Finally!!!!!!!!!!!

After brewing AG for 2 years, I finally "get it". What's that mean? It means I understand what to do, how to do it (for the most part) and the end product actually TASTES like beer!

I'm not trying to jinx myself, but I made an AG IPA 2-3 weekends ago. It's been dry hopping in the kegerator for 5 days. I tapped a glass last night just to see what was going on with it and it ACTUALLY tastes like a GOOD beer!

I've struggled, mainly because I think the water I was using (straight from the hose) had chlorine and crap, etc in it. I used Spring Water on this batch to see if the water was the issue and I guess maybe it was. I mean this stuff SMELLS like an IPA and TASTES like an IPA. I ran upstairs to my wife and was like "I FINALLY MADE BEER!". haha.

Anyway, as you can tell I'm pretty excited because last year most batches got thrown out because they tasted horrible.

I can't wait for another 2-3 weeks so I can tap into this keg!

Anyway, that's all. I am just excited because I was starting to think about giving up because every batch was just a waste of time and money. I understand I still may ruin a batch or two here or there, but I'm fine with that if most turn out the way this last batch did.

I'm going to try and recreate it this weekend.



Tim

Way to stick with it, and it's nice to see you worked out your problem. I had one of those monents when I found Irish moss, good yeast and got a plate chiller. It was like "this is great, how did I ever do with out this?"

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/water-filter-setup-29145/

Make that and use a rv/Marine hose, restrict te flow rate to less than a gallon a minute.

If you have chloramine(ask your utility board) make sure you get an activated carbon filter.

Or just keep buying water. Doesn't matter how good you are at everything else you can't make up for bad water, especially chlorophenols.

Regarding your comment about water......I talked to my water company and they were willing to come to my house to test my water (I said no) but 2 guys there were homebrewers. Though they told me that the chlorine in my water wasn't enough to give the beer any off flavors, one told me that he does BIAB and he puts all his water in his pot the night before he brews and lets it sit out. I do occasionally use a lesser amount of a campden tablet to remove possible chloramine but my beers have been awesome tasting with no off flavors and I truly cannot tell the difference between tap water and bottled water.

But, some who use garden hoses have noticed off flavors and if that's the case, I personally wouldn't use a garden hose.

Thanks for the info and the link to the water filter. I'll get right on it!

Tim

timm747 said:

Thanks for the info and the link to the water filter. I'll get right on it!

Tim

Click to expand...

Eventually I'll go the reverse osmosis route, but this was a relatively cheap intermediary and should last me for a year or two. Male sure not to take flow rate lightly, apparently no matter how good the filter if the water passes through too quickly it won't do it's job.

Congrats on the good beer btw.

Water is 90% or more of your beer. A carbon filter will pull out chlorine. Chloramines are tougher to get out. I don't know if a carbon filter alone will handle them. Outside of chlorine, there are several other water components to consider. Hardness, pH, calcium, magnesium, etc. I haven't had mine tested, but did confirm with my water company that they use chlorine instead of chloramines. I know areas of Texas have some pretty bad water to brew with. You could have similar.