All of my beers taste exactly the same

After about 7 batches I'm disgusted.

Amber
Hef
Red
Blue moon clone
blue moon clone
Another amber
another wheat

They all taste damn near exactly the same, same color, everything. Kind of a malty taste I guess, not pleasant but drinkable. I have been using dry yeast, rehydrated, no starter. 5gal batches, steeping specialty grains and LME.

I am going to try an all grain in two weeks, if that tastes the same as my last 7 batches I am going to keep the kegerator and just keep good microbrews on tap.

disgusted with my lack of brewing skill. I've read a lot, watched a lot of videos.. just cant find a process that works for me.

I am guessing it is a yeast problem. That they aren't eating enough of the malt and that the malt is overpowering whatever else is in there and thats why they all taste the same.

I am going to use a starter with my all grain coming up and will try Beirmuncher's centennial blonde. I dont care if it is the greatest thing ever, I just want different.

Sorry for any typos, feeling to frustrated to slow down and spell check

Are you using the same strain of yeast for all of your beers? The particular strain does impart it's own flavor (or lack of flavor) on the beer. The hefeweizen jumps out at me, because people have said not to bother with the dry hefeweizen yeasts. I've only tried the liquid hefe yeasts. Also, if you are using dry yeast, making a starter won't help you unless it's a really high gravity beer.

What are your final gravities like? If it's not getting low enough, it could be perceived as sweeter.

What is your fermentation temperature like? Too low of a temperature could be preventing the yeast from finishing the job. Too high of a temperature can cause the yeast to produce off flavors that may be overpowering the other characters of your beers.

I noticed you didn't mention hops. I do hope you're adding hops and not just using a pre-hopped extract. I've never used one myself, but I hear the hop flavors in them can be pretty weak. If you are adding hops, how much and what kinds (including alpha acid %)? The bitterness of the hops is supposed to balance the beer and keep it from being too malty, which sounds like just the kind of thing you're lacking. If you're looking for a different flavor, you might try a hoppy beer like a pale ale for your next beer.

Your statement that your beers are all turning out the same color raises a red flag regarding your use of liquid malt extract. LME can darken if it's old or stored in too hot of an environment. Also, LME does get stale if it's old enough or not stored properly. DME doesn't suffer from these problems. So you might try dry extract for your next beer.

Have you been getting your ingredients from the same place for every batch? If so, maybe the problem isn't you. Maybe the store just sucks and you're getting stale or mishandled ingredients. If this is the case, try a different store.

Uh do an IPA or a IIPA! Use a good liquid yeast like WPL 001 or California ale yeast. Make sure your ferment temps are good and you'll be fine.
JJ

Viking pretty much covered everything I was going to say (and more). Nice Post
Try a porter or something different. You have really only made two styles of beer, wheat and red/amber.

Don't give up! I also brew extract, and I know that it is possible to get some very different beers.

I second the above opinions. The Reds and Ambers are pretty close as far as ingredients, so they might taste very similar, and the only other style you have done is wheat (Hef, blue moon, and wheat are all pretty close).

If you are using the same yeast then there will be even less to distinguish the beers from one another. Try using liquid yeasts. I know they are expensive, but if you spend about $20 on good canning jars you will be able to wash yeast for a good long time, maybe longer depending on how often you brew.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/
This thread is great on washing yeast, and we can help if you have any more questions.

I only use three different yeasts from white labs, and wash them as needed. I love the tangy character that WLP400 gives to my wheats, and WLP001 California ale is a great neutral yeast. My stouts usually get Irish Ale WLP004, and it gives a subtly different taste to them. It took me awhile to learn what exactly the yeast was contributing to the flavors and what came from the grains, but it is worth it.

Give us some more info on what kind of hops schedules (are they always the same?) and what kind of extracts you are using, and we can help you further.

FWIW every batch that i have made and fermented at 70+ degrees all tasted very similar and undrinkable IMO. all had a strong after taste that wrecks the beer. i cannot call it "fruity" but my wife thinks maybe that is what people mean by "fruity esters". the darker the beer the more i like it....the stouts and porters have been good. i feel your pain.

If you want to stick with extract, try a dry malt extract (DME) with steeping grains recipe, and keep the fermentation temperatures very well controlled.

I'd suggest making a different style, too, like an English pale ale. That should taste totally different.

A lot of good advice in these replies. I want to emphasize the importance of yeast for extract brewing. When brew from extracts we give up some control of the wort chemistry.
So we have to make the most of what we do control.

I seem to recall a recipe in The Joy of Homebrewing that he claims is one style with one yeast and another style completely if you change the yeast.

Regards

Same issue here. 4 Brewer's Best kits, (Irish Red, Dry Stout, English pale Ale, and Altbier) all tasted almost the same. They used dry yeast, three were Notty which is known to be a great dry yeast so I don't think it was that. I'm pretty sure it was old ingredients. One of the yeast packets had an expired date on it (by a few months) I imagine the expire dates are pretty long from shipping out of the factory. I don't think the yeast was an issue, but how long were the other parts sitting in that box and at what temperature? I also had some high temperature fermenting issues due to woodstove use.

So...where does your stuff come from and how long has it been there? What exactly are they...kits? What temperatures are your initial days of fermentation? Good sanitizing practices?

I am now AG and use water bath to control temps better and so far, so good. My beers weren't bad, there was just something in there that was off...way in the back. Oh and they gave you the farts pretty consistently

j_jones84 said:

After about 7 batches I'm disgusted.

....

I am going to use a starter with my all grain coming up and will try Beirmuncher's centennial blonde. I dont care if it is the greatest thing ever, I just want different.

Sorry for any typos, feeling to frustrated to slow down and spell check

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Before jumping to AG (If you haven't already) try a recipe from somebody like Austin Homebrew. Brew one of those, keep your fermentation temps < 70F and see if tastes the same. Good luck!

I'd be interested in hearing some OG/FG data points. If FG's are high, perhaps your fermentation temps are the issue.

Secondly - aging. How long in primary, secondary, bottle conditioning? I didn't see the schedule. Time is our friend.

Also is the water an issue? Eliminate that possibility with commercial water next time.

Sanitation is sound eh?

+1 to trying a liquid yeast. Also, hearing that your beers are all turning out with a similar taste I'm curious as to what type of water you're using. How is the tap water in your area? Or are you buying filtered water from the store? If you're using tap water, and it has an odd taste - that can directly translate into your beers and cause a similar "off" taste in all of them. This might be something to experiment with because it's one of the main constants along all of your beers. Just a thought.

yeasty said:

FWIW every batch that i have made and fermented at 70+ degrees all tasted very similar and undrinkable IMO. all had a strong after taste that wrecks the beer. i cannot call it "fruity" but my wife thinks maybe that is what people mean by "fruity esters". the darker the beer the more i like it....the stouts and porters have been good. i feel your pain.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it. My first beer fermented too hot, and it tasted like banana-infused Popov.

I wouldn't lay all the blame at the feet of the yeast. There are plenty of very good dry yeast out there. Safale & Fermentis puts out us-05, s-04, wb-06 and some others. For Hefes wb-06 is excellent for a dry yeast when doing wheat-beers, but it sucks for a porter LOL. I've tried it...

Four things I find suspect especially for a beginning extract brewer:

1. Try 100% store-bought water for your extract brews. Spring water will suffice. Your water chemistry still affects the brewing even if you are doing extract-based brews but not as much as all-grain.
2. Fermentation temps- one must measure the temp of the brew not the air around it. If the room is at 68 odds are the brew is in the mid to high 70's during the height of fermentation. This is easily fixed by using a water bath or wick method and some ice. I can't stress the importance of this enough.
3. Old oxidized extract from kit's or the LHBS' tastes odd usually and will dominate the finished product. So buy the freshest you can. I avoid kits and just use extract recipes when I don't want to do AG.
4. Condition your beer. Since you are kegging this is easy. Give a brew a good month to six weeks and see what they taste like.

Try these four things with your extract brews and see if they will improve. Also practice diligent sanitation.

I hate to say this but if you are having trouble with extract brews and you aren't happy with the results then trying All-Grain brewing will most likely be a huge disappointment.

Good luck don't give up!

It isn't to "blame" the yeast. And yes Nottingham is "good" .
I want to point out that beers with similar ingredients are liky to have similar tastes.
I know that extracts are similar so you can build a variety of beers by varying steeping grains, hops, and yeast.

So if you don't vary yeast you surrender an essential means of producing different beer flavors.
Regards

No, nottingham is "great" dry yeast.

+1 for bottled water. If you aren't doing full boils you are throwing pool water into your beer. Water by volume is the numero uno ingredient in beer.

Beer is beer. If you are following kits brewing you will have beer everytime. Nothing wrong with that. All of it will be better than domestics, but kits tend to short you on ingredients (flavor) in order to save costs. (LHBS kits may very, I'm speaking of the Brewers best type kit which seems to have the same volume of ingredient regardless of the style). If you have the equipment to do all grain your price for ingredients for a 5 gallon batch is usually much lower than a Brewers Best kit.

If you really want to one up your brewing you have to do all grain. I did extract for years, but what's the difference between brand "X" amber and brand "Y" dark? I don't know either. Until extract are required to come with an ingredents/process list, we will never know.

You can brew different beers with extracts.
You can't expect to brew different beers with the same ingredients.
Different water doesn't make different beers.

Auggie Busch...is that you???? (Couldn't resist...)

Please, post some recipes and fermenting temps so we can better assist you.

beersydoesit said:

Different water doesn't make different beers.

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I'm gonna drag up this old thread... sorry folks. I would disagree on this point.

What is the number one ingredient in beer? It's not the malt it's the water. If your water tastes like crap your beer is going to taste like crap. If your water is very hard, its going to accentuate hops and bitterness, if its soft it's going to smooth out other flavors (pilsen beers for example).

If all your beers taste the same play around with the most abundant ingredient by making a single malt/ single hop light beer in 1 gallon batches using distilled water, tap water, filtered tap water, burton water, etc. and do a "self-tasting". To see if you can tell the difference.

On the other hand - I have found that kits from Brewers Best and the like pretty much do all taste the same within their family of beers except at the extremes. These kits don't really step out on a limb and use spices and herbs like you find in so many examples of craft beers these days.

These kits are really just for beginners to get them brewing.

I would highly recommend Austin Homebrews kits if you really want great kit beers.

I agree JVD_X. I have tried different types of water; tap, brita, spring water, mountain water, etc. There is a distinct difference between each and it is easily distinguishable when drank side by side.

Generally speaking, the spring water has worked best for most of my beers.

yeasty said:

FWIW every batch that i have made and fermented at 70+ degrees all tasted very similar and undrinkable IMO. all had a strong after taste that wrecks the beer. i cannot call it "fruity" but my wife thinks maybe that is what people mean by "fruity esters". the darker the beer the more i like it....the stouts and porters have been good. i feel your pain.

Click to expand...

This could be your problem with the light beers. 70+ is to high unless the particular strand states otherwise...(The highest iv'e seen em is 72) I'd shoot for 65 or no higher than 68...when you say 70+ it worries me because + can mean anything! Also you porters and stouts probably taste better because the darker the beer the easier it is to cover/hide off flavors. The lighter the beer, the harder it is to make/get the right flavor...just my opinion!

I'm sure some of this has been said, sorry I'm lazy.

First of all do not give up. I moved to all grain after about 5 batches and it took 10 to really get that twang out. It takes time, practice, patience, and a fine mix of not caring and caring too much.

Fermentation temp is really really important. After turning my first RIS into a poo flavored vodka bomb I immediately put together a swamp bath to keep my ferm temps down. Eventually that turned into a ferm chamber, then a chest freezer. It really helps to keep those esters at the desired level. And don't forget that yeast IS active before you see airlock activity. It's makin' babies like no ones business so I don't do the whole high temp till airlock activity thing.

Yeast choice is also extremely important. Don't use an english yeast unless you need a little of that "Bill the jock's socks" flavor that english beer generally has. On the same note, don't use a clean American strain on something like a hefe where you want a lot of yeast flavor. Aaand always make starters if using liquid yeast. I recently made a big black IPA using the first starter I've ever made and holy crap the difference was insane. I finally found the commercial cleanliness that I had been searching for for two years.

I know a lot of people say water is important but I'm yet to notice a huge difference. I've made several 1gal batches to test water differences recently, and I don't notice enough of a difference to constitute spending ten bucks on water every time I brew. My tap water is pretty good though. Just pour yourself all the water you need a few days in advance and let it sit to allow some of that chlorine to evaporate. If you're really concerned, give it all a quick boil. That being said, if you have crazy hard water that smells like the Bog of Eternal Stench, you might consider using spring water.

That's all I got. It's beer:30 somewhere

I just made an American wheat. It was my first time doing a late extract addition. I was excited for this one. I had it downstairs fermenting for a month. For the first week, it got up to 72 (Safale 05), which obviously isn't good. After that, which may have been too late, I tried the water bath/swamp cooler method and this helped slightly. My problem is, I had the temperature sticker about 3 quarters of the way up, so I couldn't fill the tub completely. I even tried the t-shirt method and recycled frozen water bottles as often as I could. I think I was able to get it down to about 68-70. I just kegged for the first time a week ago and tried a couple beers, and I'm getting an overwhelming off-taste. It didn't taste like this when I took my final hydrometer reading, so I'm hoping the taste gets better with a little age.

I bought the ingredients to do BM's centennial blonde today. I was going to try for my first PM but decided to just do the extract version. After this last batch, I decided it would be best to really control my fermentation temp. I have a fridge downstairs that I don't use, so I turned it on and I put a few gallons of water in a better bottle to test the temp. Even on the lowest setting, the temp is reading mid to high 50's. Unfortunately, I think this may be a little too cool for Nottingham yeast. It looks like it's back to the swamp cooler method: shrug

I've seen Notty ferment like a MF down to 60, not sure below that. The first few days of fementation is the most critical period to regulate temperature. Once activity has died down you can ease up on control if you need and that will actually help insure that you get a full fermentation. By the time you moved it into the bath, the damage was already done.

I always stuck a temp probe right in the "swamp" of the swamp bath. You can be pretty sure that once that temp and the temp of your wort has evened out, that they will be pretty close to the same with your wort being a degree or two higher during active fermentation. I like to throw a small pond pump in the bath too to circulate water around the pale/carboy. Helps keep scum from forming in there too.

Maybe if you could give us the recipe and procedures you used for the hefe and the amber's/ reds we are making alot of assumptions about bad materials or similar yeasts but it could be a tannin extraction issue ( if steeping to high ) it could be a lack of the proper amount of hops or wrong type of hops hell you may just have bad water for brewing and that would def make all have similar faults. Without posting your procedure and recipe we are all flying blind giving you advice.

Guys the first post was two years ago. Let it go.

Someone posted a new question on this thread as opposed to starting a new one. No big deal.

There's no new question. In fact there are people offering advice to the original question posted in 2009.