Sparkling beer soda - help!

Hi,

Tried to brew my first non-kit batch, using only malt and hops.  I used:

5 lbs of Munton light
2 lbs of Munton amber

1 oz of freeze dried cascade hops for bittering (not pellets, the actual hops)
1 oz of freeze dried chinook for finishing
Windsor yeast

Original gravity was 1.065

Everything smelled fantastic when I brewed it.  The primary fermentation went great, it was so active that it actually pushed up through the airlock.  I added a secondary blow off tube.

I waited until it completely stopped fermenting, then transferred it to a secondary fermenter.  I waited about a week, there seemed to be absolutely nothing happening.  I bottled it, I think the final gravity was 1.022, and waited a couple of weeks.

What I got was sparkling beer soda.  Nice taste, a little sweet for me (I'm guessing there was too much unfermented sugars), but no hint of the hops at all.  The head last about 5 seconds, just like soda.

SO: what did I do wrong, and is there anything (other than mixing it with some GOOD beer) that I can do to fix this, such as waiting a few months before opening another bottle?

Thanks, in advance!

Concernig the hop aroma and flavor:
    How long did you boil the wort?
    When did you add the hops?

Concerning the carbonation and head retention:
    How much priming sugar did you use at bottling?
    What temperature did you store the bottles at after bottling?
    One week may not have been long enough to fully carbonate. Let it sit another week at 70 F.

Thanks for your reply!

I boiled for about two hours, and added the hops right at the beginning in a cheesecloth bag.  I kept the hops in for over an hour, and added the finishing the last 15 minutes or so. 

I used 5 ounces of priming sugar, and it was about 65 to 70 degrees in my house (maybe warmer) while bottled.  I waited a couple of weeks before trying it, but I guess I'll just let it sit for a month!  Think that might help?

I entered your data into BeerSmith and it looks like you should end up with an American Amber Ale. I suspect the reason you didn't get more hop character is because there's a lot of sugar left that overpowers the hops. The low attenuation could have been caused by old yeast, low aeration, or something I've forgotten to mention.

Check a bottle every few days and when you're happy with the carbonation, put them in the fridge. I'd not leave the bottles at room temperature once they're carbonated. I had a similar experience with my first batch.  I left them out and got bottle bombs. It took two sutures to close the gash in the back of my arm.

Thanks for your reply.  I guess I'll end up either checking and waiting, or (if that doesn't work) mixing it with another beer to make it drinkable. 

Well, try and try again!  Next batch is sourghum beer, so I'll see how THAT works (my wife needs gluten free).

- Russ

Let us know how your sorghum beer ends up. My wife recently asked when my baby was due. I just finished reading the South Beach Gluten Free Diet. Wanted to do that first before considering a gluten free homebrew. I'm actually looking at using malted buckwheat instead of sorghum ... and it looks like I will have to malt the buckwheat myself, as no one sells it. As for your "beer soda" ... I suggest you look at kegging instead of bottling.

Just a quick update:
Left the "beer soda" for awhile, opened a bottle a couple of days ago and at least it had a head that didn't disappear in five seconds.  A nice, normal head.  Didn't taste as sweet, either.  I'm thinking it's still bottle conditioning. Might just leave it for a month or two more and see what happens.

Brewed the sourghum beer yesterday afternoon, and it's bubbling along nicely this morning.  The recipe called for two packets of Nottingham yeast, so I'll keep a close eye on it and add a blow-off tube if needed (I got one of those fancy soft rubber dual-port carboy caps).  I'll post again after it's done and let you know how it turned out.

BTW - the recipe called for LOTS of hops, all cascade.  We also added 2 oz of elderflower along with the hopes during the final boil, probably not enough to make a difference in the taste but it may add to the bouquet.  We'll see!

Another update:

Just opened up a "Grolsch" bottle of the soda beer, and - nice head!  Less sweet, not bubbly.  Still not what I wanted, but I'm thinking that's because:
1. I should have let it ferment longer
2. I should have dry hopped it.

As for the sorghum beer - very nice!  Very hoppy flavor, with a hint of the elderflower.  We also dry hopped it (first time I've ever tried that), and the result was a really nice hop flavor to it.  Since I like IPA style beer, I'll probably make dry hopping a regular part of my brewing from now on!

If you're gluten intolerant, definitely try a batch of the sorghum.  My wife is very happy with it!

therealex said:

Another update:

Just opened up a "Grolsch" bottle of the soda beer, and - nice head!  Less sweet, not bubbly.  Still not what I wanted, but I'm thinking that's because:
1. I should have let it ferment longer
2. I should have dry hopped it.

Click to expand...

to point 1, you may have needed to raise the temp or rouse the yeast or something.  sounds like it just quit a bit early.  to point 2, dry hopping would have helped a lot with the hop character.  you can "randalize" or "torpedo" the beer now if you still have any left.  Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada do this to add character to some of their beers.  you can infuse anything you want into the beer this way.  Also, if your beer has a high carbonation level, you won't hurt it by running it through something like a french press (comes with a filter and is easy to clean) with hops or something else in it.