Not to dis-hearten any one. but i just feel that there are certain things that brewers don't let out once they find it.....Kind of like the game of pool...You really only know if you're taught by someone who knows the tricks already.
This is utter BS....I have found brewers, both professional and home brewers quite willing to share their tips and tricks. What the heck for instance do we do HERE all day?
Start talking beer and brewing with anyone who either does it for a living or homebrews and you're just as likely have to sock them in the mouth to get them to shut up...but who usually wants them too when you brew too? I've been taken "back stage" in just about every microbrewery I've gone into just by saying the magic words "I'm a homebrewer," I've been offered yeast, samples of not yet released beers, hops, and all manner of swag, and every tip or opportunity for discussion imaginable with folks in this little culture we have. There's nothing held secret, we're a brotherhood whether you believe it or not. You have to be hiding in a cave not to get the same treatment. Or be an asshat. Othewise everything is open to us. Most pro brewers STARTED OUT AS HOMEBREWERS, so their quite open to sharing with us.
There's no mystic secrets to brewing. EVERYTHING that the big boys, and the successful homebrewers do has been shared and dissected, here and on every podcast and other website.
There's no magic secrets anyone's keeping from your. If you're beer sucks, then you've missed, or simply ignored, one of the million tips that has been repeated on here or on basic brewing radio, or on brewstrong or on northern brewer television, or bobby m's videos.....
No matter what you think, there's no such thing as a homebrew taste. There's GOOD brewing practices, and bad brewing practices, nothing more....AND there are no secrets the good brewers are "hiding" from the bad ones, or the amatures.....the bad ones are just not listening....or just haven't found that piece of knowledge that is readily available yet...
You want to make great beer....all the "secrets" are here... you want em?
In no particular order.
1) Pitch Plenty of yeast
2) Use fresh ingredients
3) Aerate
4) Sanitize
5) watch your fermentation temps
6) don't rush things
7) If you have water issues, correct it in some way or brew water appropriate beers.
8) Don't just throw crap in the fermenter willy nilly, experimentation is fine, but doing it with an understanding of what goes into a balance recipe. Start with a good recipe, either your own or someone else's...but rarely does a good recipe happen on the first try....they take some tweeking.
9) Chill rapidly or no chill properly
10) see rule six
11) see rule six
12) see rule six (the yeast are in charge, not you.)
That's it (or what I can think of. i'm sure other's can contribute a few more)
But what arcane wisdom do you think folks are holding back? Ritual sacrifice? Goat worshipping? Secret magic fairy powder only available to disciples of ninkasi?
This ain't brain surgery, it's cooking....there's no mystery to it, just learning good technique. And ALL the techniques are readily available to everyone...and on here a million fold.
This is the 21st century for chrissakes, is Charlie Papzian or Jamil farts, it'll be tweated in under a minute to every homebrewer who subscribes, and posted on every forum multiple times in under 5 minutes after that. Even if brewers WERE holding something back those secrets would have been posted online long ago....
I know that you want to find something/someone to blame for why you don't like your beer. But sadly it's just falls on you. You just got to keep learning, keep picking up the million times on here (which all are just permutations of the 12 tips above) keep learning, and above all keep brewing. There's no magic bean or secret that you're being kept out of the loop on....sorry.