At what point did your homebrew go from good to great?

[Austinhomebrew]

When I paid attention to the water because that is the main ingredient.
Also when I refused to be a style nazi.

Forrest

 

[hexmonkey]

Two things that made a noticeable difference for me:

1.) If you're brewing extract, your "water profile" is easy: distilled.
Don't ever use tap water in extract brewing, because all the minerals are already in there. My first few beers were the wrong color and very harshly bitter because I was brewing extract with well water. The water was causing darkening due to maillard reactions from high bicarbonate and the bitterness was from the chloride:sulfate ratio being completely unbalanced.

2.) Pitch the right amount of yeast. My first few beers were underattenuated and tasted way too sweet because I had been using far too little (liquid) yeast. I would even go as far as to say that you should stick to dry yeast if you can't make a proper starter.

 

[thisjrp4]

First going all grain, then kegging instead of bottling. The beer just tastes so much cleaner from the keg.

 

[r2eng]

I don't know if I should be commenting on this thread, as I don't think my beers are truly great yet. But my $0.02:

- Temperature: consistent, repeatable mash and fermentation temperatures
- Time: Patience! 90-min mash, 90 min boil, and most importantly: Never tap a keg before it's time!

 

[Cheeto]

I am still waiting for my beers to be great !!

 

[FireNightFly]

Well this is my first brew. I think its all great, but I would say so far the best part was drinking my first brew and actually getting **** faced on it. If it gets better than this .... i cant wait.

 

[becksbolero2]

i'm here in seattle also, what do you do to soften the water ?

 

[Homercidal]

As far as what is important to improving?

Sanitation (always)
Fermentation Temp Control
Yeast Pitching Rate
Organization/Preparation/Notes

The switch to AG was not a big jump for me, because I had started doing full boils already, and late extract additions, which improved my Extract beers quite a bit. I've had an AG batch that did not turn out well at all, simply because I did not control my ferm temp for the first 2 days.

My next step is continue improving my ferm temp control, and to start looking at my water profile and how to tweak it. One thing at a time.

 

[Arkador]

Full Boil + Yeast Starters + Temp controled fermentaton + BeerSmith

I added those one at a time to my brew process, and each time, the beer got better!

 

[ClaudiusB]

At what point did your homebrew go from good to great?

I am still waiting for the miracle to happen

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[Saccharomyces]

When I downloaded Palmer's spreadsheet and started treating my water (especially removing chloramine with Campden tablets). Miles and miles better beer, because our water is BAAAAADDDDDDDDD.

I practiced good temp control and pitching rates from brew #3 onwards, because I read How To Brew early on.

 

[ghpeel]

All grain (or just getting close to it) and good recipes. I jacked up a few beers early on with trying to cram too many new ingredients in. Pick a style you like and get the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. Jamil Z is the man!

If you are new to brewing, it will take you a while to understand the ingredients enough to put together complex recipes. I'm still figuring it out after about 2 years, and am leaning more now towards grain bills with less than 5-6 different grains. Go simple early on to really understand how each ingredient affects the final flavor.

 

[jcarson83]

First going all grain, then kegging instead of bottling. The beer just tastes so much cleaner from the keg.

Kegging for me too. There is something to be said for being able to adjust for the perfect carbonation. I do AG, correct pitch amounts, and fermentation temp control. They all make a big difference but I think kegging was just the icing on the cake that made it that much better. I still need to get into adjusting the water though.

 

[Malticulous]

Chest freezer. I'm certain I'd have no ribbons without it.

 

[boo boo]

I would have to say all grain, although I made quite a few changes after that also, that really affected the quality of my beer for the better.

 

[Orangevango]

Today, or rather a month ago, drank the beer today.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL FTW!

 

[SkinnyShamrock]

Still waiting haha.

My first AG batch (an oatmeal stout) was pretty tasty, though. But I wouldn't call it "great."

 

[humann_brewing]

Still haven't got there IMO. I am inching closer and closer though.

 

[Picobrew]

I'd say it was when I started adding fruit to every recipe.


ok seriously tho, not there yet. The biggest changes were AG, temp control, and patience.

 

[goetzUM]

My discovery that I didn't get at first is that it is ALL about yeast. Pitching a suitable amount of yeast and controlling ideal fermentation temperatures. I discovered that is so much more important than ingredients or going AG.

Although, I was really pleased at the clarity I was getting when I started kegging. I didn't even realize that was one of the advantages of kegging. When I poured my third IPA from my first keg and saw how crystal clear it was coming out, I was delighted.

 

[budbo]

When I went all grain it immediately produced awesome beer.

+1 AG just makes better Beer IMHO

 

[mattmcl]

I'd echo all of the above. My biggest gains have come from, in descending order:

All grain
Using a yeast starter
Temperature control
Using DME to prime at bottling rather than corn sugar. I know, I'm a freak about this one, but to me the smaller bubbles from DME just make the beer that much smoother.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I'm still not sure that it has, to be honest.

I wouldn't feel comfortable calling my beer 'great' until I get consistent feedback from qualified, non-biased judges telling me so.

Than again, I'm usually my own worst critic.

 

[craven_morhead]

I'm not sure if I'm to great yet, but I noticed a huge difference when I (1) started listening to you guys, and (2) broke away from pre-assembled kits and started finding and tweaking clone recipes.

 

[jds]

I'm not sure my beer is great yet (although some of it is pretty good). However, the things that made the biggest improvements for me were (starting from my first batch in 1994 or 5):

1) Yeast management. Learning how to prepare and use a healthy starter.
2) Temperature control: Learning how to keep temps controlled during fermentation.
3) Experience

#3 turns out to be pretty important. Although I started brewing in 1994, I was just a college kid armed with Papazian's book and rec.crafts.brewing. Many atrocities were committed, and i paid the brewer's penance for every one. When I started brewing again after an extended break for work, life, and family, I started studying ingredients and methods more carefully, and that made a huge difference in my beer. It also helps to have a basement that stays at 65F year-round. I also switched from extract to all-grain brewing, but I think the other three factors are a bigger deal.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

From the keg, to my glass.

 

[Buffman]

My beer got better after I took 10 years off from homebrewing! Since coming back, I think the following has produced better beer for me, in order:

1. All-grain
2. Do full boil
3. Use a yeast starter (when not using dry yeast)
4. No-rinse sanitizer
5. Advice from other brewers. The knowledge shared by HBT members has definitely improved by brewing.

 

[wildwest450]

The title of this thread should be changed from "average to decent".

 

[Evan]

for me, and i think others have mentioned it as well, temperature control and proper pitching of yeast. Full boils are another.

as far as you're beer tasting as good as someone else...i think most new brewers fall into two types. One thinks their beer is awesome and the best ever and the other type think that they dont make the best beer they can.

enter a beer into a comp, get feed back from a judge or two. family/friends may not give the best feedback ever. also join a local club and you can get honest feedback.

 

[Tonedef131]

The title of this thread should be changed from "average to decent".

Or "'your friends only drink it cause it's free' to 'passable'" lol

 

[mithion]

For me it wasn't so sharp a change. My beers have been progressively better over time. I made the switch to all grain very soon (I think my first beer was all extract, my second was a partial mash, and the third was all-grain) but I was severely under equipped so my beers were still turning out pretty bloody awful, but still better than with extract.

Then I got a water cooler to be able to maintain a more stable mash temperature and that helped a whole lot. Mashing at the right temperature has a huge impact on how a beer taste and feels on the tongue. I've made a couple of starters, and I can't say that I saw much of a difference in the quality of my beers. Except of course for high gravity beers where under pitching leads to stuck fermentation, I can't say my normal gravity beers are turning out any better with starters vs without.

The newest thing I'm trying is improved temperature control during fermentation. I use to ferment at high temperatures since the house is so warm during the summer. But now my latest beer is currently fermenting between 65 and 70 so I'm very excited to see how it will turn out.

 

[mattmcl]

I have to amend my previous post. Patience is my number one improver, by far. I used to do 2 weeks primary, then 2 weeks in the bottle. Now my rule is 3 weeks primary, 6 weeks in the bottle. HUGE difference.

 

[flyerwire]

i dont think i'm in the "great" category yet, but am working on it. I will echo a few comments though.

1) Patience. PATIENCE! Make sure you have enough beer on tap so that you arent tempted to keg it early. Be Patient!!! (I'm still not patient enough)

2) Tweaking recipes instead of just tossing crap together. There is no real way to figure out what the hell is going on if you just change everything all the time. Start out with a good recipe you have and adjust one thing at a time. It also gives you a better idea of what a change does, its not that hard to say you are going to do it, but its hard to implement if you are a mad scientist.

3) Hops... still being in the beginner stage they are possibly one of the harder things to grasp, between what hops with what taste when added at what time. Hops for me is one of the harder things to experiment with just because you can easily make something thats not quite right because of the combination of the bittering with how long it was in the boil.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

At what point did your homebrew go from good to great?

I'll definitely let you guys know if that ever happens.

 

[mew]

For me it was when I started brewing for competition because it got me to brew the same beer several times in a row, slightly improving it each time. That's how I've learned the most, even though it can be kinda boring.

 

[mew]

I have to amend my previous post. Patience is my number one improver, by far. I used to do 2 weeks primary, then 2 weeks in the bottle. Now my rule is 3 weeks primary, 6 weeks in the bottle. HUGE difference.

This is interesting, because I used to do a 3 week primary and 3-4 weeks in the bottle, but more recently I've started tasting the beer at every step in the process and found that most of my beers taste great after 10 days in primary, just not carbed yet. So now I primary until it tastes right, bottle condition until no more CO2 is being produced (usually a week) and then throw the bottles in the fridge for another week. This has produced some of my best beer.

 

[Malticulous]

I got to agree with you mew. This forum pushes the time thing too far and only a few beers benefit from it. As homebrewers flavor stability is our biggest problem. A competition beer needs to be timed just right to hit the judges at the peak for the majority of styles. I found most of my 1.050-1.060 beers peek 4-8 weeks from brew day. I've entered only one comp but got three ribbons with brews all under 8 weeks old. There were a few NHC medalists in that comp.

 

[smalltown2001]

Well, based on this thread, my next project is a son of fermentation chiller, which I should have it complete by this weekend. I just find it interesting how some things about brewing you find out way too late in your brewing career, that could have changed the whole game. Like temperature control, yeah they say to keep it around 70F, but I didn't know how critical it would be. That and the fact that I've made about 15 batches (extact and all grain), and I've made a starter for most of them, and I even built a stir plate. But I didn't realize it till last week that I'd been following the wrong instructions on a yeast starter, I've only been making 500 ml starters! Whoops! I suppose it just depends on the brewer. Yeah it's fun to get people started in brewing beer, and yes, you do end up with beer as a result. But it is when you come to the point where you are not satisfied with mediocre tasting beer, and you are on a mission to make that great beer, and you won't be satisfied until that point. I am even a little nervous about giving away some beer to a coworker, because it has a little too much esters because of a high fermentation temperature, even though I don't think he would notice or care.

 

[JKoravos]

I'm just chillin' at 'pretty good'. It's great when it hips my lips though.

 

[tdiowa]

For me it was when I found this web site and began reading it daily. Reading all the different ideas that my fellow brewer has allowed me to progress from Extract to Extract with Specialty Grains to Partial Mashing to All-Grain. I have learned as to who I can trust when ordering supplies over the web.

I have also expanded my equipment inventory by building a Electric Kettle, Mash Tun, Conical, stir plate and my own Immersion Cooler. All ideas where conceived by my fellow brewers on this web site.

Without this web site I would still be stuck making mediocre beer and to that I say cheers to my fellow brewesr and thank you to all who have helped me along the way!

TD