Beer is not very good.

[Hitz87]

The beers I have made that have been descent have been lighter beers such as a vienna and IPA, even had a brown ale. These beer after a month or little more have been so carbonated i cant even poor. The darker beer i have made have not tasted very good and are pretty flat. I do all grain and i use tabs to carbonate and i use the same amount everytime. I have come to a crossroad i want to start kegging but my quality of beer has not been that good. I am frustrated and have been thinking about giving up. The last one i tried was a porter on the darker side and does not taste good and seems a little flat almost taste like a wine even. Any suggestion would kegging help?


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[Jsamp]

The over carbonation problem can be solved by not using tabs and using a calculated amount of corn sugar/table sugar/dme/ etc added to a bottling bucket with the beer racked on top for that particular style. There really isnt much else in your post to identify problems. Sources of problems could lie in water source, fermentation temperature, yeast pitching rates, sanitation, etc.

 

[flars]

I suspect a bit more experience is needed in the nuances of yeasts and fermentation.
I would recommend purchasing some quality extract kits, with or without specialty grains, so you can concentrate on the boil, timing of hop additions, yeast handling, sanitizing, and controlling fermentation temperatures.
There are a lot small things to take care of before you consider grain crush and mash and sparge temperatures.

 

[Jsamp]

I suspect a bit more experience is needed in the nuances of yeasts and fermentation.
I would recommend purchasing some quality extract kits, with or without specialty grains, so you can concentrate on the boil, timing of hop additions, yeast handling, sanitizing, and controlling fermentation temperatures.
There are a lot small things to take care of before you consider grain crush and mash and sparge temperatures.

You in the right thread? Doesnt really seem related to me.

 

[Hitz87]

6lb pale
8oz choc
1lb caramel 80
4oz roasted barley
8oz caramel 120
1 lb victory
4oz carafoam
2oz white wheat
First i heat 4 gallons of water to about 167 to achieve my mash at 156ish then i let sit for an hour. I do a fly sparge with another 3 gallons of water at about 170 ish till i get about 5 gallons of wort. I used 1 oz kent golding at 60 min boil and 1 oz kent golding at 30 min. I chilled with a stainless tube chiller to about 80 degrees and then transfer to a fermentation bucket with a siphon sterilizing everything with cleaner. Then i put british ale yeast starter in that was made 2 days prior using a stir plate. I seemed to have good fermentation. I bottled at 3 weeks and it has sat for 3 weeks i used the amount of tabs to carbonate for moderate carbonation it seems very dry and alcohol forward. I mean it is definitely drinkable but this is my around 7 or so batch and my ipa was probably the best which was good just was super carbonated after 2 months. I am concerned about the amount of trub that goes into my fermentor, carbonation process, or even the mashing but i have mashed that same way with every batch. I have not given any attention to keeping the break out of the fermenter could that be causing issues. I just though keggin might help the carbonation issues? I have a recipe for an IPA that i want to make and I have a dopplebock fermenting right now just getting kind of down with it and do not have any friends that brew so I have no pointers.


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[Hitz87]

This was the porter i just made by my calc it was right at 7% alcohol.


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[Hitz87]

This was the porter i just made by my calc it was right at 7% alcohol.


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Should a porter age in bottle or keg?


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[Hitz87]

Should a porter age in the bottle?


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[Malticulous]

It probably because of too many fermentables; too many carb tabs or the beer was not at FG when it was bottled.

I found weighing out the required amount of sugar (calculators are available online,) boiling it in a small amount of water and lightly stirring it in with the beer in the bottling bucket gives me consistent calculated carbonation across the whole batch.

 

[Doctor_M]

Should a porter age in bottle or keg?


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Should a porter age in the bottle?


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Either way is fine, a keg is just a big stainless steel bottle.

 

[andy6026]

Sorry, I can't answer your question about the porter, but I suspect that if you're pitching at 80, then your pitching temp and possibly your fermentation temps are too high for the yeast you're using. For each yeast you use, look on the manufacturers website for the ideal fermentation temps, and pitch within this range.m be sure that your yeast starter is within about 5 degrees F either side when pitching.

The alcohol frwd taste you've mentioned may well come from fermenting at too high temps - that can lead to fussel (sp?) alcohols which I've heard give it a hot alcohol taste. I've not had that problem before,

Most style east like to be around 65 when fermenting,mbut check the particular yeasts profile.

 

[Malticulous]

I drink my porter young. I can serve one with a week in primary and a week to carb. Mine are best at a month or so and the flavors fade after that. I ferment in a chest freezer set in the low sixties.

 

[Hitz87]

Well i use beersmith for everything and what i came up with i hit my gravity calcs on the nut so maybe the fermentation is not the best i usually pitch at 80 and it ferments at high 60's my gravity readings were what they were supposed to be pre boil post boil and post fermentation.


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[Hitz87]

Could the cold and hot break going into the fermentor make a difference?


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[Jsamp]

Could the cold and hot break going into the fermentor make a difference?


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No.

 

[cease]

I also suspect your yeast gets stressed if you pitch at 80* and gives off hot alcohols. Like others have said, forget the tabs and use sugar to carb your bottles.

You mentioned collecting 5g of wort but you need to also consider boil off, kettle trub loss and fermentor trub loss in your recipes.

How are you controlling ferm temps? Swings of temps even within a yeasts given range can stress them out, specially in the yeast growth phase. Don't give up. Look at what you are doing and make adjustments. My beers were blah before I picked up a chest freezer with temp control and started pitching yeast in the mid to low 60's depending on strain. Keep it simple, brew an extract batch, use dry yeast (us-05 is forgiving), distilled or RO water (the extract already has minerals etc), cool to 65* before pitching, keep the fermentor (not ambient!) at a nice 68* and use corn sugar as a primer.


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[Hitz87]

Yep i want 3 gallons total beer so i collect about 5 gal of wort.


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[cease]

Gotcha, sorry thought this was for a 5G batch.


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[Hitz87]

My beer ferments in my basement at about 68 degrees. Unless i use a lager strain then it goes into my fridge at about 45 degress.


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[BrewInspector]

It's all been said. Pitching temp. Fermentation temp. Forget the tabs and use the correct amount of corn sugar to carbonate

 

[Hitz87]

Do you think ro water would make that much of a difference? I just use my tap i know it is decent water it is probably more on the hard side.


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[Hitz87]

Ok i think my next beer i will get a bottling bucket and use corn sugar see if that helps. Will also make sure i chill it do correct pitching temp.


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[cease]

I suggested doing an extract batch and using RO water since the extract already has all the minerals left behind from production. Do not use just RO water for all grain. I suggested doing an extract batch as a way to eliminate other variables in your process like water and mash PH and to nail down fermentation, sanitation, priming etc.


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[kh54s10]

What hasn't been suggested other than temperature (too warm for pitching) is water. Try some bottled spring water and see if it makes a difference.

The suggestion that you can ferment for a week and condition for a week is dangerous if you bottle. If you do not have final gravity you could get bottle bombs. Most beers will not be fully carbonated in a week. (he may be kegging) Bottle conditioning takes at least 2 weeks at room temperature. I have had some carbonated by then but ALL of mine have tasted better after 3 weeks or longer.

I too suggest that you use a priming calculator and prime to style with corn sugar. Weigh the sugar. Volume is too inaccurate.

Keep adjusting, keep records of what you change and the results, you should be able to find out what works and what doesn't then concentrate on perfecting what works best.

 

[Doctor_M]

My beer ferments in my basement at about 68 degrees. Unless i use a lager strain then it goes into my fridge at about 45 degress.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/swamp-cooler-199965/
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Fermentation creates heat during which you can see the temperature of the beer climb as high as 7-10 degrees above ambient.

Do you think ro water would make that much of a difference? I just use my tap i know it is decent water it is probably more on the hard side.


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Water chemistry is a huge part of all grain. Judging from your questions I don't think you have read this

brewing.https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

 

[BansheeRider]

Fermentation creates heat during which you can see the temperature of the beer climb as high as 7-10 degrees above ambient.



Water chemistry is a huge part of all grain. Judging from your questions I don't think you have read this

brewing.https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

I've been brewing AG for a while now and don't worry about water chemistry, all my beers have been delicious to say the least. I add a bit of gypsum in the mash to get it in adequate PH levels and in IPA's to amplify hop flavors but thats about it.

I agree with the suggestion of brewing with extract for a while to fine tune basic brewing techniques. The problem could also be the quality of grain. My LHBS has a good turnaround for grains so they always have the freshest grain. I would also maybe check the source of ingredients the OP buys from.

 

[Doctor_M]

I've been brewing AG for a while now and don't worry about water chemistry, all my beers have been delicious to say the least. I add a bit of gypsum in the mash to get it in adequate PH levels and in IPA's to amplify hop flavors but thats about it.

I agree with the suggestion of brewing with extract for a while to fine tune basic brewing techniques. The problem could also be the quality of grain. My LHBS has a good turnaround for grains so they always have the freshest grain. I would also maybe check the source of ingredients the OP buys from.

Your right water chemistry isn't important at all, I'm sure a pilsner brewed with really hard alkaline water with no adjustments will taste fantastic...Taste is subjective, not saying your beer is bad (I've never had the privilege of tasting it) but I'm sure there are plenty of bjcp judges on here that have tasted beer when judging that was awful even though the brewer who sent it in thought it was great.

I suppose I should change my statement to water chemistry can play a huge role when trying to replicate certain beer styles depending on one's starting water profile. Please refer to my example above.







I do agree though OP needs to take a step back and learn the basics it seems.

 

[Hitz87]

I usually get stuff from northern brewer since the closest store is a 1-1/2 away is northern brewer good?


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[Hitz87]

I would think if my wort taste right before fermentation and my gravity is right then it must be in the fermentation and priming?


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[Dave_K]

You said you are just using your tap water. You are filtering it right?
You should use a carbon filter at the very least to remove chlorine from the tap water.
That could definitely account for the beer not tasting very good