Arghs, I have Good News and Some Really Bad...

[Klainmeister]

First the bad. I put this is the general techniques section because i think it has more to do with technique than anything else. My beer in the last 4 months have stunk! I mean, pretty bad, not completely undrinkable but definitely not my normal goodness. I'm getting some really flavors: Pretty sweet without any maltiness, some tart, poor bittering.

Is it possible i'm not using enough hops? I went back and checked some of my old recipes and so forth, went through and rechecked all my times and boils and so forth but still am getting this really sweet not very good beer. I made a bavarian hefe about a month ago, perfect fermentation temp, had a good boil, very active fermentation, bottle it and blah. Not good, very sweet and lacks any crispness. It can't be the recipe because i used the exact same one that made a brilliant beer a while back. Something is up.

Checklist:
Good ingredients
right hop schedule (i think..)
Sanitation
Boil
Cool
Ferment
Transfer
Rack to bottler
Bottle
Age

Still crap. Anyone else have this problem before where all the sudden everything just sucks? I think i might need to try some more hops or something.

The good news, on my birthday my girlfriend bought me a big propane burner with tank and 5 gallon brewpot. Woohhhhh, now only if i could make good beer again...

BTW - I've done over 100, maybe 200 gallons of beer and the last 25-30 gallons have been poor.

HELP!!!!!

 

[Beerrific]

Have you done anything to change your water? That is the only thing that sticks out to me without more details on process and recipes.

 

[talleymonster]

Maybe you started brewing in a different part of the house/yard and are getting contamination? maybe?

 

[FlyGuy]

Is it possible that your hops aren't very fresh? If you or your LHBS don't store your hops properly and/or they are quite old, that could be your problem.

 

[Klainmeister]

I went back to the water i originally used to brew. Made no difference.

I also considered contamination but i've had 2 contaminated beers and i know the flavors and so forth. This taste just sweet and really unbalanced.

Old hops is a possibility. I'm a malt lover so i usually use nothing exciting hop wise. Is it possible i need a more rigiourous/longer boil? Or can you get sweet/tart flavors from just not using enough ibu's to balance the sweet wort?

homebrew_99 are you out there? I live in Corvallis/Salem and could send you a sample if you think you could pin it.

I've heard of this so called brewing slump that things go great then bad, then great again, am i just peaking really low right now? i'm gonna start making some mead and cider in the meantime because i hate pouring beer out!

 

[david_42]

Bring some of the bad stuff to the HoV meeting (Corvallis) Wed. (http://www.hotv.org/brewsletter/index.html) and I'm certain it will be nailed down. I think annual dues are only $25.

 

[Klainmeister]

The problem with that is....well i learned to brew from my grandfather for my 16th bday and am currently only 19....

sorry, young, but hey i've traveled just to taste beer through europe!

 

[david_42]

Bummer! I went to College in an 18 state, then got stationed in California. Only place I could drink was in the Officer's club.

 

[homebrewer_99]

homebrew_99 are you out there? I live in Corvallis/Salem and could send you a sample if you think you could pin it...

I'm here if you need me. Sounds like a really long bad slump to me. I don't know why you waited so long to ask for help.

I've read you posts several times and can't pull anything out of the ordinary to determine what may be going wrong.

Email your recipe (and notes if you have them) to me and I'll take a look at [email protected] need to send brew. David may be able to lend some input also.

 

[Bearcat Brewmeister]

How do you store your hops?
Do you buy some for several batches, use some, then store the rest?
Have you switched recently from pellets to whole leaf hops?

Age seems most probable. I would guess any hops you are using now were harvested last year unless they are from the Southern Hemisphere (ie. Pacific Gem). Best case, they are 10 months old, so if they were stored at too high a temperature or exposed to air, they would have reduced bittering capability. For example, a Cascade hop at 7% AA stored improperly at room temperature for 10 months would have an AA of 2%.

 

[Klainmeister]

I buy my hops from the store no more than a day before brewing and refrigerate them. I've had nothing but good things from this store, some of the best help and ingredients no doubt.

I'm going to go back there late this week, see what the store owner has to say. he is usually wise and helpful.

Would burning the malt cause this affect. I had a little bit of a burn, nothing extra-ordinary. Perhaps some caramel action going on of sorts?

 

[Dr Malt]

What has been the final gravity on some of these beers? I am looking at your comments for "sweet" and wondering if you are not getting complete fermentation.

I also would suggest trying fresh hops as others have suggested.

Dr Malt

 

[Monster Mash]

The good news, on my birthday my girlfriend bought me a big propane burner with tank and 5 gallon brewpot. Woohhhhh, now only if i could make good beer again...

I hate to be the bringer of more bad news but you really need a 7 or 8 gallon pot to do 5 gallon batches...

 

[EvilTOJ]

I suspect the hops too. Try adding maybe .25 oz hops to your recipes and see if it changes anything? Burning the malt gives the beer more of a smoked, caramel, or charred flavor depending on how badly it burns (ask me how I know! )

Something else to consider is where you're sanitizing your bottles. I was getting consistantly bad batches because I was sanitizing in the tub,and the soapscum was killing the head/flavor.

 

[Nostrildamus]

Sounds like a thermometer calibration problem to me. You're probably brewing at way too high of a temperature and ending up with too many non-fermentable sugars.

Calibrate those babies!!!

 

[Klainmeister]

wowzers, thanks guys. Sounds like i have homework now...

 

[Muss]

Are you boiling your hops in less wort than you used to? If so your hop utilisation won't be as high.

Did you switch from extra dextrose to malt extract? If so you will need to add more hops to balance the maltiness.

 

[Jaybird]

post a recipe and brew schedual include times temps and gravity readings we can only speculate without it if your on city water call them and see if there has been any changes to there process.
JJ

 

[Klainmeister]

When i get my brewlog from the other house i'll post the recipe. The water should have been fine, it's well-water so it's plenty good.

I did use LME for the first time in months, but still not quite sure that would be that bad.