Advice Needed

[deegee]

G'Day all, from one of your newer members. I started brewing can kits a few years ago, but I eventually gave it up, partly because of time pressures, but mainly because my brews often got worse rather than better after they were bottled.

I had the odd disaster, but almost all of my brews tasted pretty good a couple of weeks after bottling. However, after three or four weeks, most of them would slowly but surely deteriorate.
The best description that I can give is that they gradually got "drier". In the early stages this was not too bad, but they would eventually become quite astringent, to the point where I would pour any remaining bottles down the sink.

I got quite fanatical about sanitation, because that's what I suspected at first, and I tried several different sterilizers, but I didn't seem to make much difference. The beer would improve for about three to four weeks after bottling, but then it was all downhill.

The only exceptions were the stouts -- they just kept getting better. I enjoy a stout from time to time, especially in winter, but I'd really like to be able to make a good beer too.

Has anyone out there had this problem, know what it is, or what might be causing it ??. If so any suggestions would be appreciated, and might re-kindle my home brewing.

Thanks Deegee

 

[Weizguy]

More questions before U get answers.

Have you used different yeasts for these beers, or all standard packet yeast?
Is there a stage where your fermented wort is exposed to the air e.g. foaming into the bottling bucket or excess splashing?
Is there potential for introduction of bacteria into the wort, such as tap water from a garden hose used to top up your fermentor?
How long do you normally ferment your wort?
What temp do you store your beer?
Anything else in your brewing process that you feel may be out of the ordinary?
Does your beer continue to get fizzier with age, as it becomes drier?

Do you dissasemble the tap in your fermentor, and clean it before the next batch?

Thanks for your time
Seth

*Edit - extra question*

 

[Voosher]

It would also be good to know specifically which kits you used and whether you remember any in particular being better or worse than others (the stout excepted).
Some here may have good experience with the kits you used.
In the past I've done several of the Coopers kits. I did notice that the standard kit yeast does tend to dry out with age. This seems to suit many who prefer standard Aussie lagers but I found them pretty bland pretty quickly. I did take to using recultured yeast from Coopers bottles which seemed to hold the initial flavour truer for longer.
Yeast is my first guess but it would be good to hear the details as per Weizguy's post.
Cheers.

 

[deegee]

'Weizguy'
More questions before U get answers.

Have you used different yeasts for these beers, or all standard packet yeast?
Is there a stage where your fermented wort is exposed to the air e.g. foaming into the bottling bucket or excess splashing?
Is there potential for introduction of bacteria into the wort, such as tap water from a garden hose used to top up your fermentor?
How long do you normally ferment your wort?
What temp do you store your beer?
Anything else in your brewing process that you feel may be out of the ordinary?
Does your beer continue to get fizzier with age, as it becomes drier?
Do you dissasemble the tap in your fermentor, and clean it before the next batch?

Seth, Thanks for your prompt response. I did half expect there might be more questions at first so here are the answers :-

Can't remember for sure which yeasts. At first I would have used what came with the can, and later, I was using Safale in summer and Saflager in winter.

No excess splashing, I know about racking, but had not progressed to doing it. I prime each bottle, then run the brew in thru a plastic tube that reaches the bottom of the bottle.

The initial water goes into the fermenter from the kitchen tap. No extra water added once it is started.

I used to wait at least 2-3 days after the airlock stopped burping before bottling. Sometimes it would be longer before I had time to bottle.

I fermented and stored most of my beers at room temps. I live in Sth East Qld, so it's hot in summer and cool in winter. But I do have a beer fridge, so a dozen or two whatever i had at the time would have been kept in that after a couple of weeks at room temp to gas up.

It did get a little fizzier as it dried out, but not to the point where it came out over the top of the bottle when opened. ( except for one batch - must have double primed or bottle too early )

I don't think I dismantled the tap at first, but later, when I was trying to stop the problem, I would pull it down completely and soak it in a strong sterilizer solution.

Can't think of anything I do that is unusual. I remember getting a couple of books from the library and reading them in an eefort to diagnose the cause. According to them I was following a typical routine.

thanks again Deegee.

 

[Thommo]

What fermentables did you add to the standard kit?

I assume that if you experimented with different yeasts you would probably have tried adding all malt instead of sugar, but you never know. It could be something as simple as this.

 

[deegee]

Voosher, can't remember all of them, but some were Coopers - probably with the kit yeast. Some were Morgans, probably with the Safale or lager yeast. There were probably a couple of other brands too, but it was a few years ago, and I've used up a lot of brain cells since then.

Thommo, I started off using sugar, moved on to dextrose, and then to prepack malt/dextrose mixes, but the problem did not seem to relate to these.

It doesn't make much sense, I know, but when I first started and knew nothing, but as I progressed a little and tried to make better brews, they got worse. Maybe I should go back to the KISS method.

Cheers, Deegee