kbuzz
Well-Known Member
Sorry for the long post ahead, but I need help. I'm a neurotic homebrewer with a problem.
I've posted other threads about this problem, but thought if I posted my entire process in detail, someone might be bored enough to read it and figure out what I'm doing wrong.
The problem:
Any beer I brew with a hoppy profile turns out nasty. I would describe the off taste as being cabbagey and vegetal. I never had a problem brewing hoppy beers w/ extract, but as soon as I switched to AG, I can't seem to even brew a decent pale ale. My "darker" malt forward brews are good and even great...but anything from my Black IPAs to my simple ambers all have the same stale vegetal taste.
The process:
1) I always use a yeast starter...prepared anywhere from 2-4 days prior to brew day. I use light malt extract and boiled tap water for my starters. Depending on how many days I give myself, I either pitch the yeast at high krausen or put the fermented starter in the fridge for a day and take it out to warm to room temp on brew day. I do wash my yeast and have used strains up to 3 gens old, but never older. I have had a bad batch with fresh yeast and all generations after, so I don't think my yeast is bad...
2) I start the day by cleaning everything with PBW - kettle, thermometer, mash paddle, mash tun, wort chiller, water/wort bucket, and fermentor (sometimes bucket, sometimes glass carboy). I let some of this solution drain through the ball valve of my MLT. I rinse everything after. Then I fill the fermentor with 1 oz starsan and 5 gallons of tap water and let sit until I transfer the wort.
3) I begin to heat my strike water in the brew kettle using a propane burner stand. My kettle is a cheap stainless steel kettle that I've used since my first batch. Not great - it's a bit thin...but definitely stainless steel. I've used both tap water and bottled water for brewing. I have never filtered my water or used RO/distilled water. My most recent batch was using bottled spring water with a ph stabilizer. Once heated to the proper temp, I pour the water from my kettle into the mash tun. My mash tun is an old converted igloo cooler. It's definitely seen better days and I used it for a great many things prior to it's current incarnation as a mash tun. I let the water sit and heat the mash tun for maybe 5-10 mins.
4) Then I dough in...always take my time doing this...never any dough balls. I typically mash for anywhere from 45-60 mins. Then I start to heat my sparge water...usually the same water profile as the strike water - either tap water or bottled spring water. Then I vorlauf using a plastic pitcher. The ball valve on my MLT is brass - no pre-treatment. I have a short piece of food grade tubing that helps to get the wort into my bucket without splashing. Once clear, I let the first runnings collect into a bucket. The bucket that it drains into was washed w/ PBW and rinsed. I use this bucket to transfer the drained wort into my kettle. But at this point the sparge water is still heating up. Once the first runnings are collected, they sit in this bucket until the sparge water is poured into the MLT. Once the sparge water is removed from the kettle, I pour the first runnings in and begin to heat slowly. I stir the grains a bit and let it sit for another 15 mins.
5) I vorlauf again and drain into the same bucket. I add it to the wort that's already started to heat. Usually doesn't take too much longer for the boil to begin. Since the kettle is so small, I have to avoid boilovers by removing the kettle when the foam rises. Once first boil is achieved, I remove from heat, add first hop addition. I add remaining hop additions per recipe. I boil for an hour - I would call it an solid rolling boil..more than soft. I drop my homemade wort chiller into the wort with about 15 mins remaining. I typically lose my boil at this point...but it starts up again within 1 min or 2. This wort chiller is made out of copper by my father in law. There are some welds on it that have slowly turned green as I've brewed more batches. I don;t know what he used to weld these areas.
6) At flamout, I start to cool by running water through the chiller via garden hose. Then once the temp hits 120 or so, I recirculate water from an ice bath using a pond pump to speed things up. I would estimate that it takes me an average of about 30 mins to cool to proper yeast-pitching temps. At this time, I empty my fermentor of the starsan solution. Once the temp hits 65 or so, I transfer the wort to the fermentor and shake/rock a bit to oxygenate.
7) I decant the yeast starter, swirl and dump it in. I put on the airlock and fill with some starsan solution. Ferments in my basement - ambient temps around 63 or so. After a few gravity readings tell me that fermentation has completed, I add dry hops in a new muslin bag that I've sprayed with starsan solution. After 10 days of dry-hopping, I keg. Then I slowly force carb at 10 PSI in my fridge.
I always clean my keg lines and kegs using PBW followed by a rinse then some starsan.
Why do my hoppy beers taste like crap??!??? Anything jump out to anyone?
I've posted other threads about this problem, but thought if I posted my entire process in detail, someone might be bored enough to read it and figure out what I'm doing wrong.
The problem:
Any beer I brew with a hoppy profile turns out nasty. I would describe the off taste as being cabbagey and vegetal. I never had a problem brewing hoppy beers w/ extract, but as soon as I switched to AG, I can't seem to even brew a decent pale ale. My "darker" malt forward brews are good and even great...but anything from my Black IPAs to my simple ambers all have the same stale vegetal taste.
The process:
1) I always use a yeast starter...prepared anywhere from 2-4 days prior to brew day. I use light malt extract and boiled tap water for my starters. Depending on how many days I give myself, I either pitch the yeast at high krausen or put the fermented starter in the fridge for a day and take it out to warm to room temp on brew day. I do wash my yeast and have used strains up to 3 gens old, but never older. I have had a bad batch with fresh yeast and all generations after, so I don't think my yeast is bad...
2) I start the day by cleaning everything with PBW - kettle, thermometer, mash paddle, mash tun, wort chiller, water/wort bucket, and fermentor (sometimes bucket, sometimes glass carboy). I let some of this solution drain through the ball valve of my MLT. I rinse everything after. Then I fill the fermentor with 1 oz starsan and 5 gallons of tap water and let sit until I transfer the wort.
3) I begin to heat my strike water in the brew kettle using a propane burner stand. My kettle is a cheap stainless steel kettle that I've used since my first batch. Not great - it's a bit thin...but definitely stainless steel. I've used both tap water and bottled water for brewing. I have never filtered my water or used RO/distilled water. My most recent batch was using bottled spring water with a ph stabilizer. Once heated to the proper temp, I pour the water from my kettle into the mash tun. My mash tun is an old converted igloo cooler. It's definitely seen better days and I used it for a great many things prior to it's current incarnation as a mash tun. I let the water sit and heat the mash tun for maybe 5-10 mins.
4) Then I dough in...always take my time doing this...never any dough balls. I typically mash for anywhere from 45-60 mins. Then I start to heat my sparge water...usually the same water profile as the strike water - either tap water or bottled spring water. Then I vorlauf using a plastic pitcher. The ball valve on my MLT is brass - no pre-treatment. I have a short piece of food grade tubing that helps to get the wort into my bucket without splashing. Once clear, I let the first runnings collect into a bucket. The bucket that it drains into was washed w/ PBW and rinsed. I use this bucket to transfer the drained wort into my kettle. But at this point the sparge water is still heating up. Once the first runnings are collected, they sit in this bucket until the sparge water is poured into the MLT. Once the sparge water is removed from the kettle, I pour the first runnings in and begin to heat slowly. I stir the grains a bit and let it sit for another 15 mins.
5) I vorlauf again and drain into the same bucket. I add it to the wort that's already started to heat. Usually doesn't take too much longer for the boil to begin. Since the kettle is so small, I have to avoid boilovers by removing the kettle when the foam rises. Once first boil is achieved, I remove from heat, add first hop addition. I add remaining hop additions per recipe. I boil for an hour - I would call it an solid rolling boil..more than soft. I drop my homemade wort chiller into the wort with about 15 mins remaining. I typically lose my boil at this point...but it starts up again within 1 min or 2. This wort chiller is made out of copper by my father in law. There are some welds on it that have slowly turned green as I've brewed more batches. I don;t know what he used to weld these areas.
6) At flamout, I start to cool by running water through the chiller via garden hose. Then once the temp hits 120 or so, I recirculate water from an ice bath using a pond pump to speed things up. I would estimate that it takes me an average of about 30 mins to cool to proper yeast-pitching temps. At this time, I empty my fermentor of the starsan solution. Once the temp hits 65 or so, I transfer the wort to the fermentor and shake/rock a bit to oxygenate.
7) I decant the yeast starter, swirl and dump it in. I put on the airlock and fill with some starsan solution. Ferments in my basement - ambient temps around 63 or so. After a few gravity readings tell me that fermentation has completed, I add dry hops in a new muslin bag that I've sprayed with starsan solution. After 10 days of dry-hopping, I keg. Then I slowly force carb at 10 PSI in my fridge.
I always clean my keg lines and kegs using PBW followed by a rinse then some starsan.
Why do my hoppy beers taste like crap??!??? Anything jump out to anyone?
