I have made 11 batches of beer so far using spring water directly from a pipe in the mountains. One batch turned out not so great because of poor rookie sanitization (I think). Every other batch has been awesome, except for my Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest tasted bland and watered down and had a slight bannana or fruity taste and aroma. It doesn't really taste like any Oktoberfest I've ever had. I was expecting an explosion of malt flavor.
The guy at the brew shop said using water from the mountain contains microorginisms that could make the beer bland. Is this true? Should I spend the money on bottled water or continue using free mountain spring water?
I also used White Labs Oktoberfest/Marzwn Lager yeast and fermented it at around 65 degrees because I didn't have a lager fridge at the time. I also completely skipped the lagering stage because of the lack of fridge. Could this be to blame or is it my mountain water?
The beer is drinkable and overall not bad...but it wasn't at all what I was expecting.
The guy at the brew shop said using water from the mountain contains microorginisms that could make the beer bland. Is this true? Should I spend the money on bottled water or continue using free mountain spring water?
I also used White Labs Oktoberfest/Marzwn Lager yeast and fermented it at around 65 degrees because I didn't have a lager fridge at the time. I also completely skipped the lagering stage because of the lack of fridge. Could this be to blame or is it my mountain water?
The beer is drinkable and overall not bad...but it wasn't at all what I was expecting.