Homebrew experts: who wants to critique a sampler?

**Coastarine** · 11-08-2008, 10:20 PM

My beer is not as good as I want it to be.

I know everyone wants their beer to be better, but I think many of you are getting better results than me. I've been brewing for under a year (95 gallons so far) so I haven't had as much time to systematically experiment. For one thing, my beers all have a very similar aroma to me which isn't great and I don't know quite how to describe it. I was having trouble getting bitterness which I countered with water treatment and I got bitterness alright, and while the IPA is still young, I don't know if it is going to be very good anytime soon. I spend a lot of time reading about brewing methods on this site, reading other sites, reading and rereading palmer, listening to podcasts, etc. I've only ever drank one other homebrew, so I don't have a whole lot to compare my beer to other than commercial beer. I'd like to send a sampler out to one or more of our more experienced and knowledgeable brewers to see if they recognize signs of improper techniques, or can just tell me how my beer could be made better. I'm not looking for recipe critique, but of course I'll post recipes for each beer. I keep very good records of my brewing, so I know exactly how long each beer spent at what temp, the alpha acid of every hop addition, etc. Any volunteers? Bob? Ed?

I guess I'm saying that this brewery is ready for change.

Yes we can!

I'll overview my brewing process to answer some of the basic process questions:

All grain batch sparger. 5 gallons batches, efficiency ranging from 68 to 93 percent, but usually 70-80%. I order my ingredients from Northern Brewer and usually request that they crush my grain twice which gives me better efficiency. No lagering, and I've only recently started cold crashing and kegging. Fermentation temps between 66-72 using better bottles and wet t-shirts. I also recently got a 15 gallon kettle, but I used to use a 7 gallon, so I now can boil much harder. Both my new and old kettles are aluminum, properly oxidized before brewing, cleaned with water and a rag, and stored dry. Old kettle is now HLT. I chill using a homemade 30' CFC, used to be gravity fed but now I recirculate with a pump. MLT is a 50 quart rectangular cooler with a SS braid around a perforated piece of tubing. I almost always use dry yeast rehydrated in 85-90 degree water for 20 mins before pitching. One 11g packet, as most of my beers are session strength, but I use mr malty for stronger ones. I repitched slurry for the IPA. That's about all I can think of for now

talleymonster · 11-08-2008, 10:28 PM

Well, I in no way would consider myself to be one of our more experienced and knowledgeable brewers. The opposite, really.

But you can sure as hell send me a sampler and I'd give you a dead-honest assessment!

I can't believe this thread went 8 minutes without getting replied to!

**Chriso** · 11-08-2008, 11:07 PM

I'm not as much of an expert as BM or Ed or BrewPastor or the likes... But I'm always glad to review beers - I've participated in 888 RIS (Review 1, 2, and 3) and 10der & Mild (see around post #210) swaps thus far, as well as a couple of smaller one-on-one swaps. PM me if you would be interested in my help.

talleymonster · 11-09-2008, 12:32 AM

Wow. I just said I wanted the job. Chriso posted his resume.

Beerrific · 11-09-2008, 12:36 AM

My suggestion would be, if possible, to send to a person that would be able to share it with other homebrewers (HBT members or otherwise) possibly even professionals. This way you can get 3 opinions for the cost of one.

Also, do you have a local homebrew club? They might be willing to help or even come by and brew with you.

**Malticulous** · 11-09-2008, 01:05 AM

How would you like to try some of mine? Trade you a few!

**Bobby_M** · 11-09-2008, 06:26 PM

You might want to enter some brews in an AHA sanctioned competition because in theory, those judges are most qualified to be as objective as possible and you'll get score sheets back with their analysis. If you don't want to do that, by all means go ahead and send me a few with the brew notes and recipes. I'll try to pour them when a few brew club members are around so you can get a more varied response.

**Coastarine** · 11-09-2008, 06:37 PM

Great, one of the benefits I'm looking for here is to have people sample more than just one of my beers to find [in]consistancies between them, so I may enter some competitions but this seems better.

Brewmando · 11-09-2008, 09:30 PM

I belong to a brew club with several award winning members as well as a couple of judges. If you really want to ship them this far I'd be happy to take them to a meeting and have them critiqued. I'll even copy off BJCP scoresheets and send them to you with the results. PM me if you are interested.

Jim Karr · 11-09-2008, 09:34 PM

Please consider sending a few samples north to the great beer state of Michigan. I'd love to give you some feedback! PM me.