Brew Quality -- I'm not quite there yet

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baron

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I've been brewing for 10 years --
Of those 10 years -- 10 years extract and 2 years All Grain.

I always thought my extract brews were pretty good but not exactly what I was looking for in taste -- I always thought I could improve.

So -- I stepped up to All Grain thinking this was going to make all of the difference in making a better beer.

Slight difference.

Next step -- Yeast Starter. Slight difference again.

I've added a few new equipment items to hopefully make a better beer.
I purchased a compact fridge, johnson temperature controller, and a refractometer (to help better hit my target o.g.).

I'm going to use the fridge as a fermentation chamber -- because I think this is one of my main problems -- fluctuation in temperature during fermentation which is giving an off taste.

I'm brewing an extract kit from NB soon. I'll keep you advised on this thread.

Cheers, Rick
 
You will notice quite a change when you start monitoring ferm. temps... that was a big jump for me.
 
I went through the same thing. The extract beers I made were good- sometimes really good, but never perfect. I made some changes that really helped. I would say that the two biggest improvements came from temperature control and from pitching the correct amount of healthy yeast.
 
Yep - as I've gotten better at Ferm Temps, and better at pitching rates with yeast starters, the beer quality has gone up.

Its dramatic too, and lets me expirement. The same 10 gallon batch I had split into 2 different carboys. Both the same temp, but one under pitched, one pitched properly. You could easily taste the difference.
 
Thanks got the comments -- definitely sounds like temp control and pitching rates are the big difference in quality.

My next batch is an ipa-- which probably isn't the best style to check for taste quality improvement. I imagine the increased ibu's might mask some off flavors. But -- I got a really cool 1/2 gallon growler with the kit. Lol
Next batch will be something a little tamer than an ipa.
 
The big 3 for great beer seem to be ferm. temp, healthy pitch of yeast in the right amount, and sanitization. I made a quantum leap in my beer quality by filtering my tap water with a plain jane carbon filter, which namely removes the chlorine. Also, not hustling beers to keg or bottling really helps with the depth of character my beers can achieve.
 
You will notice quite a change when you start monitoring ferm. temps... that was a big jump for me.

Same here. Once I was able to get my ferm temps to the low to mid 60s on most of my beers that 'homebrew' taste pretty much went away. Honestly, I was shocked how low the ambient temp in the fridge has to be to keep a rip roaring fermentation down in the mid 60s.
 
DannPM said:
OP, how is your sanitation? That has a lot of impact.

I've been using Star San for quite a long time and try to be very thorough about it.

The reason I think it may have something to with ferm temps is because the off flavor is a strong alcohol taste -- not a pleasant alcohol. More like burning.
 
I've been using Star San for quite a long time and try to be very thorough about it.

The reason I think it may have something to with ferm temps is because the off flavor is a strong alcohol taste -- not a pleasant alcohol. More like burning.

Sounds like fermentation temps to me. You are definitely headed in the right direction. Your beers from now on are going to be awesome.:mug:
 
Nothing new to add really, but yeah, once you know you're sanitized, yeast health and fermentation temps are key. I've had some pretty darned good extract beers from people who know how to brew and understand the importance of both.
 
Fermentation is everything. I'd say like 80%. Wort production is like 20%. I see so many people sweat every last detail about their brew day, then just toss their carboy into their basement that stays around '65F'. Priorities are in the wrong place.

Pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast, and keeping tight control over fermentation temperatures are the two biggest factors into making good beer. You can almost commit the brewing equivalent of murder during your brew day, and it won't make as big of a difference as a poorly managed ferment.
 
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