Brew Always Tastes Like Homebrew

[manticle]

Liquid malt extract (lme), light dried malt extract (ldme) and either dried malt extract or dark malt extract (DME - most often read and meant as dried malt extract). Dark dried malt extract maybe written as DDME.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=17 - some acronyms explained.

 

[Screwtop]

Rito then Bleach away

i will keep my thoughts to myself
Paul

OT: so as brief as possible. Most brewers are beasts of habit/ritual. I got an infection while using sanitiser and was told by a commercial brewer that some bugs will survive sanitisers but not bleach. No idea myself, took his word for it. He said bleach everything prior to use then rinse and then treat as you normally would with sanitiser, so I do. It's been successful so it has become ritual :lol: My tap water contains chloramine not chlorine rinsing with it is sterile as needs be prior to using no-rinse sanitiser.

We have no idea what is in your water Paul or what type and dosage of chlorine bleach you were using, each case is different. I say stick to your practice.......... it works for you, that's what matters. Only needs looking into if you have a problem.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[roverfj1200]

I have loved reading this thread.... Keep up the good work :lol: :lol:

 

[Liam dee]

Quote
"OH OH!!!!

I Forgot to add... My new brew:

Can of Coopers Lager (green can)
#11 Brew booster (Brew cellars)
Premium Lager Yeast (brew cellars 15g)
Pride of Ringwood finishing hops
Dry Enzyme

- its the Brew cellars Tooheys new replica, with the dry enzyme added in to get it dryer
I shall post results...
Oh and by the way... I like to master the simple stuff before i move onto the AG... cheers for the advice though guys "

Well, I cracked it today... its just over 2 weeks through, and it was a first for everything.

*first time using hops and different yeast
*First time bulk priming

1. Brew tastes beautiful. The hops took away that sweet aftertaste just nicely, and it finishes dry due to the dry enzyme
2. Sheet i was given said to add 210g of dextrose to 23 L. I feel this was wrong as it is over carbonated.

But just to reiterate: Brew is deliciouse... I wont go back to no hops now!

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Very good to hear.

The step up in taste to a good extract over kit+hops is even greater!

Once you start you start bittering your beers with difference style of hops and different boil periods you will realise a whole new world! Just throwing it out there as you've just started the journey!

 

[juzz1981]

+1 for bleach use, no problem here as long as you rinse

 

[ballzac]

2. Sheet i was given said to add 210g of dextrose to 23 L. I feel this was wrong as it is over carbonated.

The amount of CO2 already in solution is dependent on temperature, so if your brew was cold when you bottled, it will give you higher carbonation than if it was hot. 210g is still a fair bit though.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

EDIT: Oh, and congrats

 

[ballzac]

From the table I linked to:

I will assume you bottled at about 20C, as this is what you fermented at, this is 68F. You used 210g=7.4Oz for a 23L batch (equivalent to 6.1 Oz for a 19L (5USG) brew). On the table, 6.1 Oz of corn sugar (dextrose) at 68F gives maybe 3.4 volumes. That is some SERIOUS carbonation, suitable for a hefeweizen. If it was colder, it would have been even fizzier.

Please correct me if anyone sees a mistake in that calculation :unsure:

 

[WarmBeer]

From the table I linked to:

I will assume you bottled at about 20C, as this is what you fermented at, this is 68F. You used 210g=7.4Oz for a 23L batch (equivalent to 6.1 Oz for a 19L (5USG) brew). On the table, 6.1 Oz of corn sugar (dextrose) at 68F gives maybe 3.4 volumes. That is some SERIOUS carbonation, suitable for a hefeweizen. If it was colder, it would have been even fizzier.

Please correct me if anyone sees a mistake in that calculation :unsure:

My understanding is that it should be based on the maximum temperature of the beer once fermentation is nearing completion.

A smarter man than I wrote an excellent and comprehensive article about this topic: linky

 

[bum]

One thing for the OP: (and anyone else who cares to comment) another important thing to think about which I know most newer brewers don't pay enough attention to (generalisations are always wrong) is aeration and this is one factor that I've always considered as being a major contributor to shitty-beer syndrome. Everyone is quick to say "twang comes from old tinned extract, everyone knows that!". Fucken bullshit. How many blokes here are making tops beers from LME from not so busy LHBS? Heaps, that's how many. A whole range of things cause twang and in my opinion one of those things is poor conditions (in this context a lack of oxygen) for underpitched, lower quality yeast (5g sachet from under the lid). So yeah, that and all the other stuff mentioned prior.

One thing for the SOFT PRICKS who are whinging about what passes for advice here these days: go get double fucked. Seriously. You want people to take homebrewing seriously in the broader community? Then how will that happen if the biggest board in the country ends up being reserved only for blokes trying to work out how to get the most alc out of a beer in the quickest time? The reason it seems there's almost only shit advice lately? It is because YOU aren't giving up the good stuff. And YOU aren't telling [name removed] to pull his head in with his bullshit. Sick of saying the same thing? Fine. Don't blame some dickhead who got a kit for Christmas for being the reason you've taken your bat and ball and gone home.

 

[petesbrew]

Liam, Regarding the carbonation, I usually bulk prime a 23L batch with no more than 180g dextrose. I once did it with 300g LDME, after misreading Charlie Papazian's book. Suprisingly there were no bottlebombs with that batch, but the head was hectic for an IPA. (a shit one at that).

Good to hear the latest batch has stepped up a notch.
Kits are fine. Stick with them as long as you like. You're brewing for yourself, not some knob at the other end of internetland.
Yeah I love doing AG's but when time is tight, a kit is nice and easy, and you can hop it, add steeped grain, etc etc.

And yeah, keep browsing down the imported aisles, and branch out for something you've never seen before... (belgians, czech pilsners, esbs, stouts).

Awesome vent there, Bum. We were all noobs at one point, and we can't forget that when we see a "my airlock isn't bubbling" thread.

 

[ballzac]

My understanding is that it should be based on the maximum temperature of the beer once fermentation is nearing completion.

A smarter man than I wrote an excellent and comprehensive article about this topic: linky

Hadn't heard that before. Interesting link. I don't know if that information is based on empirical evidence, or just theory, but the theory seems flawed to me. The fermenter, contrary to the claim, is under pressure (roughly 15 PSI). I don't see why this pressure should be discounted when you consider what a dramatic effect an extra 15 PSI will do to the quantity of dissolved CO2 in the beer.

There is a thick blanket of CO2 on the beer, and moreso when the temperature has been raised and more has come out of solution. Surely when the temperature drops (given enough time) this will go back into solution? I don't see what would prevent it from being redissolved.

EDIT:Of course, "given enough time" is an important point, because if it takes a week for the CO2 to go back into solution, but you chill over 24 hours and then bottle, the highest temp (or close to) should be used anyway.

 

[petesbrew]

Don't blame some dickhead who got a kit for Christmas for being the reason you've taken your bat and ball and gone home.

For the record, I got mine for my birthday. B)

 

[Pennywise]

Sorry if I've read your post incorrectly ballzac, but there is no way there is 15psi of pressure in the fermenter. The reason the wort/beer wont absorb any of the previously de-absorbed (yes, Iknow thats not a word but I can't think of the term ATM) co2 is because there isn't enough pressure in there, at a guess I'd say it would be sweet FA more that atmospheric pressure, probably not even a measurable difference.

 

[megs80]

When you start out brewing. That homebrew taste is just a fact of life. The way I approached getting rid of that flavour was a couple of things:

1. Use better yeast, Fermentis is good but a wyeast or white labs will make a big difference.
2. Make your better yeast as comfy as possible. Get an old fridge and a temp control unit. Best money you'll spend. All great beers are awesomely fermented.
3. Make starters. Boil water and DME together in a mix around 1040 (100g DME to 1ltr water from memory). Cool in an old softdrink bottle. Pitch ur yeast and add an airlock. Shake as often as possible for around 24hrs, then pitch to wort. This gets the yeast active and lets them multiply in another environment. That way all they want to do in your beer is eat instead of have an orgy, fart and multiply. This is especially necessary if ur doing lagers!

This will make your beer better, not great. Adding extra hops and steeping grains will make your beer better still. You will never make great beer with extract, Thats just the way it is. Its the freshness you will miss out on. The only way to make great beer is all grain. Saying that, ferment your beer well and you and your mates will enjoy ur beer.

Cheers,

 

[Pennywise]

You will never make great beer with extract, Thats just the way it is.

Sorry, but that is bullshit

 

[WarmBeer]

Sorry if I've read your post incorrectly ballzac, but there is no way there is 15psi of pressure in the fermenter.

HB79, Ballzac is being technically correct. 15 psi is equivalent to 1 atmosphere of pressure. This is the "strenuous" pressure we live under each and every day.

Now, as to it contributing to re-absorbtion of the CO2 layer back into the beer, I'll call BS, but am open to reasoned, well argued debate.

 

[petesbrew]

Sorry, but that is bullshit

+1.

 

[Pennywise]

HB79, Ballzac is being technically correct. 15 psi is equivalent to 1 atmosphere of pressure. This is the "strenuous" pressure we live under each and every day.

I was thinking he was saying 15 psi as in more pressure than a standard keg when carbed. Thanks WB :icon_cheers:

 

[HoppingMad]

In answer to the OP, the answer is quite simple.

Temp control, temp control, temp control.

Sure there are heaps of other variables as the guys say, but this is the biggest.

The reason homebrew gets twang, gets fruity gets esters, gets fusel notes is because your yeastie beasties in the drum are being cooked too high.

Get a Fridgemate, or a Tempmate, a manual fridge controller, or a thermostat, or a timer, or a heat pad thermostat, or an submersible aquarium heater, or simply forget the gear and brew in ambient temps that match the spec of your yeast (lagers in winter (when it's 10 degrees in the shed), ales in summer (when its 18-22 degrees)) then you'll hit the motherlode and get clean yummy beer.

Not sure what the temp range is for your yeast? Check the packet. Or better still, go to the Brewcellar, Wyeast, Fermentis or Whitelabs site and grab all the technical info on how to handle that particular yeast. Also realise that Brewcellar yeasts are actually repacked Fermentis yeasts. So if you're using European Lager Brewcellar, check the Fermentis guide for W34/70. If you're using American Ale Brewcellar, check the Fermentis guide for US-05. And so on.

Yeast handling and good temp control makes cleaner better brews. Bad yeast handling and temp control makes sharp tasting ones. The moment I realised this my beers went from the taste of toenail polish to clean heaven. Give it a bash and you'll see.

Hopper.