Taking a break

[Transamguy77]

I have been home brewing now for about 8 years and very much enjoy the whole process and usuly the fruits of my labor, until recently.

In late 2016 I moved from the east coast to the west coast and it wasnt until sometime in 2017 before I was set up and ready to brew, I did a few back to back a simple pale and a dry rice lager, both which I have done in the past and had great results with. These beers were off at the time I couldnt put my finger on the off flavor. I wasnt goint to let a few off flavors stop me so I brewed a big IPA and at first it was pretty good but after a while it had a bitter off flavor, similar to the previous batches. I brewed some seasonal beers which lacked flavor and body and another beer that avain had a bitter off flavor.

I started toook at water chemistry and was hoping that is where my problem was, all of the previous beers just got more bitter as they sat, time didnt heal them at all and a few weeks ago I dumped them all, oh and they were 10 gallon batches.

So about 3 weeks ago I bought all different brewing salts, bought RO water and brewed up a citra pale ale, put it in the chamber set the temp for 65, now that first week here on the central coast the temps were all over the place, 40 in the morning, 85 in the afternoon and 50's in the evening. Didnt really think to check on the beer just let it go as usual, I get everything ready to keg it and open the chamber and find mold growing inside! I opened the bucket and it smelled fine so I racked it to the keg and set the pressure to 30 and came back the next night for a taste, and it was sour.

So for now I'm going to take a break from brewing, going to reevaluate my methods and clean everything from top to bottom before another brew before I get really frustrated and give up for a really long time.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for letting me vent.

 

[aprichman]

Making bad beer sucks, feel free to vent. I think every homebrewer has been there at some point in this hobby. If you are just looking to vent please disregard but my best advice on how to tackle your problems can be found below.

It sounds like you have sanitation issues. If you're using a bucket you need to replace it, consider moving to a carboy - PET carboys are less likely to scratch on the inside. Break down your keg completely and scrub everything down with a brush. Soak the parts in a strong PBW solution and then rebuild the keg with all new gaskets.

Hit the keg with HOT PBW, pressurize, and shake it every 20 minutes for a few hours before rinsing. Consider filling it with Starsan or Iodophor and shaking it periodically after you rinse.

Anything that's metal can be cleaned, anything that's plastic has to go. That means cleaning all your kegs like this, getting rid of all your existing buckets and other plastic lines, tools, etc. For keg lines consider using the lines that contain silver and inhibits common spoilage organisms. If you have a tap break that down and soak in hot PBW as well. If it's a plastic tap it needs to go.

Before looking at water you need to get your fermentation temperature to be consistent. Temperature swings can stress the yeast and allow them to produce off flavors. Even using a water bath would help a ton in reducing large swings in fermentation temperatures. A small chest freezer with a temperature controller does wonders.

I don't know if you're brewing all grain. If you're not it's a big improvement but you need to account for pH. If you are target 5.3 +/- 0.2 pH, look into getting a pH meter if you know what you're starting with water spreadsheets can do all the heavy lifting.

As for water, make sure you're treating it properly if it contains chlorine or chloramines. Do you have any local breweries on the same water system? Call or email them and let them know you're a homebrewer in the area and ask them if they can give guidance on how the adjust. They probably won't give specifics but even broad advice is extremely valuable in this regard.

Brew what you want obviously - some people love brewing the same few beers tweaking them to perfection while other Brewers may not ever brew the same beer twice. I think the real key is to make the hobby enjoyable.

For me the length of a brew day was a real factor, my 3 vessel setup took around 7 hours for brewing and cleanup. I switched to a BIAB setup and cut my brewday down to 4.5 hours. It's helped me continue to enjoy brewing and made the hobby fun for me again.

I hope you get back up on your feet and start brewing again. Once you get a good process you can focus on the fun stuff like enjoying your beers with friends and loved ones.

 

[TwistedGray]

So about 3 weeks ago I bought all different brewing salts, bought RO water and brewed up a citra pale ale, put it in the chamber set the temp for 65, now that first week here on the central coast the temps were all over the place, 40 in the morning, 85 in the afternoon and 50's in the evening. Didnt really think to check on the beer just let it go as usual...

Sounds like Central Coast, CA... Obnoxious weather at times.

 

[Transamguy77]

Thanks for all of the insight aprichman, I will be cleaning EVERYTHING with PBW and all my lines with BLC. Im pretty certain its not a sanitation issue the only things that changed was the water I was using and the ferm chamber change that I didn't test before putting my fermenter in it.

I do have a ferm chamber and I just made a change to how I cool it, I'm circulating water over the cooling coil and then through a heater core with a fan behind it. And it is much more humid than i was expecting and that is why the mold grew.

I am an all grain brewer and a ph meter is on my to buy list. As far as water im not ever gking to use my tap water again and will only use RO and add my minerals, all the breweries around here use an RO system.

I normally use my 3 tier brew stand but the last one was a 5 gallon BIAB (which was how i started AG) and I found it cumbersome and missed using my stand.

I will brew again but not until I get everyting in order and cleaned. I know that this is a bump in the road and I did make great beer in the past and this is just having to learn my new environment and once i do I'll be fine......till the next bump.

TwistedGray this is some of the craziest weather I have ever seen!

 

[JDXX1971]

Welcome to California.

 

[norsk]

Where at in California, my wife loves sours? Sometimes taking a break can be a good thing...

 

[Transamguy77]

Atascadero, I've got 5 gallons of sour!

 

[norsk]

Atascadero, I've got 5 gallons of sour!

What are the odds, I live in Paso right down the road, lived in Atown for 25 years. Not a fan of sours myself, but the wife loves them. Let me know if you need any help with anything. I'll go on binges when I am brewing 2-3 times a week for friends and myself, then go 4-6 weeks without brewing anything. It's like working out or other activities, sometimes taking a break is a good thing. Welcome to SLO County... At least you are surrounded by numerous breweries, large and small alike...

 

[mj1angier]

Yeah, if me I would start with clean slate- Clean the crap out of everything, Sanistar everything, do it again, start with distilled water and fresh ingredients...

Then change one thing at a time. Sounds like the water might be the problem, but rule out everything

 

[Transamguy77]

What are the odds, I live in Paso right down the road, lived in Atown for 25 years. Not a fan of sours myself, but the wife loves them. Let me know if you need any help with anything. I'll go on binges when I am brewing 2-3 times a week for friends and myself, then go 4-6 weeks without brewing anything. It's like working out or other activities, sometimes taking a break is a good thing. Welcome to SLO County... At least you are surrounded by numerous breweries, large and small alike...

That sounds great! I don't know any other homebrewers out here and it would be nice to have someone local to swap beers with or bounce ideas off.

 

[Transamguy77]

Yeah, if me I would start with clean slate- Clean the crap out of everything, Sanistar everything, do it again, start with distilled water and fresh ingredients...

Then change one thing at a time. Sounds like the water might be the problem, but rule out everything

Yes that is my plan, heavy duty cleaning and working out my ferm chamber problem, then make a couple of small batches to try things out.

Thanks for all of the replies its great to have this comunity!

 

[TwistedGray]

TwistedGray this is some of the craziest weather I have ever seen!

It is very reminiscent of the East Coast these past few weeks. I'm only 1.5hrs North, but a always several degrees cooler!

 

[Transamguy77]

It is very reminiscent of the East Coast these past few weeks. I'm only 1.5hrs North, but a always several degrees cooler!

Well I wish it would stay cooler! I had no idea what crazy weather I was getting myself into! I've never experienced temp swings like this, let alone in the same day. I guess one day I'll get used to it.

 

[TwistedGray]

Well I wish it would stay cooler! I had no idea what crazy weather I was getting myself into! I've never experienced temp swings like this, let alone in the same day. I guess one day I'll get used to it.

Ha, how long have you been over here now?

 

[brewcat]

Check your room humidity. A dehumidifier by the chamber probably will help.

 

[Transamguy77]

TwistedGray since sept 2016 and I still feel like I'm waiting for winter!......still.

Brewcat, it has been a bit more humid here, i feel like the moisture is just sucked out of my body and no matter the amount of water I consume I always feel like I could drink more.