Begginer guide help needed!

Hello I'm new to home brewing I really want it to work as I really enjoy the whole process! However I'm having problems with brewing largers/beers I so far have brewed a pilsner and tryed a stout after in a 5gallon fermentation bucket i washed then sanitised the bucket and then followed the instructions on the packet yet both brews have the same smell? The only thing I can think of is that I don't use heating in the brewing process and the temperature changes may have something to do with it? I have ordered a heater now but I am open to suggestions of what I'm doing wrong? I did wash and sterilise the bucket between brews? The smell is kind of sour but not vinegary . I really could do with some help any advice really would be appreciated as this is fast becoming an expensive hobby when I'm making rubbish drinks! Thankyou once again!

What do you sanitize with?

Extract? Are you boiling?

I use the dwp sanitizer make it up to a gallon etc then shake it around making all surfaces are covered and all the equipment is covered, I'm currently making the Hambleton bard Irish stout brew kit but smelling it today it reminded me of the pilsner I made

No idea what dwp is, but I highly suggest you find starsan. It's what everyone uses, for good reason.

You're getting bacterial infections that are making your beer sour. After the boil, EVERYTHING that touches your beer needs to be boiled or sanitized with starsan. Do this and you'll have success.

I use vwp sorry, thanks for the advice il try that next time when the heater arrives and hopefully get better results . Just wondering also if I'm being fussy as I'm only used to commercial drinks?

Sanstar is the number one thing you are looking for. Like Passedpawn said, it's what everyone uses for a reason.
What's the heater?
Are you talking about keeping the fermentation warm? What's the temp in the place you are keeping the fermenting bucket?
If anything most the time you are trying to keep the temp down when fermenting.
What yeast and what's the temperature?

Is the smell that you are talking about the beer when it's done, or the smell while it's fermenting? Yeast can give off a variety of odors. There are tons of yeasts out there and they behave differently, give different flavors, smells and like different environments.
The smell of the fermentation may not indicate the smell of the beer.

I've purchased a heater that submerses in the beer with a temperature control as where I live in the uk is often cold the central heating isn't allways on so to maintain the constant temperature I purchased the heater, I'm unaware of the yeast I used its basically the one that came with the kits I'm just unsure why it would smell the same when the drinks ate different I've not bottled the stout yet but in the pilsner it tainted the beverage , I may just be being novice here I don't want to offend anyone and I'm sorry if it's annoying but I'm really annoyed I just want to make a drink that's actually drinkable! I e spent a fair bit on equipment I just want the rewards of a decent beverage that doesn't cost the earth !

thackers said:

I've purchased a heater that submerses in the beer with a temperature control as where I live in the uk is often cold the central heating isn't allways on so to maintain the constant temperature I purchased the heater, I'm unaware of the yeast I used its basically the one that came with the kits I'm just unsure why it would smell the same when the drinks ate different I've not bottled the stout yet but in the pilsner it tainted the beverage , I may just be being novice here I don't want to offend anyone and I'm sorry if it's annoying but I'm really annoyed I just want to make a drink that's actually drinkable! I e spent a fair bit on equipment I just want the rewards of a decent beverage that doesn't cost the earth !

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I think many of those kits are to blame, not you! Any of those canned kits that you add sugar to and pretty poor quality, and they will all taste/smell pretty much the same.

You probably do NOT want a heater- you should ferment most beers at 16-20C and no higher.

I'd suggest letting us know what you're using as a kit for ingredients (a link would be great, since you don't have the same items in the UK that we have), and we can help you choose a better quality extract kit. You want to stay away from those canned kits, and those prehopped cans especially.

You don't no how good that is to hear! I'm brewing a home made cider and the prohibition vodka separately and they have no where near the same smell they smell ace and I hope they will taste that good too! I have a link to the kit I'm currently using it is : http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...outs_and_Porters.html#a1_21492191#a1_21492191 I'm currently sat drinking a Guinness the fact I have 40 pints of bad tasting beverage is somewhat devastating! Out of curiosity if the kits are bad what should I consider song instead ? Thanks Again!

Also I'm not expecting Guinness I just want a decent stout!

You aren't going to offend anyone with questions.
You need to take good notes for starters. They help you reproduce good results, and avoid the same mistakes.

With the little bit of information that we've gotten, I'm on board with the sanitation idea.
I don't know of any kits that come with anything to actually sanitize. They have the no rinse cleaner, but not anything to sanitize.
Order Star san and fill your bucket, soak everything in there.

Then you should have a fresh start.
As for the temp in your house, my heat pump cant keep up in my old house so it's not on.
Parts of my house are cold, others are kept manageable through space heaters.
I've got temp's from chilly to upper 60's in my house.
I have a space heater in my bar / brewing area that I keep there to keep my ferment temperatures in line.

Your method should work fine.
Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize! Best bet as to what's going on.
After you get some starsan, let us know if things improve.

That kit looks like "hopped malt extract" and yeast.

I'd suggest doing away with kits like that, and do a real brew type of beer. You'd need unhopped malt extract, some hops, some grains, some yeast and a pot to boil it in.

I don't have a simple stout recipe handy at this moment, but I have an English brown ale recipe all typed up with instructions here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/extract-english-brown-ale-27601/

The key to good beer is keeping fermentation temperature under 20C, using good yeast (NOT Cooper's or Munton's), using fresh ingredients and not the prehopped canned stuff, and using some grains.

I don't think star-san is available in the UK, but I could be wrong.

Yooper said:

I don't think star-san is available in the UK, but I could be wrong.

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Why do you say that?

passedpawn said:

Why do you say that?

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Say that I might be wrong? Or say that star-san isn't available in the UK?

I think someone told me (Orfy?) that star-san isn't available in the UK but my memory sucks so I very well could be mistaken about who told me, and in which continent it's not available.

Hahaha if your drunk everything is fine

I highly suggest using punctuation in the future, it really helps...

Also, I'd make 2.5 gallon batches (with a single can of LME) rather than the 5 gallons it recommends. Makes a fuller, better brew and even if you somehow manage to screw things up, there are 20 less pints to deal with.