In a slump

[drinkdrankpunk]

When I got home from Afghanistan in 2012 after spending the whole deployment planning how I was going to get into brewing I built myself a pretty decent three tier stand to brew 5 and 10 gallon AG batches. I had a few months brewing on that then and had nothing but great results, every batch I made was fantastic. a few months later I had to move to Germany. knowing that in Germany I would not have a garage and be living in an apartment I sold my set up and set myself up to be able to brew one gallon batches on the stove. So since I have been here in Germany I have brewed 5 one gallon batches. So far 4 have been fails the 5th was bottled yesterday, so we will see. first two batches were kits for an Irish red and the White House Honey Porter. I had a bottle of each of those and I thought both had a strange band aid taste. and since those two bad ones they all seem weird to me. second was another kit of the white house honey ale and a recipe I scaled down from a friends 5 gallon recipe. I bottled these both in swing top bottles and both are flat. WTF. this is really starting to suck. last batch is a recipe I found for a vanilla bourbon porter. that I just bottled I am really hoping it comes out right other wise I may just have to take a break from brewing.

On a side note since my beers have sucked since I got here I got into making mead and wine too. so I got a batch of raspberry mead aging and a peach wine aging and a batch of JAOM doing its thing in the closet right now. so maybe in a few more months I will have some sort of success with something.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

Oh yeah so I forgot to ask the question. Has anyone else ever went through a phase of bad batches and what do you do to break the losing streak?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

At least Germany has a lot of good (although not very creative) beer to drink in place of home brew.

Have you considered BIAB instead of kits? Not sure on availability of grains in Germany but I made 2 kits that were okay and jumped to all grain and every batch (minus one infection) has been stellar. Apparently kits aren't as fool-proof as we are lead to believe, maybe you're too good for kits and can only brew all grain.

Either way, thanks for your service and I'm sorry to hear that it caused you to part with a nice 3-tier system.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

maybe you're too good for kits and can only brew all grain. QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure that's not it. although I wish that was the problem. I think the big problem is when I was in the states I also had a nice beer fridge with a few taps on it so I was kegging everything. never bottled before. now I am bottling and not a fan of that. I guess it would be cool if the beer was coming out good cause I could share it easier but who wants to share ****ty beer. Plus I had my system all figured out before and then got here and pretty much am starting over not only trying to learn all the little things that brewing on a stove change but also went from 10 and 5 gal to 1 so im messing with boil times and new boil off rates and everything else. maybe the kits and extract brewing are not for me so I am going to get myself ready to start doing 2.5 to 3 gal biab and see if that changes anything. Im just hoping it was the kits then maybe the swing top bottles and priming sugars. I really hope this bourbon vanilla porter comes out. It tasted great at bottling.
As far as my three tier it sucks getting rid of all that stuff but oh well Ill make something else when I get back state side in a few years. I think I really just miss the garage more than anything. And thanks for the military support.

 

[b-boy]

I've had a couple of runs like that. It sucks. I almost quit about 6-months in because of it.

I had the worst problem you can have. My first AG batch came out great. I spent the next year trying to duplicate it and couldn't. I got very frustrated.

My solution was to switch to simple recipes like pale ales and blonde ales. Every time I brewed a batch I tried improving one process (water, yeast starters, O2 infuson, ferm temp control, mash temp control, etc...). Over time I started getting consistant results.

I still have a bad beer on occasion, but it's about 1 out of 10 batches now. Plus I can usually pin-point what I did wrong. It still sucks to have to drink 5-gallons of mediocre beer though. To be honest I usually get about 3/4 of the way though the keg and find a reason to dump the rest.

 

[terrapinj]

have you had any good results since being there?

Band-aid could be chlorophenols from chlorine/chloramine in your water.

try using bottled water and see if you have better results.

it could also be from an infection but i'd bet you'd notice other off flavors from that as well

 

[drainbamage]

I almost gave it up about a year or so in. I had one batch that turned out overcarbonated (tasted good, but every bottle foamed over when I opened it), the next batch stalled out in the middle of fermentation, and the next couple were ok technically, but didn't taste quite to style in one way or another. I had started out on kits, but wasn't happy how they were turning out, so I started paying closer attention to my processes, and then moving on to published recipes (how I found this site, actually) and finally creating my own. I was probably too impatient in the beginning as well. I wanted to get everything from brew kettle to bottle to glass as fast as possible without taking concern with the details. Learning how to slow down and let the yeast do its thing was a big help.

My solution was to switch to simple recipes like pale ales and blonde ales. Every time I brewed a batch I tried improving one process (water, yeast starters, O2 infuson, ferm temp control, mash temp control, etc...). Over time I started getting consistant results.

+1, and I feel like I'm still doing this. I like trying to add a little something new or try to refine something with each batch so I don't get complacent and keep learning.

 

[Zuljin]

Cleaning equipment with bleach or cleaners which have chlorine in them and not rinsing it all off can produce band aid flavor. I don't know what you're using, and I know no rinse is all the rage, but try switching products and rinsing well in hot water.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

have you had any good results since being there?

Band-aid could be chlorophenols from chlorine/chloramine in your water.

try using bottled water and see if you have better results.

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

have you had any good results since being there?

Band-aid could be chlorophenols from chlorine/chloramine in your water.

I did a little research and that's what I came up with but it was really only one bottle out of both of the first two batches. So I don't know because if it was the water wouldn't the whole batch be that way? I am thinking it was a few bottles that didn't get cleaned really well or something like that. The honey ale came out ok but flat and The oatmeal stout had a pretty good taste when I bottled it and still is, just flat.
for those two batches that came out flat was the first time I used these swing top bottles. with those I'm not sure if its the seals on the bottles because I'm reusing these German beer bottles or I don't have the right amount of priming sugar. I was using those little fizz drops that came with the kits from Northern brewer. pretty sure I will not use those anymore.

 

[westo2]

I did a little research and that's what I came up with but it was really only one bottle out of both of the first two batches. So I don't know because if it was the water wouldn't the whole batch be that way? I am thinking it was a few bottles that didn't get cleaned really well or something like that. The honey ale came out ok but flat and The oatmeal stout had a pretty good taste when I bottled it and still is, just flat.
for those two batches that came out flat was the first time I used these swing top bottles. with those I'm not sure if its the seals on the bottles because I'm reusing these German beer bottles or I don't have the right amount of priming sugar. I was using those little fizz drops that came with the kits from Northern brewer. pretty sure I will not use those anymore.

For batches that aren't carbing properly, you can get the carb tabs and add a few per bottle. Re-cap and you should be good to go. Had to do this to a batch a few years ago when I first started and forgot to add the priming sugar to the bottling bucket.

 

[Homercidal]

I got into a small slump. Didn't brew as much, didn't feel like I had the right amount of time to spend on brewing, etc. Had some batches cloudy, some under attenuated, whatever. Nothing not drinkable, but not up to snuff. I've been in the middle of upgrading my equipment and that was part of the problem. Having a consistent process really helps.

So on Saturday I brew a stout. Took my time, did things right. Pitched yeast and placed the bucket in the ferm chamber in the garage. Go out last night to check on it and find the space heater I used had automagically shut off. Of course with that model you have to unplug and wait 20-30 minutes before it can be reset... Needless to say my stout was NOT fermenting at 32F!

Time to take that thing apart and perform enhancement surgery upon it!

 

[PJoyce85]

You can find plenty of creative beers here in Germany. The craft beer scene is really starting to pick up. And the home brewers here are doing just as much creative stuff as the home brewers in America.

Where in Germany are you at? There is a group of us that get together and share home brew and do beer related stuff. We just did a 225l barrel Flanders Red project a couple months ago. Had some awesome BBQ and we all brought some home brew to sample. Most of the guys live near and around Ramstein and a handful of us in the Mainz/Wiesbaden area. We have a club meeting on Saturday if you would like to come meet everyone.

 

[homebrewmike]

My last slump had me on a year and a half hiatus. I brewed one batch that got infected and just didn't feel confident and it started to show in my later batches. I moved from Kansas City to Portland, Or(April 2011)and my SWMBO and I had our first kid, so I just took a year and a half off. I re-read all my brewing books and am back to where I was before in beer quality(placing in competitions and no infected batches).

I think that your issues will go away, and you will be making great beer again!

Oh and by the way thank you for your service!

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

You can find plenty of creative beers here in Germany. The craft beer scene is really starting to pick up. And the home brewers here are doing just as much creative stuff as the home brewers in America.

Where in Germany are you at? There is a group of us that get together and share home brew and do beer related stuff. We just did a 225l barrel Flanders Red project a couple months ago. Had some awesome BBQ and we all brought some home brew to sample. Most of the guys live near and around Ramstein and a handful of us in the Mainz/Wiesbaden area. We have a club meeting on Saturday if you would like to come meet everyone.

hey Im a member of the D.R.A.F.T I was supposed to be going to the states for a month but somethings changed and I ended up not going. I haven't been on the FB page in a while I'll check it out to see when and where and more than likely see you at the meet up.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

My last slump had me on a year and a half hiatus. I brewed one batch that got infected and just didn't feel confident and it started to show in my later batches. I moved from Kansas City to Portland, Or(April 2011)and my SWMBO and I had our first kid, so I just took a year and a half off. I re-read all my brewing books and am back to where I was before in beer quality(placing in competitions and no infected batches).

I think that your issues will go away, and you will be making great beer again!

Oh and by the way thank you for your service!

Yeah I think there is a lot of factors contributing to my bad batches. I am working on figuring out a good system right now. trying decide how big I want to go and what type of set up I can use here in this little apartment. I think once I get a system and equipment figured out I will probably be back in business. Also going back and rereading a few books probably not a bad idea too.