Getting back on the horse.!

I am ashamed to say this , but I have not made a brew in over a year. There are two major reason which have prevented me from doing so.. Problem 1.) My current living situation @ an apartment does not allow it. 2). WATER! .

I am so proud of my self for getting into brewing, but i have to say there is a reason why water is not discussed in depth @ the front of a beginners brew book. If water chemistry had been the first thing i had read about brewing i believe i would have tucked tale and run. So with that said i have been just been tortured by this complex subject and only up until last night did i start feeling better about it. No, i did not hire a chemist to come over on brew day, but i did purchase some Five Star Chemicals 5.2 ph stabilizer. I understand that this product does not solve all of my problems, but it sure is a 100% improvement on how i treated my water before. All of my beers with the exception of a chocolate stout i had brewed came out with this twangy taste leaving me very confident in believing that it had something to do with my water. I feel like after using a PH Stabilizer with my next batch it should reel much better results. We'll this post is just a rant and i would appreciate some good luck from the brewers out there ... that my next batch is tasty enough to keep me on brewing without another year hiatus. ! Cheers!

Yeah, I think you won't have another hiatus. Welcome back!

Water really doesn't have to be too much of a nightmare. Check out this thread. Basically, you start with RO or distilled water, add a little CaCl to your water and sauermalz (aka acidulated malt) to your grain bill, and don't worry about it.

Have you gotten your water tested? If not, check out Ward Labs. For $26 or so you can get a complete water profile, so you know exactly where you're starting from.

Welcome back, and best of luck!