Gingery cidery tasting beer

Bugsyboy1

I've been brewing wine for 4 years with success. Beers, another matter entirely. After about 10 goes I am about to give up -but thought I'd ask for advice just in case.

I've brewed about 5 wheat beers always with success. Once I stray away from them they all taste the same, Cooper's Canadian Blonde and European Style lager plus various craft American pale ales. They have a ginger ale tang about them that makes them undrinkable. I am very keen on Sierra Nevada - even Smithwicks Pale Ale and have heard it's possible to make a good go of them with a kit. I've tried 3 pale ale kits in the Craft range from homebrew west and they've tasted nothing like pale ale.I rang Home brew west today and they said that my temps might dropping at night and the yeast is dying before if can eat all the malt- leaving me with a malty taste. So they reckon I should use a brewbelt to keep the temps 20 to 25C. I keep the beer in the cloakroom ie no heating and closed most of the time. So at night it might be cooler alright. But I thought that cooler temps just meant it took longer for the brewing to finish??

So has anyone brewed an APA or IPA anything like a commercial one? I'd love to taste one to know it is possible.
Is it true that low temps every night could give me this gingery tang?
Should I get a new fermenter for my beer. I don't mix buckets for wine and beer.
Any advice?

I tend not to rack to a secondary but bottle from the main bucket. I've batch primed as well as used the coopers drops.

All advice gratefully received. I know I must be doing something basic wrong because of the success stories I hear here.
Thanks

BeerNut

What are you using as your top-up fermentable? If it's sugar that would explain the cidery taste: don't use sugar, use malt extract instead.

The best Pale Ale kit I've ever come across is the Coopers Traditional Draught one. It's very pale and clean with plenty of fresh hop flavour.

But it could be that you've just hit the limits of what you can produce making beer from kits. The next step is to move to extract brewing where you have much more control over what you're making.

Bugsyboy1

Thanks Beernut
I have in the past added sugar. With the wheat beers I've used malt extract and they've been good. The craft pale ale kits don't need sugar though and they had the tang. I'm reticent to go to extract brewing to be honest. Seems like a lot of work. If I could brew a half decent beer from a kit I'd be happy. Maybe I should just stick with the wheat beers. Anyone brewed a pale ale they're happy with?

drumswan

Bugsyboy1 wrote: »

Anyone brewed a pale ale they're happy with?

Not from a kit tbh, no.

But this could be that I'd moved away from kits by the time I knew what I was doing more than a reflection on the kits themselves.

loyatemu

every kit I've brewed has had that "kit" taste to some extent (often described as a twang) - even more high-end all-malt kits like Woodfordes.

brewed 2 extract beers recently (using DME) and neither of them has the taste (they're not perfect either, but they don't taste like kit beers).

I have found that the kit beers improve a lot over time in the bottle though.

Bugsyboy1

My kit days may be over! Looks like Extract is the way. Can someone point me to the how to's and ingredients I need for a light pale ale?

loyatemu

Bugsyboy1 wrote: »

My kit days may be over! Looks like Extract is the way. Can someone point me to the how to's and ingredients I need for a light pale ale?

http://www.beoir.org/index.php/articles-mainmenu-36/brewing-knowledge/extract-brewing-mainmenu-47

BeerNut

Bugsyboy1 wrote: »

Can someone point me to the how to's and ingredients I need for a light pale ale?

I've been playing with Super Low Crystal as a steeping grain for hoppy pale ales lately and have been pleased with it. Steep half a kilo of that, add to 3kg of Light or Extra Light DME in a ~23L boil and hop with 100g of hops you like, 20g each at 60, 30, 20, 10 and 0 minutes, say. Pitch a sachet of US-05 and you're away. Dry hop a week later if you feel like it.

Bugsyboy1

Thanks for the advice. What's th min size pot I need for extract brewing? The one I have is 6l. Too small? Where can I get a bigger one cheap?
Cheers
P

Bugsyboy1

Okay as a first effort I am going for this from the home brew company. Not sure if the yeast is us-05. Should I order that separately just in case? If I did dry hop what should I use. I have a 10l pot which will have to make do. Planning to order today. Wish me luck.!

HBC FULL EXTRACT AMERICAN PALE ALE (23 LITRES)
Ingredients. 2 x 1.5kg cans of Premium Grade Pale Malt Extract. Grain: Crystal Malt. Hops: Magnum hops, Cascade hops. 1 Whirlfloc Tablet. 1 x 11g sachet Ale Yeast. 1 Muslin Bag. Full instructions.

loyatemu

Bugsyboy1 wrote: »

Okay as a first effort I am going for this from the home brew company. Not sure if the yeast is us-05. Should I order that separately just in case? If I did dry hop what should I use. I have a 10l pot which will have to make do. Planning to order today. Wish me luck.!

HBC FULL EXTRACT AMERICAN PALE ALE (23 LITRES)
Ingredients. 2 x 1.5kg cans of Premium Grade Pale Malt Extract. Grain: Crystal Malt. Hops: Magnum hops, Cascade hops. 1 Whirlfloc Tablet. 1 x 11g sachet Ale Yeast. 1 Muslin Bag. Full instructions.

I've done that kit - did half of it in a 19L pot. It comes with US05 yeast.

You could do the whole kit in a smaller amount of water and then just top up with cold water at the end, it might affect the amount of flavour you get out of the hops though (as the boiling liquid will be thicker). It does save you the hassle of having to cool the wort after the boil though.

Bugsyboy1

Where you happy with the end product. Was it recognisable as a pale ale?

loyatemu

Bugsyboy1 wrote: »

Where you happy with the end product. Was it recognisable as a pale ale?

Yes, its a bit under-carbonated and I think it feremented a bit too warm but thats my fault, the beer is very tasty and better than any kit beer I've made.