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I have gotten my ingredients from two different local homebrew suppliers only. The only difference I see between the two is maybe one of them will give me a stuck sparge. I've never crushed my own grains.

Thanks again for everyone's input, I truly appreciate it. Just to answer a couple of more questions: I have three buckets in my rotation and haven't really kept notes as to what beer was made with what bucket. I used distilled water with Starsan for the first few batches but have been using...

I've had a few decent ones in the bunch(<5), decent but not good. I guess I've tried 6 or 7 different styles. I taste it in all of them, but it's more pronounced in browns, porters and stouts. I agree that I am my own worst critic, but I don't think I'm being too hard on myself. My wife can...

-I don't clean the strainer in any particular way. I guess I just use dish soap and of course, StarSan. I only started using this trying to troubleshoot this issue in the first place. I thought maybe excess trub or a lack of oxidation may be the cause. -Good question on the pre-fermented...

I do use a racking cane, I've never really paid attention to the seals and connections? If was oxidation was the cause, would the hydro sample be good? I don't have anything carbed up at the moment. I just dumped 5 gallons of an Oberon clone that was dreadful to make room for a chocolate...

I'll have to check previous recipes for the American crystal Malt. Honestly, I've done nothing to the sparge water except to add gypsum and calcium chloride. I was under the assumption that PH didn't matter so much in sparge water?

Maybe, but I'm not sure where? That's partially the reason why I don't use a secondary.

-Thanks for all the feedback!! I have been using my own R.O. system. I've only used a TDS meter to test and it's right around 002. The salt additions I add obviously depend on the beer I'm making. I couldn't tell you off hand as I'm at work but typically I pick a pre-loaded profile for a...

I've bottled and kegged the same batch, no discernible difference. I've always had this issue, that's partly why I started using R.O., I was/am in the process of elimination. Only problem is that I'm running out of things to eliminate.

Maybe PH, but I wouldn't think water would be the issue. I've purchased all of my water(spring) up until 5 batches or so ago. I've tasted the water on every batch and it tastes great.

I have well water and wouldn't even think to use it in beer, it's extremely hard and has plenty of iron. I've purchased all of my water for the first 25+ batches or so and then went to R.O. $10 a batch for spring water was killing me. I've never tested the PH of my mash water. I used 5.2...

I always had issues hitting mash temps until I changed one simple thing; I now add the grain to the water, NOT water to the grain. I heat up water to 170-ish degrees and add it to the mash tun, I don't even pre-heat it. I use a calculator to find the strike temperature. Once the water cools...

The beers I like the most (stouts and porters) typically turn out the worst.

I've actually had someone who hadn't tasted my beer say this to me. I don't think that's the case. I can tell when I make a decent one(maybe 1 in 6). This has been a lot like golf for me, one good swing will bring me back for the next round. Lately I just haven't had a good swing.

I'll see if I can explain my process in a fairly brief manner: I start off by heating up roughly 4-gallons of mash water in a stainless pot. In the past I've used bottled water, now I use R.O. with salt additions using BruN water. I taste the water after the additions and it tastes as good as...

I love the color wheel! Alcoholic, stale, dry, and sulfury(sometimes) seem close. I'll have my wife try the chocolate oatmeal porter I just kegged tomorrow to see if I can further hone in on this. Thanks!! I made two extract batches 10+ years ago and they were terrible. I didn't start...

1.)Some of the beer, yes. 2.)I don't think we're honest when it comes to each others' beer. You can tell when someone really likes a beer, but not so much when they don't like it. No one wants to tell someone else that their "kid" is ugly. I've seen many a ugly baby in my day, but I would...

Actually I do, I use it very liberally and saturate EVERYTHING with it. I use roughly 1/4 teaspoon per quart of water. I usually use the entire bottle on a brew day. I'll definitely try filling up a bucket next time.

It's the same off-flavor in almost all the beers. I can't describe it but it's always on the back-end. I notice it more with porters and stouts. I still notice them in IPA's, they're just not as noticeable. I have many friends that brew. I watch them, and they watch me. There seems to...

Honestly, If I made great beer from the very beginning, I may have lost interest by now. I love the learning curve, but this has gone on long enough. -I've been through many thermometers, I now use the little brother to the Thermopen. -I've only used bottled water until recently, I now...