Best advice/method/product for moving from good to great beer

[Timmy83]

I have been brewing for about a decade but haven't done a lot of varying in my methods/styles since starting. I've found myself to be generally pleased with the beer that results, however it tends to have some variations in outcome from batch to batch.

What I'm curious about is what other homebrewers believe took their beers to the next step, be it something you changed about your brewday, a change in method, or equipment that took it to the next level. Looking for free-ranging discussion here but realistic and practical things

 

[deBREWler]

I think you’re going to get a lot of people saying water chemistry. Although my personal problem was trying to drive high fermentation attenuation. All my beers were fermenting down to 1.008 or lower which left them tasting watery. Once I started mashing around 156F and shooting for 1.013 to 1.015 my beers starting tasting a lot better.

 

[jrgtr42]

I think a big piece is tailoring your procedures to the style you're making.
Some beers like a lower mash temp, to be more fermentable, others like a little higher, to have a big more residual sweetness.
Personally I haven't yet gotten into water chem - though it's something I'm thinking about. I haven't had any off batches that I can immediately point to water as the issue. (I'm still working on getting a good IPA...)
But other things that are easy to make sure are spot on are cleanliness / sanitization, yeast health, and temp control.
Also, make sure you're making notes as you go - that'll help you spot why different batches come out different.
Things like grain types, amounts, strike water amount / temps, mash temp / length, sparge amounts, runoff gravity if you can , boil details, hops additions, OG, SG, FG, fermentation details - so on and so forth.
This will also help pinpoint improvements you make.

 

[juggabrew]

For me it was 1st buying a chest freezer to control ferm temps. And 2nd and maybe the biggest difference was water chemistry...mainly removing chlorine/chloramine with campden tablets and making sure my PH is in the 5.2-5.6 range.

 

[cmybeer]

Yeast management. For me that includes making starters for almost every batch, using yeast nutrient (it's cheap and probably helps), introducing oxygen post-boil (preferably with a pure oxygen tank), and accurately maintaining fermentation temperatures (ie. not lagering randomly in the basement when it's kinda cold down there). Assuming you're using a fermentation chamber cold crashing with gelatin is another huge plus to drop yeast out and get a better-looking beer.

 

[TheMadKing]

There's no magic bullet

Learn your craft

Learn what works
Learn why it works
Learn how to manipulate it
Then learn your system

There's no one thing that will make great beer. You have to learn all of the basics, then all of the details, and then learn to put it all together consistently.

 

[JLeuck64]

1. Moving to all grain and also developing patience ( ;
2. Controlling fermentation temps.
3. Adjusting mash PH using water analysis/corrections. (this last one didn't have a big impact for me as the first two did, but I have really good well water! I realize others are not as fortunate so water adjustments may have a bigger impact for them.)

 

[marchuk96]

Here are my top 3 most dramatic improvement makers on my brewing practices...Kegging having the most dramatic improvement in beer quality out of the 3
1) Kegging
2) Water Chemistry
3) Yeast Starters

 

[Transamguy77]

I’m a pretty laid back brewer and as far as consistency goes it was learning my system and once I figured that out I could turn out pretty consistent beers.

An improvement was fermentation temp and being able to control that, honestly that was and has been the biggest impact in quality beers, for me anyway.

As others have said water chemistry was big for them that also depends on where you and your water are located, when I lived in California the water was horrible and I had to figure out water chemistry but being back on the east coast I don’t have to worry about it. If you have been brewing for 10 years with the same water chances are it’s decent but it might help to send it off and get an analysis so maybe you can taylor your water to the recipe.

 

[mongoose33]

What took my beers to the next step?

Everything.

Let me explain. I was at an off-flavor workshop a couple years ago, the kind where they dose beers with off flavors so you can tell what they taste like. It was a good workshop, but something kept nagging at me. The workshop was so brewers could identify the mistakes in their brewing by the off-flavors created, and thus identify process mistakes they needed to correct.

I wondered why brewers weren't finding out what best practices were and simply adopting them up front. Oh, I know there are some debates about what those are, but so many of them are no-brainers. For instance, fermentation temperature control, a good boil so as to boil off the DMS precursors, chilling fast to avoid continued development of those precursors, water chemistry, controlling oxidation, oxygen-free transfers, yeast starters, and so on.

I suspect many new (and some not-so-new) brewers simply take a stab at this without doing much in the way of research into brewing. That's ok, I guess, everybody has their own desires and takeaways from this hobby. But if you want to really improve your beer, there's no substitute for reading, reading, reading. Start with Palmer's "How to Brew" and extend from that to the four ingredient books Water, Malt, Hops, Yeast. Read 'em. Try to understand them. Read 'em again. Then there are about maybe 10 other good books out there that will take you to a higher level.

I've followed a philosophy of continuous quality improvement in my brewing. Each and every time I try to do something better. Over time, that adds up and it's worked very well for me. I do a little tweaking here and there to see what I can learn, tweak recipes, play with yeast a bit, try different ferm temps, dry hopping alterations, but mostly I come back to the tried and true, the recipes that I'd use if I opened a taproom.

By all accounts, I don't have off flavors in my beer. I have others who test for me, and the standard instructions when I give them beer is A) no mercy, and B) are there any off-flavors in the beer? So, I would include that as part of the regimen--have people who know what they're doing give you feedback, and find some who will give you honest feedback.

*******

If you want some incremental steps to improve your beer, I'm sure there are many already listed above. Probably the two biggest (if you brew all-grain) are water chemistry and fermentation temperature control. After those have been mastered, trying to do what you can to avoid oxidation I'd rate probably 3rd in importance.

Process trumps recipe. If you have a good process, a decent recipe will turn out well. But no recipe can save a bad process.

All the above is my 2 cents. Enjoy the journey, and you're asking the right question.

 

[grampamark]

Learn to be patient. Learn to be consistent. Until you have those two things nailed down, you will never make great beer.

 

[OnePlate]

I like malty styles of beers, so my beers made a pretty good leap in quality when I started giving a damn about the flavor of malts from different maltsters and differences in varieties of malt. Just like any form of cooking, tasting your ingredients and caring about your malt choices will make a big impact. Many brewers would be really surprised in the difference in flavors and quality of flavor if they only took the time to try anything other than the cheapest base malt they can afford.

 

[Alex4mula]

Ferm temp control, all grain, water chemistry.

 

[Calder]

Tell us what your current process is? If it is just Mr. Beer, then any change will be an improvement. I suspect you are past that stage, but you have given us nothing to go on.

There are lots of things that can improve someones process, but without any idea of what you are doing, I would say the single biggest control factor to get consistently good beer is fermentation temp control.

 

[SEndorf]

Learn to be patient. Learn to be consistent. Until you have those two things nailed down, you will never make great beer.

^^
If you by chance, make a beer that blows your undies off, you want to be able to make it again.. exactly.

 

[SEndorf]

But if you want to really improve your beer, there's no substitute for reading, reading, reading. Start with Palmer's "How to Brew" and extend from that to the four ingredient books Water, Malt, Hops, Yeast. Read 'em. Try to understand them. Read 'em again. Then there are about maybe 10 other good books out there that will take you to a higher level.

And after you've absorbed those books, don't overlook the collective knowledge here on HBT. I am not an engineer or scientist by occupation or education. But I've noticed a handful of regular contributors who are. I find them extremely helpful. And I'm not just talking about the "Brew Science" forum.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I became disillusioned giving people advice on this forum, because over the years it seems like there are some conclusions made by contributors that are subjective and over simplified. My responses weren’t any better.

To change your game up and make “great” beer you must first decide what great vs. good means.

In this quest, I believe that those brewers who spend more time and money brewing think that their beer is better and will not be convinced otherwise.

So based on this opinion, I think you should glom onto whatever idea it is that you have to make your beer better and then do that. Just doing anything will make your beer taste better to you because of confirmation bias and having gotten batches and experience under your belt will make your beer taste better to people who drink it assuming they know how much effort and thought you put into it.

I am not saying that it doesn’t matter what your process is, but if you want the best beer you have ever had, you must be the one to decide what does and doesn’t matter. Besides, if you do a lot of brewing, you will find things that are obvious faults that need correcting. Your beer will get better when you correct those things.

Some of those obvious things I’ve run into are mis-measuring ingredients, leaky bottles that wouldn’t hold carb, murky beer, mis-interpretation of style when creating a recipe, using ingredients that I don’t have experience with yet and mis-using my measuring devices. I’ve solved most of these problems and it makes my beer more predictable and therefore “better”.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Looking for free-ranging discussion here but realistic and practical things

... which often starts somewhere between replies 5 and 10. Hopefully, you won't be disappointed.

But if you want to really improve your beer, there's no substitute for reading, reading, reading. Start with Palmer's "How to Brew" and extend from that to the four ingredient books Water, Malt, Hops, Yeast. Read 'em. Try to understand them. Read 'em again. Then there are about maybe 10 other good books out there that will take you to a higher level.

Homebrew Con presentations are also a good source of information.

And after you've absorbed those books, don't overlook the collective knowledge here on HBT.

When people have the time to write good posts about the things they are doing, I find that 'forum wisdom' is helpful.

Don't be afraid to lurk outside HBT. There are good people, in other forums, who are not active here. They have interesting approaches, that work for them, that are not discussed here.

When (and how) does 'forum wisdom' become the 'conventional wisdom' that is so popular to challenge? When does it become time to set aside often repeated forum information and trust the product information sheets (for example: dry yeast)?

... there are some conclusions made by contributors that are subjective and over simplified.

Is this a "side effect" of people who only have phones to access forums?

Unless it is a summary paragraph, very little in homebrewing simplifies to a single sentence (or even a paragraph).

/r/homebrewing has been working on updating their FAQ/wiki. Content quality is mixed, but it's becoming a place for 'quote-worthy' material.

 

[Soulshine2]

I have been brewing for about a decade but haven't done a lot of varying in my methods/styles since starting. I've found myself to be generally pleased with the beer that results, however it tends to have some variations in outcome from batch to batch.

What I'm curious about is what other homebrewers believe took their beers to the next step, be it something you changed about your brewday, a change in method, or equipment that took it to the next level. Looking for free-ranging discussion here but realistic and practical things

i can only give practical and realistic advice from personal experience and as of late it seems a few brewers in here dont share my thoughts on certain processes and vice versa ,but since you asked and expect a wide range of answers I'll be glad to tell you what I DID to improve my beers in no particular order of importance since your brewing conditions are surely varied from mine in one way or another.
Sanitation is a given so that goes without saying.
I bottle by choice and also by lack of space and expense for the system. I've read the many problems people have with kegging and it just keeps me from doing it even if i did have the room and funds for it.
I like to keep a variety of beers in my fridge so i bottle. 54 bottles per batch isnt a chore for me.
I gravity transfer .I dont use pumps for the simple fact that anything motorized or spinning ,besides creating heat, and can harbor bacteria, eventually fails for one reason or another.

1) water- have it tested and if it has been processed ( city water, water softener,etc) make a change by buying, filtering, RO or simple addition of a campden tablet and/or minerals to your strike water.
2) buy higher quality malts or at least stick with a malt within the same name(weyermann or Briess, etc) same with hops and yeast.
2a) know the characterisics of what youre putting into the recipe and how they work together.
3) buy a mill , mill your own grains .
4) step mash vs single infusion mash...control of your temps and rest times will greatly improve the proteins and sugars conversions and give you more body in your beers.
4a) buy a quick read digital temp probe.
5) buy and read a few brewing books. make sure you know the basics before wanting to get bigger in your brewing.
6) if you dont have one or arent already using one , buy a hydrometer and learn how to use it. step up and combine with a refractometer ( i have a digital one) to keep an eye on your numbers so you at least know when fermentation is done and stabilized.
7) take notes, know your brew rig, dont overthink your brewing. get your own personal process down pat so you can almost predict your outcome . keep your batch sizes consistent. stick to one process and get confident. Keep It Simple .
8) once in a while step outside the box and brew something you would normally think you can't. I brewed a blackberry lime hibiscus kettle sour that is out of this world tasty .
9) dont get discouraged if a brew doesnt go right.
10) try a variation of different steps or processes one at a time so if something doesnt work , you can pin point what changed and where the problem might lie. if you find it works , great, adopt it into your brew day but if it doesnt , go back to what you did before that.

 

[mongoose33]

I became disillusioned giving people advice on this forum, because over the years it seems like there are some conclusions made by contributors that are subjective and over simplified. My responses weren’t any better.

To change your game up and make “great” beer you must first decide what great vs. good means.

In this quest, I believe that those brewers who spend more time and money brewing think that their beer is better and will not be convinced otherwise.

So based on this opinion, I think you should glom onto whatever idea it is that you have to make your beer better and then do that. Just doing anything will make your beer taste better to you because of confirmation bias and having gotten batches and experience under your belt will make your beer taste better to people who drink it assuming they know how much effort and thought you put into it.

I am not saying that it doesn’t matter what your process is, but if you want the best beer you have ever had, you must be the one to decide what does and doesn’t matter. Besides, if you do a lot of brewing, you will find things that are obvious faults that need correcting. Your beer will get better when you correct those things.

Some of those obvious things I’ve run into are mis-measuring ingredients, leaky bottles that wouldn’t hold carb, murky beer, mis-interpretation of style when creating a recipe, using ingredients that I don’t have experience with yet and mis-using my measuring devices. I’ve solved most of these problems and it makes my beer more predictable and therefore “better”.

Have to disagree here on two things. "Glomming" onto some idea won't make your beer better, necessarily. The idea has to have merit, and the best way @Timmy83 can identify those is either through good books, or looking online for some level of unanimity about what to do. Fermentation temp, for instance. Few would argue it doesn't matter, at least with most yeast.

But what if the idea is to always use a secondary? That's NOT a good idea, and not only is it useless for the most part, it'll contribute to worse beer, not better. There are a couple of exceptions but for the most part, no.

The second thing you note is about confirmation bias, and I don't necessarily disagree. I know of a couple commercial breweries whose beer is swill, and I'm not the only one who's concluded that. I simply CANNOT understand how they serve that stuff, though I think they won't be doing it much longer.

The answer to confirmation bias is to find others who will give you merciless feedback, both good and bad. They have to be able to identify off flavors or at least that the beer is off somehow, to have an idea what a style is supposed to taste like, and to know the difference between a bad beer and not liking the style (I don't like Belgians, e.g., but I can tell you if a Belgian is a good one or not).

I think @Timmy83 is on the right track. While there's some disagreement here as to what are the biggest influences on the beer, mostly the posters here have identified places where lack of attention to the process produces lesser beer.

My 2 cents.

 

[kh54s10]

Fermentation temperature and proper yeast pitch counts.

I must have had great water where I lived during my first 6 years because I did nothing but filter through a carbon filter. I could brew almost any style of beer and they came out great. I know others would disagree, but my friends always asked for more....

I have done a couple of water treatments with no perceptible improvement but I put that as I am still learning water treatment. IMO, how necessary water treatment is depends on your starting water source.

 

[IslandLizard]

Here are my top 3 most dramatic improvement makers on my brewing practices...Kegging having the most dramatic improvement in beer quality out of the 3
1) Kegging
2) Water Chemistry
3) Yeast Starters

Those ^
And I must add:
4) Ferm Temp Control

Also, not in any lesser way:
Removing Chlorine from all my brewing water (pinch of K-Meta or 1/4 Campden).
Milling my own grain.
Reading HBT (and quite a few other awesome places, such as The Mad Fermentationist).
Drinking/sampling other people's homebrew.

 

[riceral]

For me, it was temperature control and water chemistry (although I am still learning about water!).

One other thing----Gordon Strong's book Brewing Better Beer. Still my "go-to" book on process and techniques---even though I don't agree with everything he writes. Well worth the $18.

 

[mongoose33]

i can only give practical and realistic advice from personal experience and as of late it seems a few brewers in here dont share my thoughts on certain processes and vice versa

I'm wondering what those disagreements are--I might learn something. Mind sharing them?

 

[khannon]

I think the thing that made the largest difference in my beers was temp control on the fermentation. Specifically the first few days of fermentation, though being able to ramp up or down over time doesn't hurt.

Milling my own grain seems to help with efficiency, though it took re-working my recipes, and dialing things in.

I do yeast starters for most beers, and I am sure appropriate pitch rates make a difference, but I also tend to do 10Gal batches, so this has also been more of a cost saver for me than something I am doing specifically enhance the quality.

Getting out to a brewing club, doing some brews together with other homebrewers has really helped me up my game.

Pick a beer you like to brew(and more importantly, drink), put it in your rotation to brew it, take careful notes, keep a few around to do side by side comparisons, and only change one thing at a time when you brew. It will help you dial in what makes the difference for you.

Submit your beers to a few competitions.. You'll get some feedback that might be helpful. You might also get contradictory feedback, look for trends(I've had beers panned at a smaller competition, only to take best in style at a larger competition).

 

[Genuine]

For myself, it was investing in a mill and using RO/Distilled water and creating my own water profiles for my beers depending on what I wanted to accentuate. Water Chemistry is like the salt and pepper of brewing. I couldn't believe how much of a difference the make up on the water changed my beer's overall taste profile. My efficiency went up and is now more consistent. Also, I no longer have an issue with attenuation. Usually I'm pretty damn spot on so I can really nail down what final gravity I'd like to hit, which also helps tailor the taste of your beers. I picked up a $50 RO filter from Amazon and it's been working great for what I use it for. Can't complain one bit.

 

[bkboiler]

Ferm temp control, chilling all the way before pitching and water chemistry

 

[Soulshine2]

I'm wondering what those disagreements are--I might learn something. Mind sharing them?

not really. I've voiced my methods before in posts on certain subjects to be met with an argument or a smart @$$ed remark .

ok, since you asked...

Just to touch on it though... I dont and never will get the whole "this is my first brew but I'm going to spend a bunch of money to have this great and elaborate computer driven, lights a flashin, basement filler of a stainless steel brew rig with pumps and sensors ,etc...and I've never brewed anything in my life ...and I built my own recipe that i'm going to use for my very first brew" type then a week later theyre trying to brew on it and dont have a clue why something isnt working, the beer tastes like mud or is infected...and their spouse is mad at them because they bought all this equipment on the sly and now it doesnt work.
For Gods sake , LEARN how its done first ,get the basics down before you go all whole hog on equipment . crawl-walk-run...its that simple.
The people who come in and ask how something is done, they state their way which (by the masses) is clearly wrong and then they refuse to take advice and theyve dumped multiple batches with not one to enjoy.
Arguments for the sake of arguing.
Chronic Overthinking.
Refusal to use the SEARCH or READ previous comments or crucial threads(beginners) before asking a question thats been asked so many times before. It just gets old.
I always try to help people when I can if or when I have had a similar experience.

Hey, I'm just stating what I DO in my brewing...its like an opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.. I keep my process and equipment simple .My beer turns out as planned or better . I'm open to new ideas . I'm not about to spend $100(0) on something to save 5 minutes when what I have works just fine. A guy we all know and heard about showed people that beer can be made with household items and plastic food grade buckets, he wrote many a book about its simplicity and a low budget entry.


ok, at this point I have to apologize a little .I've been out of work since just before Thanksgiving and the job im supposed to be on has been delayed 3 times in as many weeks because of the weather and an inept GC. I'm a little home bound and maybe a tad cranky.

 

[McKnuckle]

Sounds like you are suffering from a bit of forum fatigue - which is definitely a thing - I've been there!

One key bit of learning is that gear doesn't make the beer. Hey, that's a good one. I am totally making that part of my signature...

Also, making wort is fairly forgiving, but fermentation is what separates the wo/men from the girls/boys. That and conditioning, and packaging - which are not part of the hyper-focused-upon Brew Day, so they get less attention. But boy are they important. So basically, improve your beer by honing your cold side techniques.

 

[Soulshine2]

Sounds like you are suffering from a bit of forum fatigue - which is definitely a thing - I've been there!.

forum fatigue...more like being home fatigue. I'm running out of things to do around the house ,I have a project truck im out of funds for ,I'm on a tight budget and the rain has been relentless .

 

[IslandLizard]

Tell us what your current process is? If it is just Mr. Beer, then any change will be an improvement. I suspect you are past that stage, but you have given us nothing to go on.

I must have missed/overlooked these remarks, they're so spot on.

Also with a wink to @Soulshine2 for some of his observations.

Not to start a rant, or singling out our OP here, @Timmy83. To me it often looks uninformed and out of touch when seeing new brewers/readers/members start "surveys" or other methods of "taking inventory" without first disclosing their own brewing processes, equipment, recipes, or otherwise providing examples of what they feel is lacking in their beer compared to commercial craft beer or other homebrew they've had.

So yes, @Timmy83 please elaborate on your current brewing methods.

Since it's your thread it would be nice to engage, keeping us in the loop of which suggestions in this thread you're going to adapt and how.

Your posting history (public information to everyone on the forum) shows you've been shopping for some equipment here, but you haven't mentioned it. Can we perhaps assist or offer some pointers?

 

[mongoose33]

not really. I've voiced my methods before in posts on certain subjects to be met with an argument or a smart @$$ed remark .

ok, since you asked...

Just to touch on it though... I dont and never will get the whole "this is my first brew but I'm going to spend a bunch of money to have this great and elaborate computer driven, lights a flashin, basement filler of a stainless steel brew rig with pumps and sensors ,etc...and I've never brewed anything in my life ...and I built my own recipe that i'm going to use for my very first brew" type then a week later theyre trying to brew on it and dont have a clue why something isnt working, the beer tastes like mud or is infected...and their spouse is mad at them because they bought all this equipment on the sly and now it doesnt work.
For Gods sake , LEARN how its done first ,get the basics down before you go all whole hog on equipment . crawl-walk-run...its that simple.
The people who come in and ask how something is done, they state their way which (by the masses) is clearly wrong and then they refuse to take advice and theyve dumped multiple batches with not one to enjoy.
Arguments for the sake of arguing.
Chronic Overthinking.
Refusal to use the SEARCH or READ previous comments or crucial threads(beginners) before asking a question thats been asked so many times before. It just gets old.
I always try to help people when I can if or when I have had a similar experience.

Hey, I'm just stating what I DO in my brewing...its like an opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.. I keep my process and equipment simple .My beer turns out as planned or better . I'm open to new ideas . I'm not about to spend $100(0) on something to save 5 minutes when what I have works just fine. A guy we all know and heard about showed people that beer can be made with household items and plastic food grade buckets, he wrote many a book about its simplicity and a low budget entry.


ok, at this point I have to apologize a little .I've been out of work since just before Thanksgiving and the job im supposed to be on has been delayed 3 times in as many weeks because of the weather and an inept GC. I'm a little home bound and maybe a tad cranky.

I think the problem is there's no authority--and I'm not suggesting there should be. Yeah, we see newbies who won't take advice, but that's their problem, not ours.

I'm also somewhat surprised by how many people aren't into researching this stuff very much. Oh, I guess it's just different strokes and all that, but even in my local homebrew group, it's astounding to me how many do nothing more than brew kits from the LHBS.

There's nothing wrong with people deciding what they want to get out of the hobby, but I would suggest that, based on my limited experience with a couple homebrew groups, that less than 10 percent of home brewers actually have a desire to plumb the depths of brewing as much as they can. The rest are content to do the basics and nothing more.

I don't mind the arguments provided the arguees play fair, i.e., don't try to shift the topic when someone makes a good point. I do realize that people's experiences probably play too much a role in their views, i.e., "I did this and nothing happened" while we don't know whether something really happened or they simply couldn't detect it. Or the people who say "I didn't do anything special with my water" not realizing that not everybody has their water.

I've even had people ask me a question in a PM and I provide them a detailed response, sometimes even with pictures, and I don't get so much as a thank-you back from them. Fortunately, that's not common, but still...

So my suggestion would be to get out of this what you want, and if you're not getting that, change your interaction with the platform in some ways. Life's too short.

Good luck, BTW, with the job; it's a stressful time.

 

[Yesfan]

not really. I've voiced my methods before in posts on certain subjects to be met with an argument or a smart @$$ed remark .

ok, since you asked...

Just to touch on it though... I dont and never will get the whole "this is my first brew but I'm going to spend a bunch of money to have this great and elaborate computer driven, lights a flashin, basement filler of a stainless steel brew rig with pumps and sensors ,etc...and I've never brewed anything in my life ...and I built my own recipe that i'm going to use for my very first brew" type then a week later theyre trying to brew on it and dont have a clue why something isnt working, the beer tastes like mud or is infected...and their spouse is mad at them because they bought all this equipment on the sly and now it doesnt work.
For Gods sake , LEARN how its done first ,get the basics down before you go all whole hog on equipment . crawl-walk-run...its that simple.
The people who come in and ask how something is done, they state their way which (by the masses) is clearly wrong and then they refuse to take advice and theyve dumped multiple batches with not one to enjoy.
Arguments for the sake of arguing.
Chronic Overthinking.
Refusal to use the SEARCH or READ previous comments or crucial threads(beginners) before asking a question thats been asked so many times before. It just gets old.
I always try to help people when I can if or when I have had a similar experience.

Hey, I'm just stating what I DO in my brewing...its like an opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.. I keep my process and equipment simple .My beer turns out as planned or better . I'm open to new ideas . I'm not about to spend $100(0) on something to save 5 minutes when what I have works just fine. A guy we all know and heard about showed people that beer can be made with household items and plastic food grade buckets, he wrote many a book about its simplicity and a low budget entry.


ok, at this point I have to apologize a little .I've been out of work since just before Thanksgiving and the job im supposed to be on has been delayed 3 times in as many weeks because of the weather and an inept GC. I'm a little home bound and maybe a tad cranky.

Who the hell can disagree with this?? Not me.

"crawl, walk, then run"? Solid advice.

Seriously, thanks for posting this.

 

[Yesfan]

To add in my $0.02 (for whatever it's worth).....


Have you joined a brew club? I highly recommend that. Meeting with others in the hobby can be very very rewarding. It's one thing to have advanced brewers here to tell what might be wrong with a particular batch, but it's another to have an advanced brewer actually taste to see if they find something wrong (or good).

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Best piece of gear to improve your beer?

Ears.

If you already have a set make sure they are properly calibrated. If they do anything other than listen twice as much as talk, then they need to be adjusted.

Single best piece of advice. Take your time. That and using your most important piece of gear. There is a ton of knowledge on this board, in print, online, at your LHBS, and home brewing clubs. Listen to that advice. Absorb it. That will help you improve. As for taking your time...

Do a brew as you normally would. Take fastidious notes. About everything. Sometimes just rereading your process can highlight areas that need to be improved. When changing your routine or implementing new gear, do it incrementally. 1 change at a time. If you change 12 things at once, you wound know which of those things helped or hurt you. This takes time. A byproduct of this is it also gains you experience.

Depending on your set up, don’t be afraid to brew smaller batches more often, implementing 1 or 2 changes each time, and recording their results.

If you are all about dropping a pile of cash on all the latest doo dads, do yourself a favor and put that money toward a stash of beer. All the equipment in the world won’t help you if you do not understand what you are doing. As was mentioned earlier, process is a huge part of it.

You can take an experienced knowledgeable brewer, give them an old enameled pot, some 3 year old grains, and a mishmash of hops and they can make you a drinkable beer in a plastic bucket. You can give all the best ingredients and gear to someone whose understanding of beer and the process is marginal at best, and they will probably brew you a dumper.

 

[jim_CdY]

Wow, as a newbee, I thought I had stumbled into the incorrect thread, I actually went back to the top to see if I had miss clicked. I saw my self in many of the posts on the errors I made, poor decisions and some things I did correctly. But some comments stung pretty well, as they should I guess but this is still a beginners thread.

I did purchase some fairly expense gear, but at the coaching of a learned beer making friend. On the positive side I have studied my fat ass off, YouTube, ( yes, I know, it is not all gospel, but I know how to compare and filter ) this forum, even Google, before I took the leap. I'm still learning, I don't often ask a question but from other forums I'm on, I know that the search feature is my best friend.

Just one favor, go easy on us that try to learn, yes, our questions may be stupid, but many don't know what else to do but ask. FYI, my first beer was almost down the drain bad, the second, huge improvement and my third, was so much better, but just dumb luck, but I'm getting better .... and I'm learning, to the senior members of the forum, thank you !!

 

[kh54s10]

I would add to the previous post. You can watch Youtube videos, and peruse the internet. There is tons of valuable information without having to wade through books that have mind boggling information overload for a beginner. You need to be aware that there is also tons of crummy information. I like to watch the videos to see how things are done. But I also know that if you see many people doing things one way and only one source doing something else, you have to be careful of that. The same is true for forums. Even if that, something, only one person is doing works great for him/her, it might not ever work for someone else.

As to the original question, what things help one person is not always an option for others. It is a long way from first extract batches to successful LODO and spunding your beers.

 

[Timmy83]

I must have missed/overlooked these remarks, they're so spot on.

Also with a wink to @Soulshine2 for some of his observations.

Not to start a rant, or singling out our OP here, @Timmy83. To me it often looks uninformed and out of touch when seeing new brewers/readers/members start "surveys" or other methods of "taking inventory" without first disclosing their own brewing processes, equipment, recipes, or otherwise providing examples of what they feel is lacking in their beer compared to commercial craft beer or other homebrew they've had.

So yes, @Timmy83 please elaborate on your current brewing methods.

Since it's your thread it would be nice to engage, keeping us in the loop of which suggestions in this thread you're going to adapt and how.

Your posting history (public information to everyone on the forum) shows you've been shopping for some equipment here, but you haven't mentioned it. Can we perhaps assist or offer some pointers?

OP Here. I have been intentionally absent from the thread as I was looking for a non-directed discussion of homebrewers feelings, rather than an overly academic dissection of what I've been doing. I've read a number of things, starting with Papazian's book and Palmer's book, as well as a lot of other articles and posts about brewing, and am generally happy with my homebrew methods.

Why I wanted to get opinions/discussion on this is - while I feel that there are a lot of good resources out there, they lack some of that qualitative feel as to what people feel makes their beer go from good to great beer, but rather provide "this is how to make your beer better". And on top of it, I feel that in the last 5 years, the complexity of the equipment has grown exponentially... which leads to a lot of confusion on my end about the value of these things. I'm a proponent of learning a little, executing, and adding bits and pieces to the puzzle to keep growing.

I certainly welcome pointers, though. For what it's worth, I am decidedly a budget brewer - I won't spend hundreds of dollars only to save a bit of time or to make a very minor improvement in beer quality. I started brewing in a bucket and made my favorite beer as a partial mash. I believe that my biggest issue was previously was poor planning or failing to follow the rule of 1 (I threw a lot of stuff in without a lot of thought).

I stopped brewing for a long time due to some changes in lifestyle, new house, baby, apartment, and now I'm able to get at it again. I had sold off nearly all of my equipment: burner, kettle, kegging equipment, kegorator, fermenters and now really only have a better bottle and bucket fermenter.

Here's where I am right now:
I buy supplies mostly online (as closest local shop is about 40 minutes away -challenging with a baby)
I received a Robobrew as a gift - using for nearly-all grain brewing (though I'm not afraid to use extract to correct for poor efficiency) and have only ever done a single-step mash
I make yeast starters and have had good success with this
As for water treatment - this is new to me. I had a good source previously and just bought campden to remove chloramines, but this is it.
Fermentation happens at a loosely controlled 68 degrees (my basement - no chiller or heater)
I generally keg condition/carbonate

Other minor notes; I'm a fan of lighter-colored beers with citrusy hops. I don't grind my own malts (allow online homebrew shop to do it). I welcome all suggestions.

 

[marchuk96]

OP Here. I have been intentionally absent from the thread as I was looking for a non-directed discussion of homebrewers feelings, rather than an overly academic dissection of what I've been doing. I've read a number of things, starting with Papazian's book and Palmer's book, as well as a lot of other articles and posts about brewing, and am generally happy with my homebrew methods.

Why I wanted to get opinions/discussion on this is - while I feel that there are a lot of good resources out there, they lack some of that qualitative feel as to what people feel makes their beer go from good to great beer, but rather provide "this is how to make your beer better". And on top of it, I feel that in the last 5 years, the complexity of the equipment has grown exponentially... which leads to a lot of confusion on my end about the value of these things. I'm a proponent of learning a little, executing, and adding bits and pieces to the puzzle to keep growing.

I certainly welcome pointers, though. For what it's worth, I am decidedly a budget brewer - I won't spend hundreds of dollars only to save a bit of time or to make a very minor improvement in beer quality. I started brewing in a bucket and made my favorite beer as a partial mash. I believe that my biggest issue was previously was poor planning or failing to follow the rule of 1 (I threw a lot of stuff in without a lot of thought).

I stopped brewing for a long time due to some changes in lifestyle, new house, baby, apartment, and now I'm able to get at it again. I had sold off nearly all of my equipment: burner, kettle, kegging equipment, kegorator, fermenters and now really only have a better bottle and bucket fermenter.

Here's where I am right now:
I buy supplies mostly online (as closest local shop is about 40 minutes away -challenging with a baby)
I received a Robobrew as a gift - using for nearly-all grain brewing (though I'm not afraid to use extract to correct for poor efficiency) and have only ever done a single-step mash
I make yeast starters and have had good success with this
As for water treatment - this is new to me. I had a good source previously and just bought campden to remove chloramines, but this is it.
Fermentation happens at a loosely controlled 68 degrees (my basement - no chiller or heater)
I generally keg condition/carbonate

Other minor notes; I'm a fan of lighter-colored beers with citrusy hops. I don't grind my own malts (allow online homebrew shop to do it). I welcome all suggestions.

Other than listing what I mentioned to help me improve in an earlier post...I think there has been a lot of great advice given thus far from many people...being open to criticism..having others try your beer...reading as you are doing...watching some videos...posting in here...great note taking..they all lead to making yourself and your beer better...targetting certain things like pitch rate and water chemistry may help but I think the number 1 thing that will make anyone better or any process better as well as there beer is practice...we all know the saying...but it really is true...the more you brew the more confidence you get and the more the entire routine gets to be second nature...pick one area to focus on at a time and eventually I feel like you get to the point where you can then identify what minor tweaks may need to be made...keep chasing dat unicorn!![emoji482]

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

OP Here....

Other minor notes; I'm a fan of lighter-colored beers with citrusy hops. I don't grind my own malts (allow online homebrew shop to do it). I welcome all suggestions.

If you are confident in your knowledge and process at this point, I might suggest a PH meter and water additions for those styles.

If you are just using “city water”, and brewing lighter colored beers, you could probably benefit from the addition of a little acid to help with PH. Dark grains or acidulated malt could help in that area also.

Mineral additions, such as gypsum can help with the perception of hop presence.

A $40 water test would be second. If you’re happy with flavor already and just looking to dial it in, learning the composition of your water and how to tweak it to be more accommodating to certain styles.

You can get the meter, the water test, and requisite chemicals for well under $150 and that would last you many many many brews.