I am at a bit of a crossroads, and would love some input. I haven't brewed in about 9 mos. Since my wife was 4ish mos pregnant with our first. My beer was coming out good for the most part, but I was running into 2 issues.
1. No carb.
2. An off flavor from all of my clean, hoppy beers.
The off flavor is a sweetness. Hop flavor and armona is muted. Beer taste great going into the bottles, but quickly deteriorate.
Could the 2 be related?
I know the normal answer is to keg. But I am not really looking to lay out that kind of cash right now.
Any tips to improve the longevity of bottled beers?
I brew and drink lots of styles, but IPAs and Pales are kinda my go to. I am also not drinking as much with a 4 month old running around.
I picked up a new capper, and am going to brew a simple Westcoast IPA soon to see if a bad capper is the culprit on the carb issue. Also going to test out a short and shoddy brew day.
Process for context...
2.5-3gal BIAB. Mash and boil in SSBrewtech 5.5g kettle. Ferment in a SS fermentor. Have stopped taking gravity readings until packaging. Typically ferment for 4-5 days, then dry hop for 5 days (usually pellets in a bag), then crash and fine with gelatin over a couple of days. I have used both domino sugar cubes, or corn sugar in a bottling bucket (I usually transfer back to my kettle) with the same result. I condition them for 3 weeks at room temp (usually low to mid 70s).
At this point, a 2.5g batch will probably last me 2-3 months (seriously), so if they don't taste good after that amount of time...not sure if I will continue to brew.
I know I am kinda rambling in this post, just trying to see if there is any process things I can look at to improve things.
1. No carb.
2. An off flavor from all of my clean, hoppy beers.
The off flavor is a sweetness. Hop flavor and armona is muted. Beer taste great going into the bottles, but quickly deteriorate.
Could the 2 be related?
I know the normal answer is to keg. But I am not really looking to lay out that kind of cash right now.
Any tips to improve the longevity of bottled beers?
I brew and drink lots of styles, but IPAs and Pales are kinda my go to. I am also not drinking as much with a 4 month old running around.
I picked up a new capper, and am going to brew a simple Westcoast IPA soon to see if a bad capper is the culprit on the carb issue. Also going to test out a short and shoddy brew day.
Process for context...
2.5-3gal BIAB. Mash and boil in SSBrewtech 5.5g kettle. Ferment in a SS fermentor. Have stopped taking gravity readings until packaging. Typically ferment for 4-5 days, then dry hop for 5 days (usually pellets in a bag), then crash and fine with gelatin over a couple of days. I have used both domino sugar cubes, or corn sugar in a bottling bucket (I usually transfer back to my kettle) with the same result. I condition them for 3 weeks at room temp (usually low to mid 70s).
At this point, a 2.5g batch will probably last me 2-3 months (seriously), so if they don't taste good after that amount of time...not sure if I will continue to brew.
I know I am kinda rambling in this post, just trying to see if there is any process things I can look at to improve things.