duskb
Well-Known Member
Last night I had some friends over and we had a "taste test". We blinded several commercial brews (Pyramid, Sierra Nev, Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, etc, etc, etc) against some of the various homebrews I have made in the last year.
Of course when my brew was compared against the commercial stuff you could spot mine every time. Not that the flavor of my stuff was off but there was a noticeable difference in the texture. My brew seemed hard and less fizzy compared to the almost floaty, light and airy texture of the commercial brews. It seems to me that this is an indication that my stuff must be way under carbed. I'm sort of between a rock an a hard place here if that is the case.
I've favored the "set and forget" method for kegs but the results have been spotty (I leave the keg at 30 psi for just over a day and a half and let it condition for 2-3 weeks). To get the carb level up I have tried leaving it on for a few days to get more bubbles in the beer solution but I end up with a ton of head on the draw. OTOH to keep the head down I have to remove the c02 early and consequently have less bubbles in the beer solution. I still have not carbed the perfect keg yet but I never cared until last night because it was still drinkable.
(FWIW I have not tried the priming sugar yet for kegging but if it helps I might start going that route instead.)
Also, to throw a wrench in the works I like to "draw off" about 6-8 bottles worth from each batch and bottle it (as I am kegging). I've had a real hit and miss approach trying to get the priming solution accurate to prime such a small batch. No bottle bombs yet but very few have had high carb levels. Maybe I should switch to sugar pills for those smaller batches instead of trying to get the sugar water solution right for bottles?
I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. If anyone has some helpful input I'd appreciate it.
Of course when my brew was compared against the commercial stuff you could spot mine every time. Not that the flavor of my stuff was off but there was a noticeable difference in the texture. My brew seemed hard and less fizzy compared to the almost floaty, light and airy texture of the commercial brews. It seems to me that this is an indication that my stuff must be way under carbed. I'm sort of between a rock an a hard place here if that is the case.
I've favored the "set and forget" method for kegs but the results have been spotty (I leave the keg at 30 psi for just over a day and a half and let it condition for 2-3 weeks). To get the carb level up I have tried leaving it on for a few days to get more bubbles in the beer solution but I end up with a ton of head on the draw. OTOH to keep the head down I have to remove the c02 early and consequently have less bubbles in the beer solution. I still have not carbed the perfect keg yet but I never cared until last night because it was still drinkable.
(FWIW I have not tried the priming sugar yet for kegging but if it helps I might start going that route instead.)
Also, to throw a wrench in the works I like to "draw off" about 6-8 bottles worth from each batch and bottle it (as I am kegging). I've had a real hit and miss approach trying to get the priming solution accurate to prime such a small batch. No bottle bombs yet but very few have had high carb levels. Maybe I should switch to sugar pills for those smaller batches instead of trying to get the sugar water solution right for bottles?
I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. If anyone has some helpful input I'd appreciate it.