Whats the Key?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rhymenoceros

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
231
Reaction score
1
Location
Golden, CO (Coor's Front Yard)
So this maybe noobish to even ask, but what would the pros (you guys) say is the key to making good beer, the one thing to get right?... Aside from sanitation, that one is boring (yet oh so necessary). There are so many different steps and techniques its hard for the beginner brewer (my self) to know what to focus on and be strict about, and what can be lax.
 
The one most critical thing, in my opinion, is fermentation temperature control. It made my beers markedly better.

Other things, like fresh ingredients, etc of course play a huge part, but I think temperature control is #1.
 
I agree with Yooper.

It doesn't matter how well you sanitize, how fresh your ingredients are, how awesome your recipe is, how huge your boil is ---- if you ferment at a wrong temperature, you're doomed.
 
The one most critical thing, in my opinion, is fermentation temperature control. It made my beers markedly better.

Other things, like fresh ingredients, etc of course play a huge part, but I think temperature control is #1.

Whats the best way to temp control? Im too poor to keep my house at the same temp all day (thermostat gets turned down during the day while I'm in class and at night) not to mention Colorado weather.
 
Dig a cave like they use to do in the old days.

If that doesn't work, a big chest freezer with a temp controller is probably your best bet.
 
I think the secret is Barley,Hops,yeast,and water...Haven't made a bad batch yet:mug:
 
+1 on full boils and temp. control. Another good one is aerating the sh*t out of your wort before pitching. I've had lag times as little as 4 hours with well aerated wort.

Also, my pet peeve on this forum is the folks who just dump liquid yeast into their wort. I don't care what the mfg. says, take the time to make a starter! Even with smack packs. It is well worth your time. If you're too lazy (as we all can be), then keep a couple packs of S-04,
S-05 and/or Notty on hand.
 
What I believe is key is developing an understanding of what each ingredient provides to the beer and a willingness to experiment.
 
I agree with practice! I have brewed 9 batches so far, including the one I brewed today, and I have learned volumes from each brewday.

....I tried three times to brew a southern english brown, and finally the third one is superb (it reminds me of a less intense Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale....really!) and just what I was going for. The act of brewing three batches and comparing them was a very valuable lesson on brewing to taste and I think I learned a lot about how different temps,tecniques, and ingredients affect the outcome. I would recommend working away at a recipe until you get it right, just for the valuable learning experience.....
 
Certain equipment will help as well, simple items like auto siphon so you can get your fermented wort into bottling bucket without having to use your mouth to start the siphon will help prevent germs. Although I was lucky and never got a bad batch the auto siphon makes it so easy and worry free (and they are cheap - $13). Wort chiller would be next (I don't have one yet myself though), or some way to make sure your cooling the wort quickly, under 30 min or so.
 
Fermentation Temperature... and we're not getting stuck on it.

This would be akin to saying that you can't boil, so what's next.

Unless you can ferment at the correct temperature you will always have off flavors.

The good news is that when you can control fermentation temps, you will most probably be able to make beer better than 50% of the brewers out there. At least the ones that I have tasted.
 
Look up "swamp cooler" for the poor man's method of temp control. There is an aquarium heater version for the cooler time of year...

-Tripod
 
There are several low cost options that will help with fermentation control. Search around the forum and you'll find all sorts of inspiration.
 
Also, your WATER must be Chlorine/chlorimine free, or else take steps to eliminate it. Chlorophenols will make a batch (or 7) undrinkable, and time won't cure it.
 
I never had a problem with the control aspects, so I come back to having a good recipe. But I'm not much of an experimenter.

As to temperature, are you in position to put a tiny space heater with its own thermostat in a small room (bathroom, closet)? My winter batches ferment in my bathroom, which has underfloor heat and can reliably stay a few degrees warmer than the winter basement.
 
get a max temp/current temp thermometer, and find a spot in the house that does not go above the min, and not too low under it. that is a $9.00 solution that helped me alot. got mine at target....

i had my house temp down to 59*, and my beer still said 72 or 73 on the bucket! i just did this yesterday, said beer temp was 72/73 so i opened windows and dropped the temp, stayed that was till swmbo got home and said "hell nah!" and craked it up to 66.....beer was at the same temp @ 10:eek:o that night :shrug:

i fermented a mr beer at a constant 72 room temp, and that tastes as much like hard cider as my cider does!

good luck.
 
So this maybe noobish to even ask, but what would the pros (you guys) say is the key to making good beer, the one thing to get right?... Aside from sanitation, that one is boring (yet oh so necessary). There are so many different steps and techniques its hard for the beginner brewer (my self) to know what to focus on and be strict about, and what can be lax.

finding the right recipe and as was said practice and patients,
 
IMHO the KEY to good brewing is first working on your method

Sanitation is one of the most important things

being able to brew the same beer over and over is important

making SWMBOB also ranks high

but most of all have fun

RDWHAHB

learn from your mistakes

we learn best by doing if your not doing how can you learn?

:mug:
 
#1 of course is sanitation, infections can produce some weird stuff and just not what you thought it would be.

#2 +1 on fermentation temperature control, it makes the biggest difference.

# 3 step up would be all grain with fresh ingredients.

Get these down and your making some good beers.

To make great beer you get into the long list of tweaks, techniques, traditions, and superstitions.
 
Make your brew day as easy and convienient as can be. If brewing becomes a huge hassle, you're less likely to want to brew again soon. Seriously, sit down and make a list of EVERYTHING you're going to need, a sanitization checklist, and do a practice run-through of all the steps just to be sure. Lay out all your tools so that they're handy when you need them. There's nothing like realizing after your boil that you're out of ice, or some other seemingly tiny thing.

Palmer told me to do this in his book. I did not. I'm sure my beer will turn out just fine in the end, but it was really a lot of spastic running around trying to sanitize things in a hurry as I needed them.
 
Back
Top