Never been so discouraged about homebrew (need some encouragement)

[chetduggan]

I was in the same boat as you a year or so ago. Then someone said, "keep it simple stupid"KISS.
I did and it's been much better since. I've learned I gotta work my way up to the more complex grain bills and brewing procedures. Find 2-3 simple recipes you might like, then perfect them. As I'm writing this I just tasted an Oktoberfest that is out of this world. Had no idea I could brew something so good. Be patient, perfect your process, and rest assured you will reap the rewards in the future.

 

[biestie]

I'd get as many variables out of it and go back to extract with dry yeast... maybe even a no boil kit with US-05 subbed for the yeast that comes with it. You should be able to make a good beer even with a no boil prehopped kit, given proper sanitation and proper fermentation temps. When I'm running low on brew I've been known to brew a no boil kit while I'm doing an all grain batch. If you brew an undrinkable beer with a no boil kit, then you know that you have some sort of fermentation or sanitation issue. You'll never solve an issue by making your process more complicated.

 

[befus]

Well I know exactly how you feel and advise you to hang in there. Take a deep breath and maybe step back a bit, but work it out. I began kegging back in about 1998 after several years bottling. I made some good, even award winning beers and the best two I made were never entered into contests. In both cases they were outstanding, and our homebrew club thought the chocolate mocha stout was among the best they had ever tasted. In both cases after a week or two in the kegs they became infected and had to be trashed. I made one more batch and it too went South and I quit. I was so discouraged that when I moved I left six cornies, a 20# co2 tank, double regulator, two chrome faucets and lines, etc behind. I didn't sell them, I left them for the re-modelers to dispose of. I know, how stupid, but I did it. After almost 10 years I started brewing again last year and I must admit I wish I had kept it up because it is a fun, interesting hobby and you meet cool folks. Do I wish I had all that kegging stuff back.....you bet I do. So work it out and keep up the fight, its worth it.

 

[giraffeman]

You most likely are making good beer but want to make something out of this world>
I can tell you this; If you are trying to get your beer to be EXACTLY like the craft brews then it will not happen. You can get it dam close but never exact.
I work for a company that sells flavors to a # of the craft beer company's and I'm not talking just fruit flavors. We sell them "beer enhancers" , (malt and hop flavoring, as well as fruit, spice, and even some enzymes to get a unique flavor).
Sorry to spoil everyone's image that at least some, (as i cant speak for all), of the highly rated brewers are just using pure grain and hops. Most are out to make big $$$ so they get all the help they can as its easier and more profitable to do a quick brew with flavor enhancers.

As I see it you can
1)Hang in there and try what others have suggested or
2)GIVE UP AND SELL ME ALL YOUR STUFF FOR CHEEP

GOOD LUCK
Practice makes a better brew

 

[biestie]

You most likely are making good beer but want to make something out of this world>
I can tell you this; If you are trying to get your beer to be EXACTLY like the craft brews then it will not happen. You can get it dam close but never exact.
:

Don't know about you, but I'll put my beers up against any of the commercial craft beers any day of the week, and best case for them, it'll be a draw.

 

[jbsg02]

Okay, so a bit of an update. I've had my hefe in the keg for about a week now and it's actually turning out to be pretty good! Not as good as some of my favorite German hefeweizens, but it's still pretty good. I used pretty much the same process on this beer as my last few. Filtered water, lactic acid, a little calcium chloride. One thing about my last brew that didn't turn out very well is there was a lot of cold break and hop material in the fermentor. With my new blichmann, the dip tube reaches pretty far down and it's hard to keep a lot of that stuff out. I'm thinking that could be an issue.

Also, with my fermentation schedule, I keep it cool until the beer has about reached it's final gravity, and after that I go ahead and let it warm up to room temp. As far as I know, most of the ester production occurs the first few days or fermentation, so letting it warm up afterwards shouldn't be a big issue. Does anyone else do this?

 

[FarmerTed]

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.

Drink Bud for two weeks straight, then go back to drinking your beer. You'll feel a whole lot better. And follow the previous advice about simplifying your water. Just buy some bottled water, and use it without treatment. If the water tastes good, the beer should taste alright, no matter what the style is. You should probably taste the water you're using now after you get done treating it. It may well taste like crap.

 

[jbsg02]

If you are using a CDN thermometer, make sure that its not the type for 'thin cuts of meat.' That thermometer almost made me quit brewing too. It was accurate at 0F and 212F but around 155F it was 20-30F off!!! It all had to do with how deep I put it in the water. Turns out that on the package it says 'for thin cuts of meat' when it should say 'don't put this in more than 1/2".' As a result I was getting tannins and stale flavors in my beer thanks to mashing too hot.

Heat up a cup of water in the microwave and check it when you think its around mash temps. Check it against a simple analog thermometer.

Was this the thermometer?

http://www.amazon.com/CDN-DTQ450X-ProAccurate-Quick-Read-Thermometer/dp/B0021AEAG2

This is the one I have and I'd hate for this to not be accurate either!

 

[Dawgs47]

"Also, with my fermentation schedule, I keep it cool until the beer has about reached it's final gravity, and after that I go ahead and let it warm up to room temp. As far as I know, most of the ester production occurs the first few days or fermentation, so letting it warm up afterwards shouldn't be a big issue. Does anyone else do this?"

I do this at times as well and it should not cause problems. You do however want to make sure you are controlling the beer beer temp and not jut the air around it.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Was this the thermometer?

http://www.amazon.com/CDN-DTQ450X-ProAccurate-Quick-Read-Thermometer/dp/B0021AEAG2

This is the one I have and I'd hate for this to not be accurate either!

Product Features

Pocket-sized quick-read thermometer that's great for measuring temp in thin cuts of meat, fish or poultry

I would check against an analog thermometer just to be safe.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Was this the thermometer?

http://www.amazon.com/CDN-DTQ450X-ProAccurate-Quick-Read-Thermometer/dp/B0021AEAG2

This is the one I have and I'd hate for this to not be accurate either!

That's the one I use. I've used it along side a dial thermometer and found that it is accurate throughout its range.

 

[Cape Brewing]

wow... that was a lotta reading.

I know how frustrating it can be. I almost quit brewing about a year and a half ago because I was getting an off-flavor on my new rig that I couldn't find (and I still get a ton of crap about it from my dear "friends"!!!) It is insanely frustrating though.

I dunno... my two cents is on the only thing I haven't seen anyone mention (maybe I missed it) is your kegs. Are you occasionally completely breaking down your kegs (removing dip-tubes, removed o-rings, etc) and giving them a good cleaning... and THEN a good SANITIZING? (cleaning and sanitizing aren't the same thing). It is really easy to get a bug in a keg and I think a basic infection will toss off all sorts of off-flavors.

I think your current hefe might be a good test case... if it tastes ok now... give it another couple weeks and see if it still tastes ok. If it does... it's probably not a keg issue. If it doesn't... then you may have found your culprit.

Good luck though... trust me, once you find it, it's going to be awesome to brew again.