Empty fermenters spite the God(s) of Beer. Don't be blasphemous - while bottling you should be brewing.
Beerviticus 2:12
amen.
Empty fermenters spite the God(s) of Beer. Don't be blasphemous - while bottling you should be brewing.
Beerviticus 2:12
Didn't say you have to accept their judgement.
If you are happy with what you brew, then of course, fk what everyone else thinks.
However, I'm a bit twisted in that I am constantly seeking to learn and brew better beer, and I know that my palate is not experienced enough to pick up (and possibly learn from) the possible flaws in the beer I brew. It's amazing the number of times that I have not noticed a particular flavour (good or bad) in a beer until someone has pointed it out to me. Then, when you know what you are looking for, you wonder how the hell you managed to miss that particular aspect in the first place.
Further, even it your palate was experienced, it is almost impossible psychologically to be completely detached about something you have laboured to produce.
I'll give a practical example - another member of this forum happens to have a particularly amazing palate. He has tasted by stock Hefeweizen a number of times, and given useful feedback. I gave him a taste of a batch I was particularly proud of and he commented that it tasted more alcoholic than last time. When the keg of that beer blew, there was about 1kg of ice in the bottom as the temperature probe of my kegorator was in the wrong place. I hadn't noticed the difference at all due to the psychological bias indicated above.
Just noticed you're near Brisbane; come along to a BABBS meeting http://www.babbrewers.com/ and you just might meet him!
Edit: BABBS pimp in last sentence.
Replace the word "water" with pretty much anything else and I'd expect you to have been told the same.I was led to believe that Sydney water was the finest water in the world.
hefevice, i can follow everthing ur saying except for
"I certainly don't trust my own palate when trying to evaluate my own beer"
why the fk not?!??!
i brew for me, surely others do too. sure we all dont want to brew shit, but brew for ones own contentment/consumption... surely
cheers
matt
Healthy, fecund yeast will overcome awful water easily.
Old, sick yeast is like an AIDS sufferer - they die of a simple bacterial infection.
IM sometimes HO, infected brews are nearly always the result of suspect yeast innoculation.
How would you know? You've never had one.
Thanks guys for your input.
I was led to believe that Sydney water was the finest water in the world.
Also the bloke in my local HBS said it was ok to top up the fermenter with tap water as the yeast these days had a better tolerence to chlorine etc.
Thanks to the advice from this forum, I shall rectify my shortcomings.
Cheers
How would you know? You've never had one.
...who's to say that you won't have problems in the future?
22 years of making beer without using sanitizing chemicals.
How does this help anyone new to brewing????
Nick JD: Sanitisation helps to reduce the odds of an infection, although hot water may be working for you now who's to say that you won't have problems in the future? It's a bit like the argument "I have a rock that prevents aliens from abducting me and since I haven't been abducted it must be working!".
Hot water may reduce the chances of an infection down to say 5% but a good sanitiser is probably under 1%. For a small cost per brew isn't it worth trying to ensure better odds? To me it is.
I'm not worried by the chemical content, what's used in home brewing pales in comparison to some of the commercially grown produce you buy at the supermarkets. Most no-rinse sanitisers break down with the change of pH from the wort anyway.
You guys really need to read people's post before you comment. You are commenting on an "experiment" I proposed to illustrate that even a sanitised fermenter is a race for dominance by the yeast. Those who've fucked up a no chill will relate to this.
I do not use hot tap water to sanitise my fermenter - get real. I keep the thing meticulously clean and just before introducing wort it gets a 2L of boiling water shaken so steam shoots out the bung hole.
Guess what? 22 years of successful brewing. Use all the no rinse you need - my method works. New brewers - use all the startsan you want. I don't - you can.
All the knowledge in the world about microbial activity doesn't give them the ability to withstand 90 degree water for 30 seconds. Find me a bacteria/yeast cell that can and it can have my wort.
Put your hand into 90 degree water for 30 seconds and see how many of your cells can live and how deep the burn becomes. I think it's called a 3rd degree burn ... bacteria are not that strong. Some forms of them are - but your yeast will nail them.
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