Recent content by jhave1012

Welcome!

Interesting note. The northern brewer extra pale ale kit instructions now say to add only 1/2 of the LME at the beginning and the rest at the end. I'm pretty sure before you added it all at the beginning. The times are a changing!

So have you experienced the same darkening affect with DME as well?

Thanks madhomebrewer. It could be that all my issues are ultimately related to the LME. The question is whether to discover the source or just switch to the DME like you suggest. I think I'll try your recipe and see how it works out. Is this with a full or partial boil?

I've heard people say that about the tablets as well. The only thing I can think of is that it doesn't distribute through the beer as well as mixing it the sugar water. I've gone 8 weeks and always had some carbonation after a week of priming. Most are fully carbonated in two weeks.

Sounds like late addition on the next batch is the way to go. Even if it comes out a little bitter, that can be adjusted on the next brew if that off flavor is gone. It is strange that some people seem to be able to make good beer without doing the late additions. The receipes in papazian's book...

That's interesting about fermenting at a higher temperature. I've just been trying to keep it as low as possible during the summer months. I'd call what I'm experiencing more of a 'homebrew' flavor though rather than something subtle. Next recipe I'll try the late addition and your 4 inch deep...

Whisk is a good idea. So many variables to try to tweak!

Thanks transamguy Does the darkening necessarily lead to the off flavors i'm experiencing or do you think they are two separate issues that need to be diagnosed? I'm going to try the late addition on the next batch and I also hope to have a dedicated fridge for the fermentation. I guess I'll...

Yeah, I left it in there longer hoping some of those flavors would condition out. I took a peak after the first week and they were already there though which means it happened during the active fermentation. It was the Dead Ringer IPA from Northern Brewer. Nothing too out of the ordinary about...

I take the pot off the burner and mix low to high with the spoon, but maybe I'm not doing it vigorous enough. I don't have any residue at the bottom of the pot like it burned, but I'm not sure if there are different levels of scorching. Once I pitch the yeast I put the bucket in an insulated...

Hello, New to the forum but eager to learn! I know there are lots of threads on this topic, but how vigorously do you stir in your LME. I'm still getting more darkening/off flavors than expected and I'm wondering if I'm still getting a bit of scorching. My next batch I'm going to try...