Thanks for the detailed breakdown. I've brewed about 30 brews and they seem to be getting less and less tastier.
Have you replaced your fermenter? After 30 brews, you might have picked up a bacteria or two in a tube or a hose or something. If your taste is consistently less-good than it used to be, it might be time to retire - or at least bleach - some of your equipment that touches the beer post-boil.
In the beginning it was just the can of extract plus some DME and damn every brew was good.
I would suggest your palate was less developed at that time. That was the case when I started.
Now I most often use the can of extract, some grains and DME or LME (along with at least one variety of hops).
If you don't like how it's going now, decrease the complexity. Try it with just DME/LME, then add in your own hops, and when it is still good, add in just a small amount (1-4 oz.) of grain. Build from a solid foundation.
The question I was hoping to answer when I read your post was about when to put in the extract compared to the grains.
Most people will get better results putting half (or less than half) of their malt extract in at the beginning of the boil and the rest in at the end. There are a couple of caveats:
1) LME - you should remove the pot from the heat and stir vigorously so that you don't scorch on the bottom of the pot. Heating the container slightly prior to opening it makes the LME easier to handle.
2) DME - it can be a pain to get it to dissolve, so don't wait until the last 10 minutes... it might take 20 or so just to get it to dissolve properly, depending on how much you are using, and how much of your recipe is counting on DME for fermentables.
For barleywines, bocks and scotch ales, I think boiling all of the malt the whole time to get extra residual sweetness is a good thing. My $.02!
Now having learned from your post the right way to go about it, I look forward to my next brew. The mistake I've been making is putting the extract and the grains in near the beginning.
Grains must be done in the beginning - there is no other feasible way to do it. As a matter of fact, the grains are a WHOLE separate step, at a MUCH lower temperature. If there are ANY grains in your boil, your beer could end up tasting more like tea than like beer... and nobody wants that.
Grains are
MASHED, at 145-155F,
not BOILED, at 210-212F.
You used DME (right?) but I'm assuming it's the same with a can of extract in that I want to get the conversion of the grains done first (the time consumer) and then introduce the DME or LME. Have I got this all right?
Yes, mash or steep the grain for 30-90 minutes, then remove the grain, then add more water, and then boil. After you reach a boil, add up to half of your extract and start your hop schedule (should be 45-60 minutes long). In the last 10-20 minutes of that hour or so, you can add the rest of the malt extract.
Beyond that, I have 3 other questions for you:
1) How much attention do you pay to fermenting temperatures?
This is *hugely* important. Most people don't ferment too cold; most people ferment too warm. Try to keep the room or the water bath the beer is in below 70F, with 65F even better for most beers. Even a wheat beer is better if fermented below 70F.
2) I often brew some pretty big beers. The latest IPA for example, was a calculated 7.7% before bottle conditioning. I achieved this using 1 liter LME, 500 g of DME, and 2000 g of glucose. My question: Should I have used more than 1 packet of yeast that came with this set? It seems I still managed to get the yeast working hard and convert a lot of sugars...
That gravity is manageable with one packet of yeast, but double pitching or making a starter will probably make your beer taste "cleaner". Just my $.02, again.
3) Do you keg everything or bottle and brewing many times a week, if you bottle you must have to purchase a lot of new bottles right? Got a good source? Do you recycle bottles?
As for me, I don't brew every week any more. When I did try to brew every week, it was a half gallon at a time, so that's not even a full six-pack when all is said and done.
My friends save bottles for me, and I remove the labels in hot water. I don't use screw caps. If you have a bench capper you can use screw caps, and contacting a local bar can yield you literally *hundreds* of bottles in a single day, if you agree to pick them up.
When one of my kegs empties, I ferment another batch for it. That seems to be about every two months or so, unless I have a house party!
Thanks in advance for any more helpful insight you may be able to offer.
fred
I know this wasn't addressed to me, but I felt it would be okay to pitch in my thoughts as well.
Good luck in your hobby, and I hope you can improve your beer soon!
