Hello home brewers.
I've been brewing from kits on-and-off for the last three years, making maybe 10 brews in total, and in general they've been pretty poor. So I've decided that my next brew is going to be the best it can be, and to do that need help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
The overwhelming problem I have with my beers is what I think some people call the 'green' taste, a bit like green apples, maybe with a hint of tea. My last brew I had sitting around for about 6 months, and it still had that taste about it. Now, I've read lots of different ideas about the cause of this and how to avoid it, among them:
- It's caused by an out of date kit.
Have always checked the expiry dates and shopped from different suppliers, so don't think this is it.
- It's caused by using a poor quality kit
Have tried more expensive ones like John Bull Masterclass which require no added sugar, same problem.
- It's caused by using the wrong type of sugar
Have tried different spray malts and no-sugar kits, same issue.
- It's caused by bad sanitation
Always scrubbed and soaked my fermenter and equipment with gallons of home brew sanitiser.
- Wait a while, the taste may improve
Have waited, it hasn't
- Don't use the yeast that comes with the kit, use another one
Surely this can't apply to every kit on the market? Out of 10 different kits, can they all have bad yeast?
So I think I have ruled all of the above out, and figure there must be something wrong with my method. Here's what I do:
1. Sanitise my 5 gallon beer bin (Youngs), along with the long plastic spoon and lid, using the home brew sanitiser solution (about 1-2 spoon fuls as specified on the side of the pot).
2. Rinse 2-3 times with cold water.
3. Open the can of malt extract (lets say I'm doing the John Bull kit that doesn't require extra sugar) and empty into the bin.
4. Rinse can with boiling water to get the last few drops of the malt extract.
5. Add the boiling hot water as instructed.
6. Add the cold water as instructed, up to around the 4 or 5 gallon mark (usually 4.5 gallons for slightly stronger beer).
7. Check the brew temp and make sure it's 75 degrees C.
8. Take a hydrometer reading, and it's usually around .40-.50
9. Sprinkle the yeast on top and give it a good stir.
10. Fit the lid to the bin.
I don't have an airlock on the bin, so the lid will pop up a bit when the CO2 starts being produced, but it's not an airtight seal so the gas can escape. After about a week the hydrometer reading drops to .15, maybe .10 if I'm lucky. I think I once had it go to the recommended 0.05. Once my hydrometer readings stays steady, I transfer to secondary, even if it is a bit high. I should point out that by this stage I can usually detect the 'green apple' taste just by smelling the beer, so it's my guess that whatever I'm doing wrong, it's already occurred by this point.
I should also say that I brew indoors, and don't have temperature control in my house, so e.g. the day time temp may be 75 deg C, dropping to 60 deg C at night. I assume this isn't an issue?
Anyway, after the primary is complete, next I sanitise my King Keg barrel and syphoning tube, add about 2/3rd cup of spray malt to the keg and syphon the beer into it from the primary. Then I seal it, screw the cap on tight and the job's done. Within 24 hours I get a secondary fermentation, and within 10 days or the beer starts to clear. It just doesn't taste that good!
I would be extremely grateful for any insights into where I'm going wrong. Once day I'd love to get to trying my own beer recipes, but feel it'd be a total waste of time unless I can first make decent beer from kits. Help!
I've been brewing from kits on-and-off for the last three years, making maybe 10 brews in total, and in general they've been pretty poor. So I've decided that my next brew is going to be the best it can be, and to do that need help to figure out where I'm going wrong.
The overwhelming problem I have with my beers is what I think some people call the 'green' taste, a bit like green apples, maybe with a hint of tea. My last brew I had sitting around for about 6 months, and it still had that taste about it. Now, I've read lots of different ideas about the cause of this and how to avoid it, among them:
- It's caused by an out of date kit.
Have always checked the expiry dates and shopped from different suppliers, so don't think this is it.
- It's caused by using a poor quality kit
Have tried more expensive ones like John Bull Masterclass which require no added sugar, same problem.
- It's caused by using the wrong type of sugar
Have tried different spray malts and no-sugar kits, same issue.
- It's caused by bad sanitation
Always scrubbed and soaked my fermenter and equipment with gallons of home brew sanitiser.
- Wait a while, the taste may improve
Have waited, it hasn't
- Don't use the yeast that comes with the kit, use another one
Surely this can't apply to every kit on the market? Out of 10 different kits, can they all have bad yeast?
So I think I have ruled all of the above out, and figure there must be something wrong with my method. Here's what I do:
1. Sanitise my 5 gallon beer bin (Youngs), along with the long plastic spoon and lid, using the home brew sanitiser solution (about 1-2 spoon fuls as specified on the side of the pot).
2. Rinse 2-3 times with cold water.
3. Open the can of malt extract (lets say I'm doing the John Bull kit that doesn't require extra sugar) and empty into the bin.
4. Rinse can with boiling water to get the last few drops of the malt extract.
5. Add the boiling hot water as instructed.
6. Add the cold water as instructed, up to around the 4 or 5 gallon mark (usually 4.5 gallons for slightly stronger beer).
7. Check the brew temp and make sure it's 75 degrees C.
8. Take a hydrometer reading, and it's usually around .40-.50
9. Sprinkle the yeast on top and give it a good stir.
10. Fit the lid to the bin.
I don't have an airlock on the bin, so the lid will pop up a bit when the CO2 starts being produced, but it's not an airtight seal so the gas can escape. After about a week the hydrometer reading drops to .15, maybe .10 if I'm lucky. I think I once had it go to the recommended 0.05. Once my hydrometer readings stays steady, I transfer to secondary, even if it is a bit high. I should point out that by this stage I can usually detect the 'green apple' taste just by smelling the beer, so it's my guess that whatever I'm doing wrong, it's already occurred by this point.
I should also say that I brew indoors, and don't have temperature control in my house, so e.g. the day time temp may be 75 deg C, dropping to 60 deg C at night. I assume this isn't an issue?
Anyway, after the primary is complete, next I sanitise my King Keg barrel and syphoning tube, add about 2/3rd cup of spray malt to the keg and syphon the beer into it from the primary. Then I seal it, screw the cap on tight and the job's done. Within 24 hours I get a secondary fermentation, and within 10 days or the beer starts to clear. It just doesn't taste that good!
I would be extremely grateful for any insights into where I'm going wrong. Once day I'd love to get to trying my own beer recipes, but feel it'd be a total waste of time unless I can first make decent beer from kits. Help!