how long did it take you to get good?

[opiate82]

It took me a few years to get out of the "I can ferment that" phase, where I wanted to experiment with everything.

This is a great point actually. Something that really helped me along the way is I stopped trying to brew something new and different every time and really concentrated on nailing a few choice styles of beer. What it did is eventually (after a few tweaks) eliminated the recipe as a variable and allowed me to concentrate on the process. Repeatability being the goal, I really was able to perfect my brewing and now I can revisit recipe development with the knowledge that my process is (more or less) solidified.*

*I think brewing is a practice, much like medicine, and there are always new innovations, techniques and advice so you are never done learning.

 

[Croyzen]

I believe you'll know when you get good. The ultimate deciding factor is the beer. When I started I used extracts either via steeping grains or partial mash. These beers ended up disappointing me to the point that I dumped a portion of all of them. They were drinkable but they had a taste I never experienced before in drinking beer. I started brewing because I enjoy high quality craft beer. My extract beers tasted like poor versions of beers I had been drinking with a twang and aftertaste I had never experienced before. The longer they aged the worse it got. Before giving up I decided to go to all grain just to see what would happen. Problem solved. The first batch of all grain was a Bell's Two Hearted clone that turned out better than anything I had made before. Every batch since I have been able to live with and be proud of.

So for me the solution was all grain and the techniques that go with it that made my beer good. I suppose I could have stuck with extract and experimented with different ways to make extract beer "good" but I found a solution that works for me. Now the only extract I use is DME for yeast starters.

 

[Hello]

Still working on it.

 

[jfusaro]

I started off as good but thru practice and patience I am getting better with every brew.

 

[MrSpaz]

I'm only a year or so in (excluding Mr beer kits) so I'm not at the good part yet. My wife helps gauge my beers because she is brutally honest and only a couple have been good last two actually!). Never had a great beer in her eyes and I agree with that as well. I'm trying to get into all grain as best I can but I only have a 5gallon kettle and stove top burner. So I'm working on being as consistent as possible in the hopes that my beer will continue to improve!

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[Beernik]

I think this is my 9th year brewing. I've been doing it since before my daughter was born and she's 8. I've only made one batch that was truly undrinkable.

Two years ago my recipe writing got a lot better.

 

[akillys]

I just flat out suck... but hey I'll drink to that.

 

[strangegreenman]

I've never had a batch that didn't taste good with the exception of a Christmas beer that had spices and orange peel in it. It was one of my first beers and it just didn't taste good at all. I dumped it after a couple months. Everything else has been good to very good from my brewery.

Up until recently, all of my beers fermented at about 64 degrees in the basement.

I am starting to think that is one of the hardest styles to pull of since they have many strong flavors in them. My friend made one, bless him, he loves it, but to me it tastes very strongly of molasses and ginger and is waaay too sweet.

Batch #1 & #2 were delicious for me. #3 was cloyingly sweet (1.080 --> 1.033) but everything since has been peachy!

 

[progmac]

I think this is my 9th year brewing. I've been doing it since before my daughter was born and she's 8. I've only made one batch that was truly undrinkable.

Two years ago my recipe writing got a lot better.

What happened 2 years ago?

 

[Beernik]

What happened 2 years ago?

I don't really know. Maybe a better understanding of flavor. I'm also using simplified grain bills and hop schedules.

There isn't much I do that has more than 4 different grains in it or more than 4 hop additions. And if there are a lot of different grains, I have only one hop. If I have a lot of hops, I don't have many different grains.

But it wasn't a conscience decision to simplify. I just started doing it and realized it later.

 

[andyphil27]

My 4th batch was the first I was willing to share with others. 5th made more progress, and I'm still waiting to see how 6 and 7 turn out.

I jumped straight in to all grain BIAB so the first batch was not only a bad recipe that I cobbled together from threads on here but was probably destined to suck.

2nd batch was a brown ale with Notty that fermented in the mid 70s for two days before I realized that was a terrible idea. Then I over-carbed it to add insult to injury.

3rd batch fermented too cold (over corrected) and stuck. It was also a stout that I was brewing with no concept of water chemistry. Oh and I over carbed this too. It's drinkable but not shareable.

4th batch I finally got fermentation temp control, a good recipe, proper carbonation, and some dumb luck. It was great.

5th batch I built an STC1000 control, used a yeast starter, and beersmith and it turned out great. I actually carbed it right and hit my grav numbers (got my mashing procedure nailed down and consistent).

The difference has been: Good recipes, fermentation temp control, yeast starter, beersmith's carbonation calculator, these forums, and the attention to detail to try to isolate variables that could be causing the problems I was seeing and address them.

Next steps are: water chemistry and trying to see if I can be consistent as a lot of you have mentioned. Still a long way to go!


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[403Brewer]

I'm about 9 months in so far...probably rushed things a bit going all grain almost right away (mainly due to lack of LME at my HBS, but great selection of grain) and also tried a new style almost every time, I brewed an awful ESB and that was enough. Now I'm just dialling in Pale Ales for the next 6 months until I get that down...3 batches on that program and already seeing an improvement, that coupled with getting fermentation fridge have helped for sure.

One thing I see mentioned a lot is "good fermentation practices"...what exactly does this entail other than temp control and proper pitch rates?

 

[Calichusetts]

The more you learn the worse you will feel about your competence as a brewer. Once you learn to overcome that you will feel more confident as a brewer. That does not mean you can't make a good beer along the way, or even consistently make good beer.

I did like 30 smash brews to start getting the hang of brewing. My very first recipe I made was a knockout. Banged out like 4 more right after that, they were so good. At the time, I knew the bare minimum when it came to pH, didn't understand anything in terms of water chemistry, could hardly hold my mash temp consistently, and fermented in my basement.

Of course, reality struck down the road and there were plenty of "meh" brews along the way. That was nearly 3 years ago and my buddies still bring up that first batch they tasted.

 

[morticaixavier]

I'm about 9 months in so far...probably rushed things a bit going all grain almost right away (mainly due to lack of LME at my HBS, but great selection of grain) and also tried a new style almost every time, I brewed an awful ESB and that was enough. Now I'm just dialling in Pale Ales for the next 6 months until I get that down...3 batches on that program and already seeing an improvement, that coupled with getting fermentation fridge have helped for sure.

One thing I see mentioned a lot is "good fermentation practices"...what exactly does this entail other than temp control and proper pitch rates?

those are the main ones but also proper aeration, sufficient time, and water chemistry. While water chemistry is most important for all grain brewing because of it's effects on mash behaviour is also affects yeast performance and while most extracts are made with a decent mineral composition in the mash water some are better than others. and what water you brew with using extracts has a great effect on the environment the yeast find themselves.

 

[globe]

My first beer I brewed was a extract black IPA, it scored 36 in a 800 entry contest and went to mini BOS. So maybe I got lucky or maybe I spend to much time reading about brewing. I have had a couple meh beers since but I think its possible to avoid just jumping into brewing and listen to what people have to say about fermentation temps and yeast pitching etc etc.

 

[smccarter]

We all can agreee that beer is good.
By the very definition of what a home brewer is, it should be an accepted fact that I brew beer.

Therefore, by virtue of the property of transitivity I have to be good.

As a matter of fact, using that reasoning, we ALL must be good. So I believe the answer to your question is quite simple.

With this very basic mathematical principal to use as the rule, my answer has to be.... 1

lol

 

[The10mmKid]

I wasn't proud of my beers until the 4th batch.
Still doing extract at that point

The big changes were:
Full pot boil, late extract addition and the immersion chiller. Needed the I/C after the prior full pot boil took FOREVER to cool down.

'da Kid

 

[Beer-lord]

I'm harder on my beers than on any other brewer and after brewing decades ago, stopping for a long while and starting up again, I am still learning something with almost every batch but I experiment alot.
I'd say it's taken me about a year to get to where I feel I make damn good beer.

 

[tagz]

I guess we all have different definitions of "good." Some guys are saying 2 batches, I'd say more like 5 years for me. But, I'm pretty critical of my beer. I don't think I could really call myself a good brewer until I fully understood mash pH, water chemistry, etc.

 

[prohl84]

I guess we all have different definitions of "good."

And "denial."

 

[Irishpenguin13]

I went through about 10 "ok" batches until the savior came along....ye ole freezer/temp controller setup. Since then ive been extremely happy with the results and it was all worth every cent.

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[paperairplane]

I am 7 months and about 70 gallons made. I am super, super critical of my beer - probably to a compulsive point. The last 6 batches have all been my own recipes and all grain. The past 4 I have been really pleased with and have gotten great feedback on. So for me, about 5 months. I have a really strong culinary background, which I think helps.

 

[Clintaurus]

My 3rd batch was pretty damn good, 4th I thought was awful however my brother loved it and my 5th batch turned out to be *muah* delicious. I really paid attention and learned to be aware of my numbers on that one. I learned how to regulate fermentation temps, mash temps and boil off percentages. Since #5 I've been consistent with good brew. I think knowing your equipment is key.

 

[akillys]

All of my friends say they love what I brew, but I'm with paperairplane, I'm super critical. They say it taste great and prefer it to other beers but I know what it should taste like and when it doesn't I get upset. They all say it taste great, but that could just be friends being friends.

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[Beerbeque]

With rare exception all of my 178 (to date) batches have been good to excellent. I often buy old favorites at the store and think... " Jeez, mine is much better")