New again to home brewing
- Thread starter Dave Nagy
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blownkombi
Active Member
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Welcome back. We are always here to help
Grott
Beer Embalmer
Welcome also. Not only can we "hopefully" help we certainly can. Lots of help and info here. What styles do you enjoy and like to make? Starting off with kit and kilo to get you back into the swing?
Mardoo
Noob What Craps On A Bit
I was in your exact same boat. I stopped brewing in 1995, only to come back to it in 2012. Forums like this and the Brewing Network, as well as getting together with other brewers to brew, helped get me back up to speed. Enjoy the ride. The slope has gotten slippery-er, as far as I'm concerned. Way more to geek on now than there was then!
Thank you
I am having troubles with by beers at the moment.
Im getting some infection or something in them.
The taste a little like liquorice and dirt(earthy). Ive also noticed that the head is light brown not white. Also the bubbles a on the larger side.
The flavour gets stronger with age.
Ive only used kits.
Continental larger, peroni knock off , Carlton drought knock off and Asahi knock off.
All bottled
All sterilized with met.
I used a cordless drill attached to the big plastic spoon to mix
Tap water which we all drink and is fine with no chlorine smell or taste.
Fermentation time is 7-14 days
Any help appreciated
I am having troubles with by beers at the moment.
Im getting some infection or something in them.
The taste a little like liquorice and dirt(earthy). Ive also noticed that the head is light brown not white. Also the bubbles a on the larger side.
The flavour gets stronger with age.
Ive only used kits.
Continental larger, peroni knock off , Carlton drought knock off and Asahi knock off.
All bottled
All sterilized with met.
I used a cordless drill attached to the big plastic spoon to mix
Tap water which we all drink and is fine with no chlorine smell or taste.
Fermentation time is 7-14 days
Any help appreciated
laxation
Phlegm TB
- Joined
- 24/6/08
- Messages
- 735
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- 336
I can't diagnose your problem, but I'm not sure met is a steraliser. But all I know about it, is that you can mix it with sodium percarbonate to make a good cleaner... so I could be wrong.
Get yourself a bottle of star san, it'll last forever and a day and is a great and easy steraliser.
And then use the star san to steralise everything (including bottles and lids) after it all has been cleaned with the met/whatever brew cleaner you have.
You're not using your 20yo fermenter i assume
Get yourself a bottle of star san, it'll last forever and a day and is a great and easy steraliser.
And then use the star san to steralise everything (including bottles and lids) after it all has been cleaned with the met/whatever brew cleaner you have.
You're not using your 20yo fermenter i assume
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Pretty sure OP means sodium metabisulphate, not sodium metasilicate (which you can mix with sodium percarbonate to make homemade PBW).
OP - to help diagnose, please describe every step of the process you are undertaking including cleaning of equipment between brews, bottling procedure, yeast added, etc. Kilo of white sugar? Dried malt? Brew enhancer? Fermentation temperature? Time? Bottle washing? Storage and time before opening?
All beers the same liquorice/dirt flavour in common?
OP - to help diagnose, please describe every step of the process you are undertaking including cleaning of equipment between brews, bottling procedure, yeast added, etc. Kilo of white sugar? Dried malt? Brew enhancer? Fermentation temperature? Time? Bottle washing? Storage and time before opening?
All beers the same liquorice/dirt flavour in common?
Grott
Beer Embalmer
What temperatures are you fermenting at? Ferment for 14 days, gives yeast time to clean up and settle. Was the continental lager the Coopers Europeon lager? If so it needs to be left for min 12 weeks in the bottle and will initially smell of sulphur. Are you dismantling the fermenter tap to sanitise?
B
Brewnicorn
Guest
Welcome back Dave. Heaps of great changes in the last 20 years I bet. Fair few in the 12 years I skipped. Hope you get to the bottom of the issues quickly.
Thanks for the reply everyone
As with most newbie I didn't keep a log
Starting from the top I think my system has flaws.
I am using hand me down fermenters.
I clean with pink stain remover
Rinse
Sanitized with metabisulphite (think that is how its spelt) submerged in fluid emptied and then
Rinsed straight away
Bottle with a bottler (although a couple of batches was straight from the tap on slowly with a tilt to the bottles)
Crab tab
Bottle.
Taste after a couple of weeks. Not to bad tasting young with a little honey taste
One month licorrice taste head is off white to brown larger bubbles and the beer appears to be flat.
2 months the taste has gotten stronger and its tipped out.
Its most batches with only 2 out of 8 being fine.
Ive got two larger in the fermenters now and after 10 days I'm thinking that taste is starting in them. But can't tell for sure.
All are kits mainly light style of beers such as lagers. Coopers, morgans and can't remember the rest.
Ferment temps averaged between 12deg to 18. Mostly float between 13 to 16 dig being some of those hot days on winter.
I think first will be the fermenters have to go as I'm not sure of their age. Other than that I don't know
As with most newbie I didn't keep a log
Starting from the top I think my system has flaws.
I am using hand me down fermenters.
I clean with pink stain remover
Rinse
Sanitized with metabisulphite (think that is how its spelt) submerged in fluid emptied and then
Rinsed straight away
Bottle with a bottler (although a couple of batches was straight from the tap on slowly with a tilt to the bottles)
Crab tab
Bottle.
Taste after a couple of weeks. Not to bad tasting young with a little honey taste
One month licorrice taste head is off white to brown larger bubbles and the beer appears to be flat.
2 months the taste has gotten stronger and its tipped out.
Its most batches with only 2 out of 8 being fine.
Ive got two larger in the fermenters now and after 10 days I'm thinking that taste is starting in them. But can't tell for sure.
All are kits mainly light style of beers such as lagers. Coopers, morgans and can't remember the rest.
Ferment temps averaged between 12deg to 18. Mostly float between 13 to 16 dig being some of those hot days on winter.
I think first will be the fermenters have to go as I'm not sure of their age. Other than that I don't know
laxation
Phlegm TB
- Joined
- 24/6/08
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- 735
- Reaction score
- 336
Worth looking into whether you should be rinsing that sanitiser - unless this one is different, if you rinse once you have sanitised, you're basically putting everything in your tap water back into the fermenter, negating the sanitiser. The star san I mentioned earlier is no-rinse, so you never have to worry about it.
But I mean everything you're doing sounds good... there could be an infection in the fermenter?
Maybe something on brew day?
But I mean everything you're doing sounds good... there could be an infection in the fermenter?
Maybe something on brew day?
Thanks Lax
I remember the gist\ of brewing but this flavour has me.
The way I see it is that im using tap water for brewing and rinsing so rinsing the sodium metabisulphite off is just stopping chemicals in the beer?????????
Im having one of the beers now and this was a morgans larger and it kinda has a back flavour of earthy honey/liquorice but the head and bubbles are perfect.
I remember the gist\ of brewing but this flavour has me.
The way I see it is that im using tap water for brewing and rinsing so rinsing the sodium metabisulphite off is just stopping chemicals in the beer?????????
Im having one of the beers now and this was a morgans larger and it kinda has a back flavour of earthy honey/liquorice but the head and bubbles are perfect.
Ive got a brew going at my neighbours place that just got the kegking temp control for his fridge.
Its a morgans pilsner with the brew shops #15 brew mix as well as the yellow saflarger S-23 yeast.
He put down a chec pilsner 15L wort withS23 as well a the same time. We are comparing flavours and so on. I hope it dosent have that flavour in it.
Both are going straight to a keg so it may not have that flavour if it a bottling issue.
But it will good to do the compare on the kit V wort as they are both in the same fridge and conditions.
I think it may be the fermenters so ill have to buy a new one to see how that goes.
Its a morgans pilsner with the brew shops #15 brew mix as well as the yellow saflarger S-23 yeast.
He put down a chec pilsner 15L wort withS23 as well a the same time. We are comparing flavours and so on. I hope it dosent have that flavour in it.
Both are going straight to a keg so it may not have that flavour if it a bottling issue.
But it will good to do the compare on the kit V wort as they are both in the same fridge and conditions.
I think it may be the fermenters so ill have to buy a new one to see how that goes.
I should mention Ive got 4 brews going at the moment (forward planning).
my neighbour and I are collecting brew gear. We just got hold of 6 corni kegs for $200. (bargain)
Another neighbour had 2 CO2 bottles that he donated o we are off and racing.
my neighbour and I are collecting brew gear. We just got hold of 6 corni kegs for $200. (bargain)
Another neighbour had 2 CO2 bottles that he donated o we are off and racing.
Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
Wow. You have the motivation but I say, hold the horse for a bit on launching into quantity of brewing and catch up with streamlined modern procedures.
2 out of 8 brews being ok is not good enough. That rate of failure would put most people off continuing especially if your bottling. Think that you can get 100% drinkable brews with standard cleaning and sanitizing procedures.
I vouch for: Sodium percarbonate for cleaning. Star San (or equivalent - Phosphoric Acid sanitizer = no rince required) for sanitizing.
Those two chemicals is all you need in my opinion for basic successful brewing. Oh and a safe bet fermenter. Ditch the old plastic fermenters and start a new. Or go Stainless Steal or Glass but I'm not keen on big glass breakables.
Read up, here on this forum and anywere it might take you. Brouse through the forum list for basic techniques, sanitation.
Read up some more. read etc. You can ask many questions here. Always helps to do research, some key word searching although the search isn't what it used to be after the new website changes.
Oh, and brewing software (I have Beersmith) is awesome for recipe building when you graduate more.
2 out of 8 brews being ok is not good enough. That rate of failure would put most people off continuing especially if your bottling. Think that you can get 100% drinkable brews with standard cleaning and sanitizing procedures.
I vouch for: Sodium percarbonate for cleaning. Star San (or equivalent - Phosphoric Acid sanitizer = no rince required) for sanitizing.
Those two chemicals is all you need in my opinion for basic successful brewing. Oh and a safe bet fermenter. Ditch the old plastic fermenters and start a new. Or go Stainless Steal or Glass but I'm not keen on big glass breakables.
Read up, here on this forum and anywere it might take you. Brouse through the forum list for basic techniques, sanitation.
Read up some more. read etc. You can ask many questions here. Always helps to do research, some key word searching although the search isn't what it used to be after the new website changes.
Oh, and brewing software (I have Beersmith) is awesome for recipe building when you graduate more.
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Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
You've got 6 kegs you could also look into pressure fermenting in a corny keg. Just clean them oldies very, very well. Total dismantle and replace o rings etc. I have then filled them with boiling water and add pure Phosphoric Acid. Sealed them tight and left them for the long cool down for heat sanitation.
Re- the slippery slope? its fascinating science
Re- the slippery slope? its fascinating science
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Wow. You have the motivation but I say, hold the horse for a bit on launching into quantity of brewing and catch up with streamlined modern procedures.
2 out of 8 brews being ok is not good enough. That rate of failure would put most people off continuing especially if your bottling. Think that you can get 100% drinkable brews with standard cleaning and sanitizing procedures.
I vouch for: Sodium percarbonate for cleaning. Star San (or equivalent - Phosphoric Acid sanitizer = no rince required) for sanitizing.
Those two chemicals is all you need in my opinion for basic successful brewing. Oh and a safe bet fermenter. Ditch the old plastic fermenters and start a new. Or go Stainless Steal or Glass but I'm not keen on big glass breakables.
Read up, here on this forum and anywere it might take you. Brouse through the forum list for basic techniques, sanitation.
Read up some more. read etc. You can ask many questions here. Always helps to do research, some key word searching although the search isn't what it used to be after the new website changes.
Oh, and brewing software (I have Beersmith) is awesome for recipe building when you graduate more.
I agree completely
I was trying so many different things when I first started I didn't know what was going on. Peroni, Heniken, Continental larger, Carlton drought, more lagers, little creachers another peroni and more lagers. As you may of guessed my taste is on the lighter side.
So for now im going to bring it back to a single flavour except for the Pilsner (for comparison reason).
I like lagers although they are the hardest ones to do without temp control.
Im gona get myself another couple of new fermenters and stick to lagers.
Im very handy so im getting a temp controller for $12 and modifying it to suite
Im also almost finished making a still from a keg and some copper I found.
I can also weld s/steel and have cut down a 50L keg to 20L.Works a treat. My mate calls it the sawn off shotgun.
Im looking a the fermentorasuris but the $ are holding me back on that one for the moment.
I might make one or similar instead but 50l.
One thing I was thing off in my routine is that I use tap hot water to empty the can kit and mix in.
Not sure of the tem but its not boiling
I can fill the sink and put my hand in it. Not for log but it doesn't scald me. could that burn the can wort.
Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
Its more about the water added as for flavor I might think. I would use cold water if it is good to drink from the tap but I wouldn't drink from the hot water tap. Its just about the innards of a hot water system. Who knows that may even be the earthy flavor your getting.
I use filtered Melbourne water so its very clean. Then it all gets boiled anyhow.
I use filtered Melbourne water so its very clean. Then it all gets boiled anyhow.
