Can Anyone Help Me? 12months Of Crap Beer!

[HomeBrewDan]

Well after 12 months of struggling with my beer making I'm nearly at the point of giving it away.
I have been experiencing, what I now believe, must be infection after infection. If I try to describe the infection it would be this:- It almost smells bitter! I know that sounds silly but you can smell the sourness to it. Then to taste it there is little to no hop character and a lot of bitterness. Now being a pale ale with loads of hops I should be able to smell or taste them and I can't.

Here is what I have tried over the last year!

- Different recipes. I've tried basic recipes and advanced ones. Mostly recipes that I have done in the past with success. Most turn out bad. Some really bad, others mildly bad. It does seem that if I make a more robust beer like a stout or porter it turns out OK!! But I haven't made a lot of them over the year. Mostly pale ales.
- I have replaced ALL my gear that is plastic and only kept the stainless stuff.
- I buy most of my stuff through Brewcraft in Clayton. I usually use one of there "kit converters" and add it a can to suit. The cans have varied, as have the kit converters.
- I usually use safale yeasts.
- I use Brewshield to sanitize my gear
- I use Brewclean to clean my gear

I'm using the same cleaning process that I have for years prior to having these issues.

What I'm after is some advice on where to start in order to find the issue?

I have spoken with the guys at Brewcraft and Grape and Grain and neither have given me any direction. Most just say "it could be this" or "it could be that" and after spending approx $1000 on gear and ingredients I'm sick of "could be" statements.

I thought it might be due to some issues with ingredients due to the fact I've bought them from the same spot for years. So I tried to brew a LCPA replica based on some awesome reviews on an earlier post. But after a week in the fermenter its tasting quite ordinary. So I'm still left wondering and extremely frustrated!

Is there a series of tests I can perform to find out what's happening?

I am very passionate about my beer making and have even booked in to one of Vincent Costanzo's advanced courses, as I want to step up to all grain. But if I cant even make a decent extract beer, what good is going to all grain.

Cheers for any advice guys!

Dan

 

[[email protected]]

But if I cant even make a decent extract beer, what good is going to all grain.

Making a decent extract beer is a very tricky thing indeed. Extracts really don't cut it and you will struggle to make anything close to a commercial beer. I remember quite enjoying mine but I think that's because I was a uni student and I enjoyed the 50c beers more than anything. But now I've moved on to allgrain I really can't stand a kit brew.

Maybe try some of the fresh wort kits, which will give you something pretty close to an allgrain beer. If you like these then move onwards and upwards.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Dan,

you have already tried some of the stuff I would have suggested.

Maybe your water is the source of the infection (or a tap or something in-line).

Maybe try using packaged water from the supermarket.

(Maybe also try brewing in a different location. Sometimes bugs get going in a location and you can't get rid of them.)

Multiple infections are very disappointing and there was a stage I almost gave up home brewing because of it. Stick with it. There will be a reason. Just need to find it.

All the best of luck Dan.

Keith

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

How's your temp control? The sourness could be fermentation at higher temps than the yeast's ideal range. If accompanied by a metho-y, minty like alcoholic taste, I'd almost certainly put it down to that.

There may be many other reasons, but I'd +1 on Paxxy's comment - if you have a fermentation fridge, buy a FWK and get your kegs/bottles filled.

Goomba

 

[Bribie G]

FWK sounds the way to go.
If you are using a "standard" fermenter then I'd nuke it with napisan then bleach then Starsan for a few days. Chuck the tap and get a replacement tap ($2 Bunnings). Then do the FWK using clingwrap over the fermenter instead of lid or airlock, and keep temp below 20 using a reliable yeast such as US-05.

If you have fairly sensitive buds then maybe what you are tasting is the "kit twang". If you use a FWK then if your equipment is sanitized, this should "recalibrate" your beer glands and see how it goes. :icon_cheers:

 

[mika]

You need to find a homebrew club Dan.
Take along your beer that has 'issues' and get some one with a little knowledge to help identify your problems.
I don't necessarily agree with Paxxy, making good beer with extracts is possible and should be a goal for anyone thinking about moving to the more advanced steps.
Lot of technique not described in your post in terms of your santisation process, fermenting temperatures, yeast handling and all that good stuff, hence why I recommend someone local (location in your profile helps).
One common problem I see in your process is 'Brewcraft', but then perhaps that's just me. I could be wrong but I don't think their 'Brewshield' sanitiser is much chop and a change there could help out.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Is there a series of tests I can perform to find out what's happening?

This advice is perhaps a little redundant in your situation, cause it seems very likely you have an infection issue, but...

One thing you could try is collecting some of your wort in a sterile container, you can buy them pretty cheaply at your local chemist.

Just put the lid on and let it sit around.

It gives you an idea of how bug free your environment is. If the wort just sits around and does nothing (maybe a little protein break will fall to the bottom) it means you have a fairly bug free environment and can have some confidence in your processing.

If stuff starts to grow then you have trouble.

Good Luck again,

Keith

 

[BjornJ]

Lots of good advice here for sure.

1: Fresh wort kit to take out ingredients/brew process
2: Napisan fermenter and new tap (or take tap apart and napisan)
3:Find brew club to get others' feedback on beer



Good luck,
hopefully you'll find some gunk in the tap or something else that will make you go "AHA!" and the problem goes away.


thanks
Bjorn

 

[keifer33]

As Keith pointed out it could be environmental. Have u brewed in the same location for the last 12 months?

 

[[email protected]]

Also have you read this?
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

This will give you some very handy hints.

 

[WarmBeer]

You need to find a homebrew club Dan.

Probably the best suggestion in this thread.

Depending on where you are relative to Clayton, there are a number of brew clubs, and brewers, local to you.

If you're interested, either post here, or send me a PM.

 

[Fodder]

Not to take away from previous advice, but I was recently in a similar situation to this. Been brewing for years, not an infection in sight, and yet sour/bitter beers that tasted like crap. It turns out brew temp plays a HUGE role in the flavour game. Could be something as simple as temp control.

You mention that you have had some ok, some bad and some horrible brews over the year. Can you remember (or better yet did you record) the brew temps while fermenting? Are the brews you did in winter better than your summer ones?

I have found temperature control (thanks to this forum) to be a massive contributor to sour/bitter brews, and yes, I can smell it as well when I know I've got a bad one. Brewing at to high a temperature (eg. above 24 degrees) will make the yeasts give off crap flavours. The higher the temp, the more and crapper the flavour gets. I have recently adjusted my brew temps to 20 degrees (or there abouts) and have noticed a massive improvement to the brews!

If you've been doing this for years, and happy with your cleaning and sanitation routines, then you may be able to rule out infection.

Seems like your ingredients arent bad, and should work out ok for a kit brew.

The next thing I'd look at is your fermentation temperature...

 

[HoppingMad]

You need to find a homebrew club Dan.
Take along your beer that has 'issues' and get some one with a little knowledge to help identify your problems.
I don't necessarily agree with Paxxy, making good beer with extracts is possible and should be a goal for anyone thinking about moving to the more advanced steps.

+1 Find a club, share the beer, get the feedback. Better still get a club member to sight your set-up and take your through the steps to make a better beer (ie. share a brew day).

Internet is great for ideas in theory - but in practice you learn better in real life. I made average beer for years, got marginally better getting hints from AHB, then hit my straps the minute I joined a club.

This thread will continue with many suggestions for sanitation etc, but if you haven't already get yourself a copy of 'How to brew' by John Palmer and read the sections on cleaners and sterilisers thoroughly. It will also make it clear what you need to do and where.

Hopper.

 

[DU99]

Brewshield to sanitize my gear,Brewclean to clean my gear..i would switch sodium percarb, for cleaning and idopher for sanitizing,have you replaced your fermenter and tap..also it could be old stock on shelf..as in grain
http://www.crownconcepts.com.au/general.html

 

[jimmy01]

Dan

Consider what sanitizer you are using.

I used to use bleach, but changed to avoid any problems with yeast health. Switched to Hydrogen Peroxide based product. Had 5 infected brews out of 8. Switched to Iodophor and now Starsan - never had another detectable infection - 80 brews later. No probs with Iodophor - just stains too much.

Hope you find the cause

Dave

 

[bconnery]

You need to find a homebrew club Dan.
Take along your beer that has 'issues' and get some one with a little knowledge to help identify your problems.

Not only is this good advice generally but when you have a specific issue chances are someone at a club will have had it before, and know the answer.

I've had this happen to me with issues in the past. I performed all the standard advice steps I could find based on what it seemed like my issue was, but when I took the beer to the club a brewer who'd had a lot of trouble with the same issue went 'that's x, you need to do y' and I did...

Ive kept that very general because it may or may not be what you have, and there's enough good specific advice in this thread already

 

[leiothrix]

No probs with Iodophor - just stains too much.

What the hell are you doing with iodophor to make it stain? The pipette that I use to take the 1mL I need from the bottle is still clear after several years. The rest of the plastics such as the jug it gets diluted in and the fermentors and various other things that get sanitised often are still white/clear.

Don't spill the concentrate on anything and everything will be fine.

 

[unrealeous]

All great advice in the thread re chemical sanitation. My last line of defense is also to give everything the heat treatment.

For things like taps, rubber seals, bungs, you can boil them for 20 minutes. I also boil up about 4 litres of water and throw in my fermenter (after giving it the chemical treatment) - any bacteria holed up in scratches in the plastic might be able to hide from chemicals but it can't hide from heat.

its basically time/temperature killing. Hotter and longer is better. The following is for food, but gives you the general idea.
http://www.cookingissues.com/wp-content/up...emperature2.jpg

+1 on joining a club and getting someone to go over your whole process. Hope you sort it out!

 

[zabond]

Go with Bribie : If everthing is sanitised get a basic kit say coopers pale ale and be2 enhancer,your choice of hops, use US05,even use commercial packaged water, keep temps around 18c "very important"[get a STIOOO temp controler]ditch the airlock and go gladwrap will be a basic safe brew,but if you keep temps around 18c it will be drinkable,but the main things are sanitisation/yeast/temp control

 

[humulus]

All of the above,go the Fresh Wort Kit it took me from K&K to All Grain and im not looking back.The fun thing is im learning new things every brew and this forum is a wealth of knowledge and help!!!!! dont give in
cheers humulus :icon_cheers: