Technique or practice that resulted in biggest taste difference

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mklojay

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What technique or practice has for you, resulted in the biggest taste difference (better or worse)? To me it was temperature control and yeast pitching rate.
 
Besides ferm chamber temp control, when I started using pure oxygen my big beers showed great improvement.
 
+1 for pure oxygen. Since using it I think I get more appropriate oxygen levels which result in healthier, happier yeast that produce much cleaner flavors.

I'm fortunate to have a basement which has only a little temperature change through out the year so I haven't had to deal with temp control issues yet.
 
Good to hear about the O2, Brewing an Oktoberfest this weekend with O2 for the first time.
For me, since I've been pretty good with temp, was WATER believe it or not. too many sulphates in my water. Been brewing with Poland spring, and beers are coming out much better.
 
Full Boils / All Grain crush your own and of course watch your fermenting temp.
 
For me it was water conditioning. The chloramines were giving all of my beers a 'twang'

Next up was ferm temp control. Winter brews are clearly better then the summer brews.
 
RO water (learned after the first batch that the chloramine levels in my tap water wasn't good for beer) and pitching the yeast at fermentation temperatures. For my first few batches I pitched the yeast in the upper 70s and the beer really improved when I started pitching in the low 60s. Fortunately, I didn't even try brewing without temperature control as I knew my summer temperature Florida house wasn't going to cut it.
 
Temp control, although I don't have first hand experience sampling the finished product yet, I have put two batches in a freezer with an insulated probe taped to the side of the wort along with a separate temp probe for ambient temp reading. Very impressed with the range of temps the freezer had to run to keep the wort at ideal ferm temps.

My basement stays I the mid 60's, and my readings from recent batches tell me that this is not cool enough during the first week or two. Definitely varies from batch to batch.

Too bad for my wallet since my ferm chamber will be my keezer here shortly... Need another freezer and temp controller...
 
What everyone said, plus water chemistry. Even small additions of gypsum really helped my well water.

BIGGEST single difference though, temperature control for fermentation.
 
The biggest two things that affect the quality of beer are:
-Fermenting at a controlled, consistent temperature
-Pitching the correct amount of healthy, happy yeast

No matter how you brew (extract, PM, AG, etc), those are the first two things every brewer should address. Nothing else will make the difference in quality that those will.
 
scottland said:
The biggest two things that affect the quality of beer are:
-Fermenting at a controlled, consistent temperature
-Pitching the correct amount of healthy, happy yeast

No matter how you brew (extract, PM, AG, etc), those are the first two things every brewer should address. Nothing else will make the difference in quality that those will.

I agree on controlling temps being one of the most important things... But have to disagree with the quantity of yeast portion... While it can effect some flavors and quality, I believe it to be much farther down on the controllable factors list.

Quality fresh ingredients, mash temps, sanitation to name a few effect your outcomes more so than amount. I mean if you pitch an eye dropper of yeast maybe, but if you are pitching a single vial or smack pack or pkg of dry... The difference between that and a starter is not HUGE! As many would like to think.
 
but if you are pitching a single vial or smack pack or pkg of dry... The difference between that and a starter is not HUGE! As many would like to think.

I whole heatedly disagree. Under pitching by 100% or more makes a huge difference in ester and phenol production. There's enough scientific and anecdotal evidence to back that up.
 
I whole heatedly disagree. Under pitching by 100% or more makes a huge difference in ester and phenol production. There's enough scientific and anecdotal evidence to back that up.

Thus why I chime in on these, because from my experience I have had far different results and feel those less experienced brewers need to see both sides of the coin. I am happy that your processes work for you and am sure we both produce a very fine product. :mug:
 
I whole heatedly disagree. Under pitching by 100% or more makes a huge difference in ester and phenol production. There's enough scientific and anecdotal evidence to back that up.

Underpitching by 100% should result in no esters or phenols whatsoever, wouldn't you agree? Ya know, since that would mean no yeast :D
 
Adding a 2 oz 0 minute hop addition to my hop schedule has really increased my hop aroma and flavor, before I was only doing a 10 and 5 minute addition, but the aroma and flavor increase from the 0 minute has been huge.
I also think increasing my chloride levels to 80 ppm with a 5 gram calcium chloride addition has made my beers much more drinkable.
 
So far, developing patience has helped my beers more than anything. I drank WAY too many green beers before I discovered the magic of simply waiting.

My only temp control at the moment is ice water, and while this does certainly work better than nothing my next step is a freezer and temperature controller. I'm saving up for it now, actually.
 
fermenting my ales no higher than 67F and no less than 21 days in primary and no more bitter aftertastes!
 
see - this is why homebrewing is so cool. the exact opposite thing worked for me. when i stopped doing that, my beers became significantly less salty. different strokes...

sometimes you just need a little yellow coloring to get the SRM just right
:drunk:
 
Lagering. My lagers always come out better than my ales, crisp and refreshing as they should be. My ales are hit or miss. I would only brew lagers if I had proper temp control.
 
Going from steeping grains to partial mash. Minor change to brew day procedure, cheaper kits, and major improvement to my FGs. Before getting below 1.020 was considered a success, now everything finishes below 1.010.
 
I am gonna say not sticking to a recipe like it was the word of God. Being confident enough to make changes that I think will make it better suited to my taste. Once I started adjusting things I started making much better (to me) beer.
 
I'd have to say going all-grain. I did enough research before I started brewing to know that I had to pay attention to fermentation temps and pitching rates right off the bat. I have decided to start adding camden tabs to my water. I've had an issue with off flavors in some of my hopper beers, especially ones that have been dry hopped, and I'm wondering if it's a reaction with the chloramine in the water. Even if the Campden tabs aren't the answer, it's still a good practice.
 
Nice thread!

Mine was making yeast starters the night before to make sure I had a nice quick start and healthy, strong fermentation. After making starters, my beer has noticeably been brighter and crisper.

Next on my list is taking care of my chorine water and adjusting mash pH. I am glad these were mentioned because I have new hope that it will improve my brews!
 
Fermentation temperature control has definitely had the largest impact on the taste of my beer.
Pure oxygen aeration, all grain, stir plate starters. and all electric PID based brewing system have made significant improvements to the brewing process of my beer on their own.
Fermentation control to me has made a huge leap in the quality and taste of my beer.
 
I think I need to change my vote to echo temperature control! Pure O2 did a lot for me in getting good solid fermentations, but since building the temp control box in my basement and being able to dial the fermentation in to the exact temp I want it (within 1 degree F) I've gotten some real clean ferments. No matter what level of brewer you are temp control really should be one of the first things you upgrade!
 
For me definitely building my water to address sulfate and mash pH issues. My beers always had slightly noticeable harshness

If i had been fermenting hot, I'd probably say temperature control
 
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