What single change most improved your beer?

[ResQue]

As I only have one extract with specialty grains batch under my belt, I am glad that this forum is here and I hope to learn a lot from you all. I am gathering my equipment now and will be tackling a fermentation chamber soon since I have a unused fridge/freezer in my basement.

 

[MrSpaz]

Moving to all grain. Never have had extract twang since. Wish I had means for temp control but don't yet.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

. But I brewed my first Russian Imperial Stout and Barley Wine in the last couple months and that has forced me to say "Well, gonna have to wait for a while, get over it"

You will be glad for the wait when you do enjoy them.

On topic: I'd have to parrot a lot of others with patience being the best aid to all aspects of brewing. Recipe design, mashing, boil , chilling , fermentation, conditioning, kegging/bottling. The whole 9yrds. It applies every aspect.


Sent from somewhere to someone

 

[cernst151]

When you prime with dme, do you match it to the grain bill any kind of way?

I've just always used a very light one that won't impact the flavor at all. I suppose I could use a dark for stouts but I certainly haven't noticed it weakening my stouts so far. My current stout is as thick and creamy as any I've ever tasted. I credit a mash temp of 158.

 

[mrboz]

Well, once you get past the obvious one - sanitation, here's a couple more. I know you asked for just one, but since most of the things are free/cheap, why not do them all.

1. De-chlorinate your water (boil, filter, RO, or distilled)
2. Do yeast starter and make sure you have good pitching rates (really hard to over-pitch)
3. O2 Aeration (not the aquarium pumps, but straight o2 injection)
4. Patience with your fermentation time (really surprising the difference a 2-3 extra weeks can make - or more)
5. Temp control

 

[themachinist]

I started with a fermentation chamber so a can't realy add there but running my water through a charcoal filter has improved my beer drastically. Also since I started kegging my beer has lost an off flavor I could never quite place. I begun purging my fermenters and kegs with co2 when racking ever since I got the keg setup. I think the the flavor I was getting was and oxidized off flavor.

 

[mrboz]

Big thing is to not steep at too high a temperature - that's what will give you that astringency

 

[mrboz]

Big key is to brew a lot, so you can be patient with the brews that are cooking. When you brew a little, you are usually anxious to get into your batch and you don't let it finish.

 

[logdrum]

When you prime with dme, do you match it to the grain bill any kind of way?

I mostly keg, but if I am bottling a batch, I'll plan on holding back a quart or so of unfermented wort & use that. Here's a handy calculator for just that:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/gyle-and-krausen-priming-calculator/

 

[ATHB]

This is a great thread as so many of us use this forum as a tool to improve our homebrew process and this thread allows the less experienced to pick up on critical stages of the process so that these things can be learned early.

Cleaning/Sanitation was a no brainer for me before I even got started so I count that as that is an absolute must and not something critical I learned that improved my beer. I agree with most posts stating temperature control is critical and should be utilized early. You will not regret the day you outfit your brewery with a fermenting cooler with reliable temp control. For me that is 2 chest freezers (one 8.8 Kenmore (future keezer-currently using picnic taps) and one 5.4 Kenmore for fermentation) both using the DIY eBay temp control build found on this forum.

Next, oxygenation. I use one of those attachments that attach to a drill and spin the wort into a large funnel. I tried the oxygen wand, pump, and shake methods but they seemed a little clunky to me or not very effective. I feel the pump method was worse than the shaking method as I didn't get many bubbles and agitation. The oxygen wand was great but cost much more and needed oxygen tank replacements.

Also, contributing to this forum by purchasing a subscription since it has helped me so much through the years. Cheers!

 

[MrVix]

hands down the best thing that I ever did was build a fermentation fridge!

 

[Natdavis777]

Aqua treatment with fermentation vessel in a close second.

 

[dfhar]

Setting up your yeast for a good fermentation, every time. Practically speaking this means temperature control (both fermentation and pitching), having enough fresh, healthy yeast (i.e. making starters), proper oxygenation prior to pitching, and of course proper sanitation.

If you can do all that, you will get drinkable (and probably very good) beer, regardless of whether you're using extract or all grain, and dare I say regardless of your recipe (assuming your grist wasn't something unreasonable like 100% black patent or crystal 120...)

I've only ever dumped two batches. One was my very first batch, which was a hefeweizen that ended up fermenting at 80 F. I got temperature control after that. The other was my 4th batch, an altbier which ended up with a stuck fermentation and some weird off flavors. I severely underpitched that one and didn't oxygenate well. I started making starters and got serious about oyxgenation after that.

 

[seefish]

You guys must have started out much more sophisticated than me. I only read about half but I'm surprised nobody said Full Batch Boils. For me it's...not that I did those all in that order lol.

1. Sanitation
2. Full Boils
3. Temp. Control
4. Pitching Rate
5. All Grain

Unless you have bad water I dunno how water chemistry isn't like last place. Not that it can't be important...just in order or significance it is down there imo.