Help - Please Friggin Christ Help

[VBisGod]

watch out for the experts like blackapples, Craigieburn is a sparrows fart from Westgate, why not check out FergtheBrewer here and the skirt wearing sexretary of Westgate for a hands on. In the meantime VB.
Greensborough homebrew, Worthogs, Bayside...... just check em out.

 

[WarmBeer]

Hi all,

Just tipped $70 worth of wort and a 2L ringwood starter down the drain. At this point I am right on the cusp of giving up brewing all together.

I seriously reckon I have spent about 4k on brewing. That includes gear and ingrediants over a 7 year period. I started off kits and bits, then partial, then all grain. Made some OK beers but they never really hit the mark. NEVER made a crystal clear beer. Not even polyclar helped me - seems ******* nothing can help me.

The AG I just attempted was smurtos landlord. I batch sparge. Half way through the first run the sparge stuck and I mean dead stuck - the pipe ran totally dry with about 10 liters of wort sealed tight above the grain bed. I mashed out - the whole mash was at 78 degrees. I tried to un stick it and in doing so about a kg of grain husks went through to the kettle - fucked the whole batch.

I cant be fucked with it any more and right now Im loosing it. Brewing as an absolute passion of mine. I love it so much and I love a good beer. I have spent so much money and so much time and all I can produce is dam water looking shit beer. Stuck sparges, hazy beers that never hit the mark - I just dont know how the breweries do it. I just dont know how to make good beer.

I have had water analysis done, I make chemical (salts) additions, I have a rubbermaid mash tun with a 12" bottom, I watch my temps very closley, I have read palmer 10 times, Designing great beers 5 times, Yeast twice, New brewing lager beer twice, brewing classic styles about 5 times, I have spent 100's of hours on youtube watching brewing videos, I have been to G&G demo days... I feel as though I have nothing left to give this hobby and its killing me. Right now Im just so shattered I cant believe it.

Anyway this is merely just a rant and Im sorry if you have even bothered to read it. I dont need any advice - Ive already had it all. Ive already read all the posts on every single topic you could imagine.

If you brew great beer at home that is clear and truly delicious, I take my hat off to you big time. I wish I could do it so much but right at this moment I just dont see how I am ever going to.

Good brewing to you all.

I'll give you $100 for all your gear

But seriously, dude, get back on the horse that threw you. Get a mate around, brew together, try to enjoy the process as well as the end result.

Best question you can ask of yourself is "Am I brewing for myself, or for others?"

 

[Blackapple]

watch out for the experts like blackapples, Craigieburn is a sparrows fart from Westgate, why not check out FergtheBrewer here and the skirt wearing sexretary of Westgate for a hands on. In the meantime VB.
Greensborough homebrew, Worthogs, Bayside...... just check em out.

Post something useful or crawl back to your VB, Troll

 

[Rowy]

watch out for the experts like blackapples, Craigieburn is a sparrows fart from Westgate, why not check out FergtheBrewer here and the skirt wearing sexretary of Westgate for a hands on. In the meantime VB.
Greensborough homebrew, Worthogs, Bayside...... just check em out.

I'd rather eat my own scrotum than drink VB.

 

[VBisGod]

with a gooch Rowy?

 

[Rowy]

Only if its shaved

 

[Bats]

Relax... Have a Home Brew.

 

[MHB]

Find someone who makes beer you like, sit in on a brew day with them, get them to sit in on yours. Its usually something pretty basic but we can all fail to see the obvious sometimes and fresh eyes will often spot the problem.
As Darren said go back to basics and get all the simple things right and you are most of the way there.
Good luck and good brewing
Mark

 

[fcmcg]

watch out for the experts like blackapples, Craigieburn is a sparrows fart from Westgate, why not check out FergtheBrewer here and the skirt wearing sexretary of Westgate for a hands on. In the meantime VB.
Greensborough homebrew, Worthogs, Bayside...... just check em out.

Sexretary ? :lol:
I am now wondering which Westgater you are , VB ?
Come along to Westgate this Sunday , Bear...
I'm brewing on Black Betty , the club brewery ! You can see how a 3v cobbled together chewing gum and twine brewery works :lol:
Cheers
Ferg
10am kick-off
www.westgatebrewers.org for details
or
PM me
Cheers
Ferg
SECRETARY
Westgate

 

[DU99]

dont listen to du99, he never shows up, never pays his subs

 

[fcmcg]

Gee.you haven't been at the last two meeting's have you..and far as subs go i am a payed up member

Who is it , Du ?
And for the record , Du even bought a beer...and it was one of the better kit beers i've had....good effort Du

 

[Charst]

I BIAB so i can with any real experience help the stuck sparge issue but rice hulls seem to be a worthwhile cheap investment vs the cost of the grain you dumped. If you use them already then I guess use more.

I know its another bit of gear but Get down to G&G on a Filtering beer demo day and your beer will be VB clear in no time.

having said that your not the only one having these dramas

I won the AHB Lotto near on a year ago and I can of the 36 beers i got from other brewers id say

95% had Haze
90% had an issue i could pick out.

Most were comparable to my efforts, some definitely better, some :icon_vomit:

I want my beer to be as good as the commercial breweries as does every brewer on this forum but I take every F*ck up I make (and I make one every batch at the moment) as a lesson and another step towards making a top sherbet.

 

[Nick JD]

Hi all,

I dont need any advice - Ive already had it all. Ive already read all the posts on every single topic you could imagine.

Good brewing to you all.

Thanks!

 

[Dave70]

Hey fella, just take your seat again and relax eh?

Here's my advice.

Slow down. Take your time. Use a teensy little tube and let your mash drain slowly.
Let the beer sit in the fermenter for three weeks or so.
Crash chill for a week, or weeks instead of kegging and gassing the shit the nanosecond the gravity stops dropping.
Patience in this game really pays dividends.
If you're gonna give yourself a ******* aneurysm sweating something as frivolous brewing suds, give it away.

Here's a Japanese garden for you to look at whilst you contemplate the significance of attenuation and chill haze.

 

[petesbrew]

Perfect reply Dave.

Join a homebrew club.
Get another brewer round for a brewday for tips & Q&A.
Buy that slab of VB and remind yourself why you love this hobby.
Hazy beer... pftt. who cares. Some of us have been watching masterchef too long. You're drinking a beer, not looking at a painting.
(but I admit, I racked my current APA onto gelatin - amazing how clear it came out, now you can see all the hop floaties. )

Good luck.

 

[bear09]

My Brewing brethren

To all that have responded I say a MASSIVE thanks to you. After sleeping on it there aint no way Im giving up. Screw it Im going harder

I think it may be time to join a brew club and I think it may be time to wave the white flag and get a brewing bro over for brew day one day to help me fix where its going wrong.

All the suggestions and words of advice I have read here have got me going again. Teaspoon of cement has hardened me up a bit now and Im ready to stop bitching and start brewing better brewing.

Ill remember this post and the people who have responded its another reason why I love brewing the community that surrounds it has yet to disappoint me.

Sorry for the swearing in the original post. I very rarely swear on facebook, or AHB or any other blogs.

Thanks again to everyone ive dried my eyes and manned up.

Quitters never brew good beer People who brew good beer never quit.

Cheers.

 

[insane_rosenberg]

I think it may be time to join a brew club

The Wort Hogs (affiliated member) are having a brew day at our president's house in South Morang Sunday week (23rd Oct). Feel free to come along and check it out.

Always happy to have someone come along and see what we're about before deciding whether or not to join.

P.S. Always good to see a fellow brewer man up after a tough brew day. We've all been there.

 

[DU99]

CUB ain't perfect either..as Ferg said your welcome to attend on sunday

 

[bear09]

Thanks again fellas. I have the web sites for wort hogs and westgates. Ill take a look and weigh it up. Think it might finally be time to get involved with a club - ive always liked the G&G brew days - I reckon these could be great.

Cheers.

 

[petesbrew]

Thanks again fellas. I have the web sites for wort hogs and westgates. Ill take a look and weigh it up. Think it might finally be time to get involved with a club - ive always liked the G&G brew days - I reckon these could be great.

Cheers.

Brewclub = new group of mates.