Hello all,
I am relatively new to homebrewing and have had great success... until this last recipe. This last one I brewed twice because I realized the first time I really screwed up water adjustments. It ended up tasting like hoppy acidic mineral water with an odd off-white to gray color, but the aroma was something dreams were made of (It was supposed to be a "juicy" IPA). So I dumped it and tried to do the same recipe again, but I omitted the water adjustment step thinking that was the issue.
The new batch which is now done, and tastes better but not great. Has a good aroma, but still has that same weird off-color. It tastes more on the bitter end... but there were no bittering additions.
So I got to thinking about what could cause it. Is my recipe just crap? Or do I need to invest in a new fermenter? I am still using the same bucket I have used for the last ten or so brews. How often should they be replaced? Or is it oxidation? I have been trying to clean as thoroughly as possible (with PBW and StarSan). Am I letting it soak in PBW for too long? Or not doing a good enough rinse? Just running through all the things that are possible haha.
The other thought I had which is probably the least likely but still possible was the type of hops... I found some Southern Cross hops at my local store and they seemed interesting. My girlfriend didn't like how they smelled, but I thought they were fine (she has a much better palate than me so maybe she was right). I couldn't find much out there in terms of people using these hops so it's hard to say what the opinion of them are. So who knows? Any feedback is appreciated. I am really trying to understand what is going on, I am a physicist so don't be afraid to talk in-depth, I prefer it.
I am relatively new to homebrewing and have had great success... until this last recipe. This last one I brewed twice because I realized the first time I really screwed up water adjustments. It ended up tasting like hoppy acidic mineral water with an odd off-white to gray color, but the aroma was something dreams were made of (It was supposed to be a "juicy" IPA). So I dumped it and tried to do the same recipe again, but I omitted the water adjustment step thinking that was the issue.
The new batch which is now done, and tastes better but not great. Has a good aroma, but still has that same weird off-color. It tastes more on the bitter end... but there were no bittering additions.
So I got to thinking about what could cause it. Is my recipe just crap? Or do I need to invest in a new fermenter? I am still using the same bucket I have used for the last ten or so brews. How often should they be replaced? Or is it oxidation? I have been trying to clean as thoroughly as possible (with PBW and StarSan). Am I letting it soak in PBW for too long? Or not doing a good enough rinse? Just running through all the things that are possible haha.
The other thought I had which is probably the least likely but still possible was the type of hops... I found some Southern Cross hops at my local store and they seemed interesting. My girlfriend didn't like how they smelled, but I thought they were fine (she has a much better palate than me so maybe she was right). I couldn't find much out there in terms of people using these hops so it's hard to say what the opinion of them are. So who knows? Any feedback is appreciated. I am really trying to understand what is going on, I am a physicist so don't be afraid to talk in-depth, I prefer it.