Never been so discouraged about homebrew (need some encouragement)

[jbsg02]

I have been brewing for over a year and a half now and have probably made 20 or so brews, always thinking the next one will be the one where it will all turnaround. I have turned out sub-par beer again and again and it's really beginning to discourage me. Only 2 of my brews have I considered decent (a 60 min IPA clone and a Kolsch), and nothing I have brewed comes close to rivaling my favorite craft brews.

I have read so much information, watched countless youtube videos, listened to brewing network casts, and am still baffled how I can know so much about a topic and yet cannot produce something I enjoy drinking. What keeps me going is that I have poured way too much money into this hobby to quit now. I have dumped batch after batch and still have to grab 6 packs from the beer store for decent beer to drink.

I filter my water though a culligan filter. Measure out brewing salts based on my recipe (using EZ water calculator). Correct mash pH with lactic acid. Correct my sparge water pH with lactic. Measure temps with a CDN digital thermometer. I use a round, 10 gallon cooler with a false bottom as a mash tun. I recently got a 15 gallon Blichmann boilermaker as well as a Blichmann burner. Been making starters with liquid yeast using a stir plate. Cool my wort down to pitching temps before pitching yeast. Keep my fermentation temps cool either using the swamp cooler or in my kegerator. Keg my beers and force carb for a few days. I don't know where I am going wrong and I refuse to lower my standards of what I think is drinkable beer.

I can't continue to pour money into this if something doesn't change soon. I need help!

 

[petep1980]

What do you beers taste like?

 

[michaelsnayd]

What is it about your beer that you consider to be inadequate?

 

[passedpawn]

You probably need someone to drink some of your beer and advise you. Join a club, or at least visit one with some of your suspect brews.

 

[shoreman]

What styles are you making? Maybe go back to basic apa Sierra Nevada style - cant be that bad man

 

[D0ug]

Is there a consistent flavor that is bothering you, or is it a "lack" of something that puts it up with there with your preferred commercial beers?

Have you tried paring way back and going with something basic? Maybe even just getting a fresh extract kit and giving that a shot?

 

[ArcticBear]

Agreed, share it with people and get some real reactions, you never think its as good as it should be

 

[D0ug]

You probably need someone to drink some of your beer and advise you. Join a club, or at least visit one with some of your suspect brews.

what he said.

 

[kellzey]

Yeah, we need some more info on what you think is wrong?

I'd recommend seeing if there is a local brew club and have an experienced person come brew with you. Or you brew with them. It could be one step in the process that's throwing things off, or a combination of things...

Sounds like you have really done your homework, so it's either a technique, or an assumption you've made that you are doing a part of the process correctly, but something is way off.

But first, tell us what you think is wrong with your beer.

 

[Pie_Man]

Do you think your beers are infected with something, or just not good?

You might want to try simplifying the process. Do you have bad tasting water where you live? I know you said you filter it, but maybe that's not enough. I think you need to devise a plan to change one variable at a time and try troubleshooting from there. Being that water makes up the bulk of a beer, I would start there. Using all store bought RO water, brew a beer you're comfortable with and see if there's any improvement.

Also, do you have someone that will give you honest feedback on your brews? Is it possible you're being overly critical of your own beer? Maybe enter a local competition with a beer, or two, and see what an unbiased person thinks.

I hope this helps. If you enjoy brewing, keep at it. I think you'll pinpoint the issue.

 

[Dan]

you probably need someone to drink some of your beer and advise you. Join a club, or at least visit one with some of your suspect brews.

+1

 

[kh54s10]

I find posts like these puzzling. I have done 25 batches starting with extract, then partial mash, then all grain both batch sparge and BIAB and have gotten none that I don't compare equally with commercial craft beers.

I would start by going to basics. Use nothing but grains and bottled spring water and see if that works then add things until you find what is causing your problems.

 

[michaelsnayd]

I'm very new to this, but I have used bottled water for all the beer I have done so far because I'm not crazy about my city water. You may try that.

 

[pndubber]

I would have to say if you made a decent Kolsch you are doing something right. Good idea to get some friends in for a tasting and see what people think.

 

[corax]

I filter my water though a culligan filter. Measure out brewing salts based on my recipe (using EZ water calculator). Correct mash pH with lactic acid. Correct my sparge water pH with lactic.

One thing that always leaves me scratching my head is the contortions folks go through to treat their water.

If your water is good, leave it alone. If your water is bad, buy RO water and add a LITTLE BIT of calcium chloride. I'll bet more beer is messed up by following the advice of brewing calculators than by any other factor.

I checked Garland's water on line, and it doesn't look so good for brewing (too hard). Try RO water for one batch and see if it doesn't improve.

And even more importantly, at every step, KNOW why you are doing whatever you are doing -- don't do it because a calculator or brewing program said so.

 

[jbsg02]

Sometimes the beers are bitter, but not in a good hop-bitter way. I have gotten a flavor and smell of grapefruit before, also not in a good way. I have also gotten a plastic flavor before too. None of the flavors seem to be the usual suspects associated with DMS, acetaldehyde, diacetly, or common infections. The current hefeweizen I have on tap isn't horrible, but it's lacking the mouthfeel and maltyness of other hefeweizens. Most of my brews tended to lack maltyness and mouthfeel, which led me to buy a new thermometer, because I suspected I was mashing much lower than I thought I was.

 

[QuaffableQuips]

More info is definitely needed, but a couple of things come to mind...

1. Have you calibrated your thermometer in an ice bath and in boiling water? You need to trust your thermometer for all grain.

2. Have you bottled any of your brews, or do you exclusively keg? I found that my beverage lines were giving me an off flavor that completely went away when I switched to BevSeal lines.

 

[jbsg02]

With all the replies, I should add that I have tried brews with strictly RO water with added in calcium chloride and gypsum, and those also turned out less than stellar. Most of the water additions I do are pretty small, only a gram or two in the mash, and maybe 2 or 3 grams of salts in the boil, and only a mL or so of lactic in my mash water, and sometimes 2-3 mL in my sparge water. My first 2 all grain brews I used pH 5.2 in the mash, and those didn't turn out very good either, which caused me to switch to using lactic in my mash.

 

[corax]

One additional thought: Lactic acid has a rather nasty flavor of its own. If you must acidify your sparge water, phosphoric acid would be a better choice.

 

[emjay]

One thing that always leaves me scratching my head is the contortions folks go through to treat their water.

If your water is good, leave it alone. If your water is bad, buy RO water and add a LITTLE BIT of calcium chloride. I'll bet more beer is messed up by following the advice of brewing calculators than by any other factor.

I checked Garland's water on line, and it doesn't look so good for brewing (too hard). Try RO water for one batch and see if it doesn't improve.

And even more importantly, at every step, KNOW why you are doing whatever you are doing -- don't do it because a calculator or brewing program said so.

I agree with this. Adding salts to water that's already hard is probably going to just make things worse. Try starting with RO or distilled water and *only* add ¼tsp per gallon.

 

[jbsg02]

More info is definitely needed, but a couple of things come to mind...

1. Have you calibrated your thermometer in an ice bath and in boiling water? You need to trust your thermometer for all grain.

2. Have you bottled any of your brews, or do you exclusively keg? I found that my beverage lines were giving me an off flavor that completely went away when I switched to BevSeal lines.

I calibrated my CDN in both ice and boiling, and it it accurate at those ends of the spectrum.

I bottled a wheat beer a couple of months ago. It was a very simple recipe I did for my sister. 60% pale malt, 40% wheat, 1 oz hallertau at 60 min and used 1056. It wasn't horrible, but had a somewhat plastic aftertaste.

 

[jbsg02]

I agree with this. Adding salts to water that's already hard is probably going to just make things worse. Try starting with RO or distilled water and *only* add ¼tsp per gallon.

I had done brews without using salts as well as brews using RO water with salts added back in. They are generally very small additions, just to add a little more calcium and to balance my chloride to sulfate as needed.

 

[jbsg02]

One thing that always leaves me scratching my head is the contortions folks go through to treat their water.

If your water is good, leave it alone. If your water is bad, buy RO water and add a LITTLE BIT of calcium chloride. I'll bet more beer is messed up by following the advice of brewing calculators than by any other factor.

I checked Garland's water on line, and it doesn't look so good for brewing (too hard). Try RO water for one batch and see if it doesn't improve.

And even more importantly, at every step, KNOW why you are doing whatever you are doing -- don't do it because a calculator or brewing program said so.

The water here isn't too bad. I've gotten a few water reports. The last one was

Ca 55
Sodium 32
Chloride 30
Sulfate 78
Alkalinity 91

 

[corax]

Sometimes the beers are bitter, but not in a good hop-bitter way. I have gotten a flavor and smell of grapefruit before, also not in a good way. I have also gotten a plastic flavor before too. None of the flavors seem to be the usual suspects associated with DMS, acetaldehyde, diacetly, or common infections.

OK, then permit me to step off my water-over-treatment soap box and climb on to my tannins-from-over-sparging soap box. That's what I think of first when I taste what you describe. Why don't you try a no-sparge batch?

 

[urbanmyth]

Sounds to me like you spent a little too much time and effort making a pretty brew house instead of a consistent or efficient one. Not knocking you in any way, but sometimes the ugly junk is what it takes to learn the methods and get the procedures down. I would personally scale back and try to make a simple, time tested recipe (BM's Centennial Blonde and EdWort's Haus Pale come to mind), and instead of monkeying with mash pH and water chemistry, get some simple spring water and focus on the process and making sure fermentation is nice and healthy. Calibrate your tools, leave the brews in the fridge until you pitch your yeast, and have a good time. Hit your numbers. And if you don't, figure out why and how to fix it. I hate to sound preachy, because I am far from an expert, but doing the above has helped me make some of my best beers yet.

 

[D0ug]

How do your extract based recipes come out?

 

[mugzz819]

Out of curiosity because I didn't see it mentioned, what are you fermenting in? If it's plastic have you tried replacing that in case of the slim chance that something got into your fermenter? Maybe your transfer tubing as well? Doesn't sound like the problem since you're getting some different results but that stuff isn't too expensive to replace.

 

[urbanmyth]

What are you fermenting in?

 

[jbsg02]

Sounds to me like you spent a little too much time and effort making a pretty brew house instead of a consistent or efficient one. Not knocking you in any way, but sometimes the ugly junk is what it takes to learn the methods and get the procedures down. I would personally scale back and try to make a simple, time tested recipe (BM's Centennial Blonde and EdWort's Haus Pale come to mind), and instead of monkeying with mash pH and water chemistry, get some simple spring water and focus on the process and making sure fermentation is nice and healthy. Calibrate your tools, leave the brews in the fridge until you pitch your yeast, and have a good time. Hit your numbers. And if you don't, figure out why and how to fix it. I hate to sound preachy, because I am far from an expert, but doing the above has helped me make some of my best beers yet.

That's kinda what I have been doing to be honest. My recipes are generally very simple, from on here or Jamil's brewing classic styles.

 

[jbsg02]

How do your extract based recipes come out?

I made one decent beer with DME, it was yooper's 60 min IPA clone, although the hop flavor faded very quickly in the bottle and I think suffered from a little oxidation after several weeks in the bottle. I tried extract again after I made a few bad all grain beers, using DME. If I remember correctly, it was a bit harsh/bitter, possibly metallic.