bransona
Well-Known Member
I've brewed for a few years now. I've stuck entirely with AG BIAB in both my apartment and townhouse. I've never had more sophisticated gear than a swamp cooler and a keg. With 75+ brews under my belt, I gotta say---the beer kinda sucked. My friends enjoyed it. I even enjoyed some brews (Equinox SMaSH, anyone?). But really, honestly, it just sorta sucked.
I tried everything. I switched malts a million times, hops twice as many times, and yeast the same. I brewed different styles, I brewed big, I brewed small. It all came out...eh. Aggresively eh.
Fast forward to my new 3gal setup (kettle, still biab, a conical fermenter with spigot, and a 2.5gal keg). I decided to start over from the absolute basics. A SMaSH. I needed to learn about ingredients (or so I thought). What I truly learned was about process and chemistry. While I'm more familiar with a few ingredients now, my beer has gone from 0-60 in five batches because of the use of chemistry and consitent process. My key takeaways would be:
1) Chemistry. Chemistry. Chemistry. It matters. It's daunting and ugly, but boy does it matter. I've been working with very high alkalinity, low salt water (see: <8ppm chloride and sulfate). After a significant amount of research, I wound up brewing with nearly 250ppm Sulfate and 130ish Chloride. That beer is an absolute winner. The Mosaic Promise Clone I'm referring to is by far the best beer I've ever made. The hops cry from the glass in an array of mandarin orange, mango, and peach. The malt is medium bodied and full flavored, not too sweet for the low perceived IBU (late-additions only). It's a real winner, and one I would happily put up against a lot of professional breweries in my area.
2) Consistency is everything. Take emaculate notes and learn your system to the fullest extent possible. Make sure you can hit the same mash temp EVERY. TIME. Exact same hop schedule (including whirlpool temp and length). Exact same fermentation temps. Variances will occur, but keep as close to the same as you can.
3) Go back to the basics. Not for every brew, but just once in a while, for yourself, go back to the basics. Make a SMaSH. Make a super basic blonde or pale. Don't be afraid to dig back into simplicity to really perfect the brewing process itself. I've found that recipes thar were once "eh" have come out fantastic with the right brewing process and chemical additions.
And FWIW, I've been discussing the "You MADE that?!" moment with SWMBO for a while. It finally happened. I let my friend try that Mosaic Promise, and he immediately, wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas, turned to me and exclaimed, "You MADE that?!?!?!" SWMBO was standing there and heard the whole thing. Needless to say, I was also giddy like a kid on Christmas.
I tried everything. I switched malts a million times, hops twice as many times, and yeast the same. I brewed different styles, I brewed big, I brewed small. It all came out...eh. Aggresively eh.
Fast forward to my new 3gal setup (kettle, still biab, a conical fermenter with spigot, and a 2.5gal keg). I decided to start over from the absolute basics. A SMaSH. I needed to learn about ingredients (or so I thought). What I truly learned was about process and chemistry. While I'm more familiar with a few ingredients now, my beer has gone from 0-60 in five batches because of the use of chemistry and consitent process. My key takeaways would be:
1) Chemistry. Chemistry. Chemistry. It matters. It's daunting and ugly, but boy does it matter. I've been working with very high alkalinity, low salt water (see: <8ppm chloride and sulfate). After a significant amount of research, I wound up brewing with nearly 250ppm Sulfate and 130ish Chloride. That beer is an absolute winner. The Mosaic Promise Clone I'm referring to is by far the best beer I've ever made. The hops cry from the glass in an array of mandarin orange, mango, and peach. The malt is medium bodied and full flavored, not too sweet for the low perceived IBU (late-additions only). It's a real winner, and one I would happily put up against a lot of professional breweries in my area.
2) Consistency is everything. Take emaculate notes and learn your system to the fullest extent possible. Make sure you can hit the same mash temp EVERY. TIME. Exact same hop schedule (including whirlpool temp and length). Exact same fermentation temps. Variances will occur, but keep as close to the same as you can.
3) Go back to the basics. Not for every brew, but just once in a while, for yourself, go back to the basics. Make a SMaSH. Make a super basic blonde or pale. Don't be afraid to dig back into simplicity to really perfect the brewing process itself. I've found that recipes thar were once "eh" have come out fantastic with the right brewing process and chemical additions.
And FWIW, I've been discussing the "You MADE that?!" moment with SWMBO for a while. It finally happened. I let my friend try that Mosaic Promise, and he immediately, wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas, turned to me and exclaimed, "You MADE that?!?!?!" SWMBO was standing there and heard the whole thing. Needless to say, I was also giddy like a kid on Christmas.
