would have on this beer, and I think it would taste alot better if I had followed the recipe and only used 5 lbs. Lesson learned though. Its still quite drinkable, and hopefully I'll get a chance to try this one again sometime. I have to take a break from beer brewing for a little while, though, because my brew kettle has been putting too much stress on our little electric range. Maybe I'll get a propane burner setup for Christmas!
 
as a rule, I don't taste my brews for at least 2 months after botteling, depending on the recipe. I have an all grain trappist tripel batch going now and the recipe calls for it to sit in the secondary for 2 months and in the bottles at least 6 months. Bottling it this weekend. Gonna try the first one on my birthday in the end of July. I also just bottled a batch of hoegaarden grand cru partial mash that I will try in June. Age is your friend.
 
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