I've done about 40 batches in 1.5 years so far, since starting this hobby/obsession. I've tried MANY different set ups: extract only, partial mash, all grain, fruit additions, dry hopping, full boil, partial boil, brew kits, home made recipes, big yeast starters, light beer, dark beer and everything in between.
Most of my beers ended up with decent results...some were very good and others were sub par. But I finally isolated the 1 variable that elevated home brew from good to outstanding: using only store-bought spring/distilled water
We actually have great tap water here in Cleveland - but when I made a Brewers Best English Brown Ale kit using only spring water during the grain steep/boil, and topped off with distilled water, it came out like the most amazing Newcastle/Bass style beer I've ever tried.
Of course, you need to have pristine sanitation + good yeast temps + patience...but the entire game changed when I used no tap water, and only bottled water. Even though it adds an extra $5-$7 to every batch, I think I'll do this from now because it made all the difference in taste. Just my experience so far.
Most of my beers ended up with decent results...some were very good and others were sub par. But I finally isolated the 1 variable that elevated home brew from good to outstanding: using only store-bought spring/distilled water
We actually have great tap water here in Cleveland - but when I made a Brewers Best English Brown Ale kit using only spring water during the grain steep/boil, and topped off with distilled water, it came out like the most amazing Newcastle/Bass style beer I've ever tried.
Of course, you need to have pristine sanitation + good yeast temps + patience...but the entire game changed when I used no tap water, and only bottled water. Even though it adds an extra $5-$7 to every batch, I think I'll do this from now because it made all the difference in taste. Just my experience so far.