Awe crap...

Y'know, I've been brewing for a very short time (6th batch ready to bottle) and have had ok results to good results but never a really great beer.

Was just listening to the BrewBubba podcast and they said when doing an extract its very important not to squeeze the nylon bag containng your specialty grains. They said it introduces excess tannins that may produce an off flavor.

Sh1+... I think my brother and I've been doing that all along. I thought "I'm gonna get all the goodies out of there".

Wonder how many other little things like this I'm doing that contribute to less than great quality brews

Anyone have a similar story to share on the little gotchas?

Yeah, don't squeeze the bag. Just bring up about a gallon of water to about 170 degrees and then "sparge" your grains through the bag. Can you do a full boil? Boil as much volume as you can. Make sure you ferment at cooler temps too ( below 70 at least), it will say on your yeast pkg. the best temp. range and I like to stay on the lower side if possible. I bulk condition in the for 3 to 4 weeks,before I bottle and then at least 2 to 3 weeks in the bottle.

Mine was temperature control. Once I started reading here that you can't just let your primary sit wherever you want and disregard the temperature, my beers became remarkably better.