What beer can't you get just right?

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daksin

daksin

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Title says it all: what's beer style you love, but haven't quite made the perfect example of yet? What's holding you back?

I've made about a hundred ESBs and honestly I don't think I've liked one as much as the first extract batch I did, which was hardly what you'd call authentic.
 
American Amber. Tried 2 times and something went wrong on both attempts..............I guess its my unicorn.
 
Hefeweizen. Easy to make a good one, very hard to make a great one.

Smakudwn - Have you tried Denny Conn's Amber? Easily the best one I ever made. I made it with Caravienne instead of Carared and it was still extremely awesome.
 
progmac said:
Hefeweizen. Easy to make a good one, very hard to make a great one.

Smakudwn - Have you tried Denny Conn's Amber? Easily the best one I ever made. I made it with Caravienne instead of Carared and it was still extremely awesome.
Click to expand...


No is that in the recipe section?
 
Relative noob here, but the saison and Irish Red I did were not as good as I had hoped. The red has a thinness to it, and the saison a fusel/metallic quality. I really want to improve on those.
 
Saison. Every time I make one, I've reformulated the recipe completely because I wasn't happy with the previous version. And of course it doesn't help that the only saison yeast that I really, really like is Dupont.
 
Saison. I've tried a couple times, and they just end up coming out as fizzy junk.

Also, anything with coriander... but that might have more to do with my personal tastes than a flaw in the styles.
 
What yeasts have you been using? I haven't had a perfect saison yet either, but I'm really digging the smells coming off my latest one.
 
Up until about 2 or 3 kegs ago, it would've been a Helles. I worked a few different recipes, but couldn't get it right. I now have a one that's amazing that I'm making consistently.
 
I have an Imperial IPA I have been tweaking slowly for the last year, still not quite where I want it but getting closer.
 
progmac said:
Hefeweizen. Easy to make a good one, very hard to make a great one.

Smakudwn - Have you tried Denny Conn's Amber? Easily the best one I ever made. I made it with Caravienne instead of Carared and it was still extremely awesome.
Click to expand...

I agree... everyone "can make one" but to do a great one is tough. I think its because of the temperature, gravity, and pitch rate of the yeast.
 
I think saison is pretty easy but we all have our beer. I can brew a great saison but have failed on a few belgian dark strong ales.
 
Tried a Witbier twice now. First was.blah, second is better, but still not quite what I wanted. Used WY3944 if I recall, and my grain crush wasn't ideal, but still thought it would end up more like blue moon than it did (SWMBO likes Blue Moon).
 
every style I like, I'm wicked awesome at. I don't want to sound like I got a swelled head, but I do.



(I understand the irony considering my sig. I'm also a big smart mouth.)
 
Yea I've got the hops and grain bases covered. I've used burton salt but then again, I don't know what's in my well water already. I keep a stash of dry whitbread (s-04) I'll check out Innkeeper and grab some 1469 next time I feel froggy
 
Braufessor said:
mine would probably be bock.... I have not brewed a lot of them, but the ones I have done ended up way too sweet.
Click to expand...

My bock is one of my favorite recipes and its hybrid too, not a lager.

http://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/bockbegock-hybrid

It's based on a recipe from Everything Homebrewing by Drew Beechum.

On the problem of being too sweet, I would suggest yeast energizer that usually gives a few more gravity points
 
roastquake said:
Yea I've got the hops and grain bases covered. I've used burton salt but then again, I don't know what's in my well water already. I keep a stash of dry whitbread (s-04) I'll check out Innkeeper and grab some 1469 next time I feel froggy
Click to expand...

I would not use burton salt.... especially if you don't know what you are starting with in the first place. I use the following water numbers on my british bitter.
Calcium - 90
Sulfate - 160
Chloride - 45
Bicarbonate - 74
Magnesium and sodium - pretty low

I use Bru'n water and scale back the "pale ale" profile.

I throw a half pound of wheat in mine and a half pound corn sugar instead of a full pound. I also throw a bit extra EKG in mine and get IBU's at about 40. Golden Promise or Maris Otter Base malt.
 
Thanks braufessor, this is good motivation to get my water tested to see what's there. I think I am long overdue since I started AG brewing two years ago. I may just start with distilled water and treat it from scratch.
 
progmac said:
Hefeweizen. Easy to make a good one, very hard to make a great one.
Click to expand...

Look to these threads by Mcbethenstein for inspiration for your hefe. I love the detail and experiments she did. I think they're indispensable for brewing hefeweizen.

The initial "problem" thread and experimentation with yeasts is here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/d...-fermentation-profiles-flavor-results-317195/

And the breakthrough (I won't spoil it for you) happens in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hefe-base-malt-comparison-345076/
 
My attempts at American Ambers with a high portion of Crystal malts and lots of late American hops come out a little off - the best word I can come up with for the taste is "muddled". I've done at least 3 of these and have pretty much given up on the style - I did Jamil's Big American Red ("West Coast Blaster" I think?), a late-hop Amber with 3 different crystal malts, and the Mirror Pond clone (pale ale recipe with lots of Crystal and C hops). They were all fine, but it was just not right.

I think I do a decent jobs on the non-carmel APAs, IPAs and American Stouts, it's just the Amber territory in between... Beers with crystal malts and no American hops - great. Beers with no crystal malts and American hops - great. Bring the two together - it just ain't right.
 
daksin said:
Look to these threads by Mcbethenstein for inspiration for your hefe. I love the detail and experiments she did. I think they're indispensable for brewing hefeweizen.

The initial "problem" thread and experimentation with yeasts is here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/d...-fermentation-profiles-flavor-results-317195/

And the breakthrough (I won't spoil it for you) happens in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hefe-base-malt-comparison-345076/
Click to expand...
Awesome! Thanks for guiding me to these diamonds in the rough.

To me, Fransiskaner is the perfect hefe. If i can get 90% of the way there, I'll be thrilled.
 
For me it is standard IPA's. they are hoppy and all, but I think I really need to start messing with water chemistry. All of the them are missing the "crispness" in commercial IPA. The hop flavors too are "muted." I am also going to start mashing lower. I usually mash at 152, goi g to start mashing at 149 to 150.
 
JoeSpartaNJ said:
For me it is standard IPA's. they are hoppy and all, but I think I really need to start messing with water chemistry. All of the them are missing the "crispness" in commercial IPA. The hop flavors too are "muted." I am also going to start mashing lower. I usually mash at 152, goi g to start mashing at 149 to 150.
Click to expand...

A good way to test out the effects of water chemistry (without much effort/time) etc. is to just follow the suggestion in the first post in this thread. Use R.O. water, some simple gypsum/calcium chloride additions and you will be right in the ball park. This is probably the easiest way to get a sense if water is your issue, or something else.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

For IPA/Pale ale I would do something like 1-2 tsp of gypsum to .5-1 tsp of calcium chloride.

I think I usually go something like 1-1.5 gram gypsum to .2-.4 grams calcium chloride per gallon of mash water for pale, hoppy beers.

So, something like 5 -7 grams of gypsum and 1.5-3 grams of calcium chloride in 5 gallons of RO water.

This is not perfect, but it would get you in the ballpark I think.
 
For me, it was a salted wheat. I've had one or two professionally brewed ones that were amazing, but it didn't work for me. Never could quite get the balance just right.
 
Braufessor said:
A good way to test out the effects of water chemistry (without much effort/time) etc. is to just follow the suggestion in the first post in this thread. Use R.O. water, some simple gypsum/calcium chloride additions and you will be right in the ball park. This is probably the easiest way to get a sense if water is your issue, or something else.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

For IPA/Pale ale I would do something like 1-2 tsp of gypsum to .5-1 tsp of calcium chloride.

I think I usually go something like 1-1.5 gram gypsum to .2-.4 grams calcium chloride per gallon of mash water for pale, hoppy beers.

So, something like 5 -7 grams of gypsum and 1.5-3 grams of calcium chloride in 5 gallons of RO water.

This is not perfect, but it would get you in the ballpark I think.
Click to expand...

I have tried using gypsum on the last 2 beers I have made. 1 tsp in the mash, and 1 tsp in the sparge.

The first beer was not a hop forward brew, so I do not how much of a difference it made. The second one was SNPA clone, that I plan on kegging tonight, so we will see.
 
daksin said:
Hmm, with those, my thought goes to water. Are you doing anything in that arena?
Click to expand...

No. I've been living a blissfully ignorant existence when it comes to brewing water. We have nice, neutral water here straight from the tap. For most brews I mix some filtered with unfiltered water with good results. I have wondered if that might be the case.
 

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