Frustration after 4th brew!

[mhermetz]

Am I the only one thinking he's not leaving it in the primary long enough? 2 weeks is nothing if there is suspicion of the yeast being stressed.

He should forget the secondary and leave that beer in the primary for 4 weeks. I'm betting he's tasting Acetaldehyde. I confused that off flavour as "bitter" like he said when I first started brewing.

Maybe try faking the off flavour. Acetaldehyde can be somewhat mimicked by adding vinegar to a light beer; try adding it too Bud to give you a good reference point. I forget the exact amount to add but it wasn't very much, I think 1/4 teaspoon per 345ml can. See this resource. It has helped me a ton.

http://www.bjcp.org/course/Class5Lesson2OffFlavors.php

 

[kh54s10]

Another route to try is to change your water supply entirely. Try bottled spring water from the store. I would use a campden tablet in addition just in case there is chlorine of chloramine in it.

When fermenting check the temperature of the wort itself. I look up the ideal range for a particular yeast then keep the temperature at or just below the mid point for the entire ferment. Sometimes I take the fermenter out of my chamber for a few days before packaging, but usually go straight from the fermentation chamber to bottles or keg.

I do not like the idea of pitching warm then trying to cool the wort. It takes a long time to cool a fermenter with only a few degrees difference in ambient temperature and fermentation could be quite advanced before the temperature drops. Get to pitching temperature - then add the yeast.

 

[Mexibilly]

I would recommend buying RO water, available very cheap at most grocery stores, for your next extract batch. Or distilled.
I used tap water and got poor tasting beer. I tried bottled spring water and it was better. Tried all RO and have brewed 14 really good extracts since.
I have the 5 gallon refillable jug. I fill it to the top and get a gallon or 2 of distilled.
I can generally do a full 60 minute boil with no top off with a completely full to the top 5 gallon jug and 1 gallon of distilled.
Please update...

 

[ACbrewer]

I have another question about what temperature to pitch the yeast. I hear some people pitch warmer than the primary fermentation temp. Should I pitch at 70-75 and then bring down to 65 or bring down to 65 then pitch?

For optimal flavor of most beer styles (Belgian styles are a bit different) you should get down to 65F and then pitch.

If you pitch above 70-75, you will not kill the yeast - unless above about 105F, but the flavor may be off depending on how warm and how quickly it got to a more optimal temp (65 to 70).

 

[Homercidal]

When I first started shooting and reloading, I would do all the tings that "they" said I should do. I didn't know why I was doing half of those things, and I didn't have a full understanding of how those things interacted with each other, let alone how they inter-acted with the fundamentals of shooting and reloading.

That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was going out to the range, setting up a target, and shooting at it. with each shot, I would adjust the scope to the bullet hole I had just created, and take another shot. Then I would repeat the adjustment and take another shot. And again. And again. Why bother shooting a group, when I can't even get the bullet to hit the same spot with each shot?

As I kept chasing my tail, I blamed my rifle, I blamed the people who had given me all this advice, I blamed the weather, I blamed the components and equipment I was using....

Then I learned some fundamentals and how everything works together; suddenly, my ammunition as well as my accuracy showed dramatic and effective improvement.

I'm not saying that this is your problem, but a frank and honest evaluation of what you know (or, possibly, what you think you know) might be productive.

Good advice here. There are many small details in brewing. It takes practice. It's often best to not change too many things at once.

Most of all RDWHAHB! You'll get there!

 

[kh54s10]

Am I the only one thinking he's not leaving it in the primary long enough? 2 weeks is nothing if there is suspicion of the yeast being stressed.

He should forget the secondary and leave that beer in the primary for 4 weeks. I'm betting he's tasting Acetaldehyde. I confused that off flavour as "bitter" like he said when I first started brewing.

Maybe try faking the off flavour. Acetaldehyde can be somewhat mimicked by adding vinegar to a light beer; try adding it too Bud to give you a good reference point. I forget the exact amount to add but it wasn't very much, I think 1/4 teaspoon per 345ml can. See this resource. It has helped me a ton.

http://www.bjcp.org/course/Class5Lesson2OffFlavors.php

No, 2 weeks should be plenty. 4 weeks is overkill.....

 

[oujens]

No, 2 weeks should be plenty. 4 weeks is overkill.....

+1. Most brewery tours I have been on do not indicate they keep their ales in the primary for 4 weeks. They finish in conditioning tanks. I think bottling or kegging after two weeks and letting them condition for 4 weeks is optimal. Just my experience though. Tasty at 2 weeks, but better at 4-6 weeks. Of course this assumes the proper amount of healthy yeast is pitched into a controlled environment.

 

[kh54s10]

+1. Most brewery tours I have been on do not indicate they keep their ales in the primary for 4 weeks. They finish in conditioning tanks. I think bottling or kegging after two weeks and letting them condition for 4 weeks is optimal. Just my experience though. Tasty at 2 weeks, but better at 4-6 weeks. Of course this assumes the proper amount of healthy yeast is pitched into a controlled environment.

Right on the second half..

But commercial breweries have very different equipment and techniques than can be achieved in most home breweries. Their purpose is usually to be very consistent from batch to batch and process the beer quickly so they can start the next batch......

 

[normonster]

I'm late to your thread but may I suggest a very simple recipe? Why not try a simple Blonde Ale (like BM's CBlonde) using RO water, us05 and making sure to shake the hell out of your wort before pitching yeast to ensure aeration.

If you do that you will have a good beer you'll like and then you can go from there.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I have another question about what temperature to pitch the yeast. I hear some people pitch warmer than the primary fermentation temp. Should I pitch at 70-75 and then bring down to 65 or bring down to 65 then pitch?

Chill it all the way, then pitch yeast. I personally like to chill to a few degrees cooler than my target temp, pitch yeast, and let it rise to fermentation temps.

Those early stages of fermentation, especially when the yeast is in its reproduction phase, are where a lot of off flavors can be generated.

 

[wsmith1625]

Chill it all the way, then pitch yeast. I personally like to chill to a few degrees cooler than my target temp, pitch yeast, and let it rise to fermentation temps.

Those early stages of fermentation, especially when the yeast is in its reproduction phase, are where a lot of off flavors can be generated.

Great advice. I will definitely do this next brew.