That "home brew flavor"

Just keep brewing.

After you brew more, refine your techniques, eventually move to the same process that commercial breweries use (that means going all grain) and get 20+ batches under your belts, those issues will go away.

I don't remember the last time I tasted that "homebrew" taste...except maybe a recent swap.

And remember...some styles are supposed to have some lingering yeast sweetness...like a good wit.

Yeast handling. Pitching rates and proper fermentation temps are what separate people from saying "that's good for a homebrew" and people saying "that is the single best beer I have ever had in my life". Full boils and quick chilling are also going to make your beer taste much cleaner and less like "homebrew".

Going all grain does not necessarily mean better beer. In fact, for someone starting out their all grain beers will probably be worse. In order to make beers out of all grain that are better than extract means you have to make better extract than the extract companies...which is no easy task. That said, all grain is a blast and gives you all kinds of control, so do what you like.

I also pick up a 'twang' from liquid extract, and I don't like it. I stay away from liquid extract now and stick to DME.

I'm in danger of stereotyping myself here, but I know that taste well. I believe that the single best thing that can be done to eliminate that taste is to do a full boil (Or at least as big a boil as possible.) Of course there are many other factors that have also been mentioned so far in this thread, but for myself the full boil made by far the biggest difference in my own extracts regarding that particular taste.

Really good responses from everyone. I never expected this kind of feedback!

So if I am reading correctly, it seems that the priority order for improvement is;

1. Full Boils
2. Fermentation Temperature Control
3. Yeast Starter
4. O2 infusion

Yes?

If you go to full boils, I would add a wort chiller as #2, more so out of "I'm going to kill myself if this doesn't cool down soon" factor than anything else. Without a wort chiller of some kind 5g's takes a long time to cool down.

+1 on the wort chiller, you'll probably get impatient and pitch your yeast at too hot of a temp if you try to cool 5 gal of wort in an ice bath. Oh and add partial late extract addition to that list, it really makes a difference.

does the original poster use tap water or bottled water? not to fuel the fire, but my friend who i showed how to brew 2 months ago is making incredible minimash beer. i am going through some AG growing pains. his first brew was one of the best homemade beers i have ever had, an extract-with-steeped-grains sierra nevada clone. a forgiving beer but it was right on the money.

farmbrewernw said:

+1 on the wort chiller, you'll probably get impatient and pitch your yeast at too hot of a temp if you try to cool 5 gal of wort in an ice bath. Oh and add partial late extract addition to that list, it really makes a difference.

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Is there a reason to do late extract addition if you're doing a full boil? I was under the impression that wort is wort once you've actually got the concentration right, which would be when you have either a partial boil with late extract or a full boil. Is that wrong?

yermej said:

Is there a reason to do late extract addition if you're doing a full boil?

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I believe the reason people do late extract additions is to minimize caramelising the extract. This caramelization darkens the beer, and can sometimes give flavors that you may not want.

My impression has always been that liquid malt extract has been boiled longer to drive off the water, because of this if you were to boil all of the extract for an additional hour you will increase the SRM as well as give the extract more caramelized flavors.

How exactly does one do a "late addition" on a 60 minute boil using entirely DME?

Do you actually throw the bittering hops in the water alone, and then add the extract later?

A little explanation here would be much appreciated!

I do have a chiller (freebie from a friend), so I'm good on that.

You want to put some of the DME into the boil at 60 min, I used to do about a third of the extract needed. There has to be some extract in the boil for hop utilization purposes. The rest of the extract can be added at the 10-5 min mark. I bet if you do a search for late extract addition you'll find a more complete explanation. To be honest it's been a long time since I've done extract batches so I'm a little rusty.

cscade said:

Really good responses from everyone. I never expected this kind of feedback!

So if I am reading correctly, it seems that the priority order for improvement is;

1. Full Boils
2. Fermentation Temperature Control
3. Yeast Starter
4. O2 infusion

Yes?

Click to expand...

Well, yes and no. I'd say more like this:

1. Better ingredients (FRESH extract, and do a partial mash ALWAYS)
2. Temperature control and Yeast starter or good quality dry yeast (Tied)
3. full boil
4. Cool quickly- wort chiller

The o2 infusion/aeration goes along with healthy yeast, but is more forgiving than the other items I listed.

I'll second that, partial mashing really will make a difference, and I have never done an aeration/ infusion to this day and have had no trouble getting attenuation.

YooperBrew said:

Well, yes and no. I'd say more like this:

1. Better ingredients (FRESH extract, and do a partial mash ALWAYS)
2. Temperature control and Yeast starter or good quality dry yeast (Tied)
3. full boil
4. Cool quickly- wort chiller

The o2 infusion/aeration goes along with healthy yeast, but is more forgiving than the other items I listed.

Click to expand...

Are you saying dry yeast is better than wet (as in Wyeast smack packs)?

My local brew supply store is highly reputable (www.grapeandgranary.com)
so I doubt ingredient freshness will be a concern. I'll search on partial mashing so I'm sure I know what you're referring to.

I'll have #3 shortly, and #4 is covered.

cscade said:

Are you saying dry yeast is better than wet (as in Wyeast smack packs)?

My local brew supply store is highly reputable (www.grapeandgranary.com)
so I doubt ingredient freshness will be a concern. I'll search on partial mashing so I'm sure I know what you're referring to.

I'll have #3 shortly, and #4 is covered.

Click to expand...

No, I'm not saying dry yeast is better than liquid. But I'm saying that in the dry packages, there are more than enough yeast cells to ferment a 5 gallon batch. Not necessarily so in the liquid packages, so if you're using liquid, you're better off with a starter. If you're not making a starter, use a good quality dry like Nottingham or SO5. (Not Coopers or Muntons)

Freshness is always a concern. The extract in cans has been there for quite a while in the can, and then it might have been on the shelf a while, no matter how reputable the homebrew store is. Fresh grain and fresh extract will go a long way to get rid of that "homebrew" taste.

YooperBrew said:

No, I'm not saying dry yeast is better than liquid. But I'm saying that in the dry packages, there are more than enough yeast cells to ferment a 5 gallon batch. Not necessarily so in the liquid packages, so if you're using liquid, you're better off with a starter. If you're not making a starter, use a good quality dry like Nottingham or SO5. (Not Coopers or Muntons)

Freshness is always a concern. The extract in cans has been there for quite a while in the can, and then it might have been on the shelf a while, no matter how reputable the homebrew store is. Fresh grain and fresh extract will go a long way to get rid of that "homebrew" taste.

Click to expand...

Understood.

Would one be advised to make a starter regardless of yeast type? I think I have the materials to build a stir plate around here.

Well with a good dry yeast no, but if your using a liquid yeast you should. You don't even need to have a stir plate, it helps, but you can just get a small jug place a piece of tin foil over the top and swirl it around a couple of times a day. Pitch around high krausen and your good to go.

I also used to have a problem with the "homebrew taste". I later figured it out to be related to the crappy Muntons Dry Ale yeast I was using, and liquid malt extract.

After switching to all-grain, and vowing never to use the Muntons ale yeast again, my beer comes out exceptionally clear, and tastes great. FWIW, the first thing I tried was to switch to full boils (with extract), and that didn't make any difference in the "homebrew taste" for me. I think the yeast was my biggest problem.

I fool people all the time into thinking my homebrew is a mass produced commercial microbrew.