What's up guys? Thanks for all the encouraging words. After much thought about all that you had said ( & my wife's encouragement as well) I've decided not to quit. I was gonna dump a 2 gallon batch of pilsner that I had, but bottled it instead. When I brewed the brew demon hme I didn't boil the wort as long as I did before. The guy at brew demon said over boiling can give off that cider taste. I also did an experiment with the priming sugar as well. Adding less cane sugar in some bottles to see if that was the problem, or part of it. What do you guys think?
I'm glad you've decided to continue--it will get better, and as you keep at it, it will get great.
While some new brewers hit a decent brew right off the bat, I don't think the odds are great on that happening unless they do certain things.
1. Follow an established recipe, one that isn't overly complicated. The goal of a first brew should be to learn the process and produce decent drinkable beer. No experimenting, unless you want a lot of variables all vying for the main reason the beer didn't turn out.
2. Follow the instructions. Even go so far as to re-write them to be sure you have them down.
3. Find a local mentor if you can, someone who can either walk you through it the first time or whose brew day you can participate in. Brewing isn't rocket science but neither is it uncomplicated to some degree.
4. Everybody says this but it's true: clean and sanitize. I have four--count them, 4--small spray bottles full of Star San. Everything that comes in contact w/ the wort or beer
post-boil is treated to a Star-San shower. I prepared gelatin finings last night for a fermenter; the glass cup in which I heated the water was sprayed, the thermemeter I used to stir and check temp was sprayed. I spray the quick-disconnects and posts on my kegs before I hook them up. It might sound like a pain, but once you get in the habit of doing it, it takes no more thought than scratching your nose.
5. Water matters. Early on I'd read that if your water tastes good, you can brew good beer. Well. Maybe certain kinds, but not necessarily all kinds, and it's certainly not true in my case. My first beer was drinkable, but not really all that good. I've since learned enough about water to know that was probably the reason. It's probably easiest and best to ask for advice on this at the start. Water can get very complicated, but if you can get a water profile (and help in producing it) for your local water and how to amend it from someone nearby, that would be very good. Then later you can figure out why it was the right thing to do.
And last but not least--though it's not advice for new brewers but a formula for getting better--practice continuous quality improvement. Each time try to do something better.
Good luck!
