the secret to better beer?

[mhay]

Hi all great site been reading for ages but logon and and android browser issues have prevented me posting (Probably questions i should have searched for anyway)

I've been brewing partial and a few all grains For a few years now but seem to have reached a wall. All my beers seem to taste fairly similar in quality. I love big hoppy Beers, Right now i have a stone and wood clone ready to bottle but it's not close to the taste I'd expect, Same thing seems to happens every time i Try a clone. I read other people's experience with the same recipe and they seem happy?

My process is usually, For partial dump (adding steeped grains if required), Stir, ferment. Then either rack and dry hop or chuck in hops for last few days plus a few more while fermentating. And bottle.

All grain i use a keg for brew pot, esky for mash tun and don't have chiller.

I mostly dry hop,

Never really get big hoppy aroma (Put 30g of galaxy in this time and just don't get that fruity passionfruit at all)

I've only just had my first bad batch from one that i brewed with practically no added sugar just pulped mangos. Tasted ok after fermentation but has gone sour in the bottle which i bulk primed with a brew enhancer sugar mix.

I am wondering if, Co2 Coming off primary fermentation is destroying aroma and also during carbonation? Sometimes it's fantastic before I bottle and bland after.

Another thought i had was something to do with oxyogenating the beer too much when i go from fermentation or rack to bulk prime and splashing into bottles?


I have a fairly simple setup, plastic fermenters, Homemade filters from ss braiding. I know kegging would improve the flavour as I'm sure most of the time I'm tasting that same yeasty taste from carbonation but how can I get more flavour, aroma and cleaner tasting beer...sorry for the novel

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

Welcome M, glad you got the posting thing sorted.

What sort of temperature control do you have? A good cold conditioning at as near to freezing as possible will work wonders to give you a cleaner taste.

You certainly seem to be using plenty of hops: mind posting a typical recipe so we can see what you are doing?

 

[jotaigna]

I saw an episode of brewing tv about hoppy beers and the interviewed brewer said that in his opinion you'd hit a wall when pushing the hop flavour in beers when using only pellets/flowers. He then proposed that hop extract was a good way for homebrewers without hop back set ups to push the boundary out. I think it was ep 59 the big DIPA

 

[TidalPete]

The secret of better beer is in the hands of the brewer ---- Yours!
Read lots of subject matter on relevant forums, acquire good books on the subject, Google for information & be prepared to put up with many not-so-fantastic brews early on. This will get you much satisfaction & many great beers in the end.

As a certain champion Olympic swimmer put it: Nothing in -- Nothing out.

No matter what you undertake It's all in your hands.
Not being harsh here but trying to help.

Good luck with your brewing !

 

[roverfj1200]

Less can be more.. Watch out for adding to much and over doing it.. Some hops need to be used in moderation....



Cheers.

 

[Spiesy]

I reckon the "secret" is good recipes, good quality ingredients and good brewing practices...

But, what size are your batches? You mention that 30g of Galaxy dry hop didn't give you much, but without your batch size, it's hard to work out the relative size of your dry hop addition. Also, how did you dry hop? Did you throw the pellets in for the duration of the ferment? Did you do a hop tea, did you add them for a certain amount of time? etc. To answer your question, yes CO2 will drive off some hop aroma, but it need not drive off ALL of your aroma.

As Bribie mentioned, temp control will certainly help with a cleaner flavour profile - but not just for crash chilling purposes, during fermentation temperature control is critical. How you handle your yeast and what yeast you use is also very important. As are the other ingredients, and the quality of them.

 

[bum]

I reckon the "secret" is good recipes, good quality ingredients and good brewing practices...

Preposterous!

 

[Dan Pratt]

It may be time to stop cloning beers you like and start making beer to style? You may get close with a clone but when you choose a style and understand that style, you are more likely to find the beer you make is better.

 

[hoppy2B]

If any of you read that link that someone posted a while ago about hop breeding heritage or something, and it had some information from a fella who worked for Heineken or someone or other. The suggestion was that adding hops late in the boil gave better aroma because the essential oils became better incorporated than with dry hopping.
I certainly get good aroma from adding hops late in the boil. The original poster mentions that they mainly dry hop. I suggest they try adding a good amount of hops late in the boil and see if that gives them the effect they are looking for.

 

[mhay]

Thanks for advice.

Unless it's hot (30+ For a few days) I don't use temperature control, Probably should. Do you control the temperature while in secondary? I tried chilling before bottling once with fairly good results.

A typical brew these days is a coopers tin made to 23l, Adjuncts (last partial was coopers cerveza with chillie and limes) dry hop (Usually 1g per litre), flowers if possible for least 4 Days no hop bag and filter them out while transferring for bulk priming.

Stone and wood all grain that i should be bottling now is made to 23l no temp control but it's around 22 deg tops in the garage at the moment. From memory it was only 6-8g per in the boil and 30 dry hop(pellets) once again just thrown in no bag. Didn't rack to dry hop this one just put hops in for last day or two of fermentation and leave it for a few extra.

Tasted tonight from fermeter , Sooo Bitter

Keep hops in fridge sealed. Normally use nelson Sauvin, Cascade, chinook,
Hellatau and galaxy, but not all at once
Maybe I'll take a look at a hop back, what's people's experience with them?

 

[mhay]

Also, I was always under the impression that steeping or adding hops late in the boil would add bitterness and dry hopping doesn't?

 

[Spiesy]

I'd invest in temp control, mate. If you can keep those ales down to around 18-degrees, and crash chill once fermentation is done, you should see some cleaner beers.

Also, what yeast/s are you using? If dry yeast, are you rehydrating? How do you store your yeast?

 

[Barry]

I simple thing is dry hop twice. For example 15 gms four days before bottling, then 15 gms three days before bottling. Some of the American craft brewers use this technique because it gives a greater aroma/flavour impact. Works for me.

 

[piraterum]

Check out this article it answers most of those questions.

The Secret to Big Hop Aroma and Flavor

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php


I made an APA once using only late (ie last 15mins of boil) additions. It did have good flavour but as I'm doing partials the hop utilisation wasn't great. As a result the final IBU probably was lower than if I had used bittering additions. Next time I want to try using bittering additions & late additions and except the fact the IBU calculation in Beersmith will be grossly overestimated.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

30g for 23L isn't over the top - aroma wise. It'll also depend on when you dry hop. Dry hopping after primary tends to be more aromatic.

No-one's mentioned Galaxy as a possible issue that I've seen - it's not the greatest dry hopper. I'd be pinging for Citra, Mosaic, even Cascade as a better alternative.

Another thing might be looking at a big 10 minute addition in lieu of 60 and dry hop. The result is more 'fruity' hoppiness, still a decent aroma, but lots of mouth-punch fruitiness.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Less can be more.. Watch out for adding to much and over doing it.. Some hops need to be used in moderation....



Cheers.

This is so true

To many brewers over do it by using to many ingredients. Unless you really know what you are doing keep your recipes single. Most long ter brewers stick to this method. It is far to easy to wreck a good beer by going overboard

 

[.DJ.]

I thought the secret to brewing better beer was doing one of Vince Contanza's brewing courses?

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I thought the secret to brewing better beer was doing one of Vince Contanza's brewing courses?

Cough

 

[mhay]

Check out this article it answers most of those questions.

The Secret to Big Hop Aroma and Flavor

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

Thanks for that it answered so many questions

It mentions


We throw our late hops into the whirlpool at the last possible moment and then cool and transfer to the fermenter as quickly as possible."

So as I'm bottling i was thinking to keep max flavour and aroma i could do a late hop addition by doing a 15 Minute hop tea steep and biffing it into the fermentor right Before bottling?
Think i will redo last recipe with late hop addition for sure, will require some serious sampling me thinks.


Thanks for all the info

 

[anthonyUK]

Add to the above water chemistry and pitching the correct amount of healthy yeast.