Brew Always Tastes Like Homebrew

[kbe]

The way I look at it, there is a few very valid reasons that people brew with kits and extract.

One is the time that they have available to brew. For me, I am lucky to have 4 days off a month, and along with other things I do, I have just enough time to do some brews with some goo and maybe some additions.

The second is $'s. Not everyone can afford to go to all grain brewing. Most people get into home brewing for this exact reason. All grain, for some is not an option. If anyone is willing to send me enough to make a complete Brutus 10 for me, then I would be willing to try to find some time to use it.

All grain could very well taste better than kit or extract, but then, what do the BIG brewers use to make the stuff that most of us do not like to drink. I bet it is not from kits and extract, so maybe all grain is not that great. (This is just another way of looking at things. Specifically my way.)

Point is, from what I read here, most questions that are asked about kit and extract nearly always get dragged towards the "all grain" side of things, and maybe people should edit that out of their responses before clicking the 'add reply' button.

My brews have become a lot better since I acquired a second hand fridge and added temperature control to it, as has using some of the yeast that have been recommended in threads here. I have also started to add steeped grains to again add more flavour. To do this I bought a portable gas cooker and some gas cylinders for about $25 from Big W, and use a pot from the kitchen, which all costs less than an all grain setup.

I read the advice given by people who do all grain, but I think that some of you could give us kits and extracts blokes a break from the 'go all grain' as a standard part of your responses.

 

[Oatlands Brewer]

Can anyone tell me why my airlocks not bubbling my brews been at 120 deg for 20 mins and nothings happnen.

oh and i used Baker's yeast

 

[Smashin]

thats all very good oatlands but I think you find it will kick off nicely if you sit it up against a north facing window...

Can anyone tell me why my airlocks not bubbling my brews been at 120 deg for 20 mins and nothings happnen.

oh and i used Baker's yeast

 

[Oatlands Brewer]

thats all very good oatlands but I think you find it will kick off nicely if you sit it up against a north facing window...

Thanks Smash but being in Oatlands all our windows face south and have bars on them

 

[muckey]

120 degrees is a bit cool isnt it???

and for those who cant get their airlock bubbling.... you need a kitten and some bubblewrap


Oh my god I went there didn't I................ :unsure:

 

[Bribie G]

kbe makes a good point that to get into AG full sized batches there is a definite financial 'hump' to get over - despite the stovetop mini-biab get into AG for less than $30 methods most people go the BIAB urn or the 3V with kettles and and eski, and not all of us can fork out four or five hundred dollars - for example I'm a part pensioner (Carer) and most of my equipment has been financed by that nice Mr Howard, and then that nice Mr Rudd stimulating me, and I am about to be stimulated again by that lovely redhead who is not yet at the Lodge - however there are a lot of guys out there with mortgages and ankle biters etc who don't get a cash injection by the Govt. and are brewing to a budget and have fairly basic jobs.

Great news is that they can get into brewing a good drinkable drop with the high quality of kits and bits available in Australia. Get onto a UK forum like Jim's beer kit and for everyone in Australia who is using Muntons, there are fifty Poms buying exported Coopers tins at twenty bucks a pop their money. Speaks for itself.

 

[stuart13]

My brews have become a lot better since I acquired a second hand fridge and added temperature control to it, as has using some of the yeast that have been recommended in threads here. I have also started to add steeped grains to again add more flavour. To do this I bought a portable gas cooker and some gas cylinders for about $25 from Big W, and use a pot from the kitchen, which all costs less than an all grain setup.

You are standing atop a slippery slide, my friend...

 

[jyo]

You are standing atop a slippery slide, my friend...

I agree. Stop now. All Grain will only produce shit beer anyway.

Wow, 4 pages in one day...this must be a record....


Edit- And thanks for the clarification on the kitten incident, Bribie. I had wondered for bloody months!

 

[Hatchy]

Apologies for a potentially on topic post here & double apologies if this has been covered in previous pages.

To answer question 1 from the original post, I'm guessing I'm with most of the other dudes here who are or have been fully familiar with the kit twang mentioned by OP. I'd agree with the blokes who suggested temp control, it's definitely been one of the better improvements here, having said that, during summer I brewed some pretty good beers at 26 using us05 (flame suit on). Using a good recipe certainly doesn't hurt, Neill's centenarillo is a winner (I used galaxy as I didn't have any centennial but I don't think I've seen a bad word said about that recipe), I'm happy to share some of my better ones but they're not going to be anywhere near the commercial beers mentioned in OP. I would suggest doing a blind tasting of Tooheys new & Carlton dry to see how much different they do taste & if you can pick the difference (I'm not saying you won't pick the difference but the worst thing that can come from this experiment is that you'll drink 2 beers). I would have the top 5 most important things to look at for kit/extract beer as sanitation, sanitation, sanitation, temp control, good, re-hydrated yeast & using a recipe that is going to make beer that you'll enjoy drinking.

As an "answer" to question 2, I'd never heard of Tooheys whitestag until reading this thread, sorry.

P.S. Thanks everyone for keeping up the entertainment in this thread during what was an otherwise uneventful day at "work".

 

[petesbrew]

View attachment 39255

For those who came in late the kittens thing was a former member who exploded in a thread posted by yet another person who said "My airlock isn't bubbling" to which the former member posted something like "look, to make my point and get you to understand I'll come round and strangle a kitten in front of you "

Since then kittens and airlock bubbling have been closely intertwined on AHB

Been on this site for around 4 years, and FINALLY someone's explained it.
Thankyou, Bribie. :beer:

 

[Kevman]

Point is, from what I read here, most questions that are asked about kit and extract nearly always get dragged towards the "all grain" side of things, and maybe people should edit that out of their responses before clicking the 'add reply' button.

I read the advice given by people who do all grain, but I think that some of you could give us kits and extracts blokes a break from the 'go all grain' as a standard part of your responses.

I agree with kbe on this one.

One of the biggest issues is that we don't know the experience of the person asking the question. They might have only done two or three kits using a kit, kilo of sugar and fermented at 26C because thats what the instructions said. With AG, you want them to start understanding mash in and out temps, efficiency ratings, hop schedules, sparging, etc. it just isn't going to happen. This is like giving a 17 year old two driving lessons, throwing them in a Formula 1 car on a race track and expecting the car back in one piece.

I think homebrewing tends to be a progressive journey. You start doing kits with sugar, then learn some information here, get your temperature and sanitation under control. Next you start using better yeasts, steeping some grains, and adding hops to your kits. Next you start doing extracts and designing your own recipes. Then you might decide to do some all grain.

 

[Nick JD]

I find the biggest increase in homebrew quality comes with replacing the kit goop with unhopped extract, good yeast and real hops in a small boil.

Having a peer say, "Hey, this doesn't taste like homebrew," after a sip is motivation enough to cause brewing addiction, and that road almost always leads to AG if someone shows how simple it actually is. It's not the equipment the novice brewer needs, it's the instruction that cements the theory.

I sometimes think the American situation where they don't have K&K (and are forced into extract brewing as novices) is probably a good thing.

I also don't know why no homebrew kit company sells a can of unhopped goop (2.5kg) with a packet of fresh hops and yeast to go with it - the whole lot stored in the supermarket fridge. Coopers? You listening? I suspect if Coopers sold a kit that practically made as good a beer as the stuff they sell at the Bottlo ... it might not be good for business.

And therein ends my soapbox conspiracy as to why K&K is deliberately made to be terrible ... it's made by the same companies who make beer. Can anyone think of another reason they tell people to brew at those temperatures?

 

[Hatchy]

That's probably part of it but I reckon they see the home brew market as a different market to their traditional market. I reckon it's more about keeping it simple for beginners.

 

[Pete2501]

For those who came in late the kittens thing was a former member who exploded in a thread posted by yet another person who said "My airlock isn't bubbling" to which the former member posted something like "look, to make my point and get you to understand I'll come round and strangle a kitten in front of you "

Since then kittens and airlock bubbling have been closely intertwined on AHB

That's pretty funny.

 

[Scruffy]

[Car analogy warning... ]

Kit car using pre-assembled parts and bits:

Bespoke car, bespoke parts:

[/Car analogy warning... ]

 

[petesbrew]

[Car analogy warning... ]

Bulk buy anyone?

 

[Nick JD]

This is also a Kit Car. :icon_cheers:

 

[Scruffy]

That's why the car analogy works every time...

Unless you devote your time and skill to a project, and use the best bits you can find, and don't spend all your cash in Bunnings, even a kit can scrub up well...

Shame about the engine in that one though...

 

[Scruffy]

Think this is a porsche clone too:

err, looks a bit like one...

 

[Shed101]

Back OT ... assuming the OP hasn't already drowned himself in his own fermenter.

The only homebrew twang i've had was from my first effort, where I used kit yeast and dextrose. I bought a tempmate 'cos the minimal research I'd done said temperature was important and i fortunately had a spare fridge, but while I was away for the easter weekend the fridge shelf collapsed and the fermenter pushed the door opened so the temp. probably fluctuated for the first 4 days.

Since then all of my beers have cost ~$40 / 20-23 litres in ingredients and despite inevitable cock-ups "useful learning experiences" and a lot of procrastination "research" on this fine site my beer is improving and my K&B beer is remarkably drinkable.

You don't need to shell out a fortune for a decent homebrew, but you do need to spend where it matters.