What changes made your beer better?

[PCABrewing]

I started thirty years ago when I received a kit for Christmas.
The biggest improvements for me have been through taking good notes and plenty of practice.
Further, asking questions about results and reviewing my notes.
If nothing else, my notes have improved

Practice makes practiced, nothing makes perfect, but being practiced can definitely move the needle.

 

[Willy]

I have fermented in 5 gallon corny kegs for 5 years and I really like it. I moved down to doing 2.5 to 3 gallon batches instead of 5 gallons. I have found that smaller batches are easier to move around and make for faster brewdays. Pressurized fermentations a closed transfers work great. Only drawback is if I make a great batch of beer, it's a small batch and I run out of it quicker than say a 5 gallon batch.

Do you use a spunding PRV to vent excess CO2 gas, or the blowoff hose into a jar? Or both?

My first attempt is in progress. Just winging it - no clue. Currently using a blowoff tube in a jar, which is inside the freezer/with inkbird - set currently at 57° F. Blowoff tube is connected to a corny keg lid fitted with a gas post. I took the spring and center rod out to allow easier gas exhaust during the early robust phase of fermentation. It is gurgling nicely at day 3+.

Sunday will be day 6 and most of the big ferment action is over. I will replace the lid with a std corny keg lid, purge with CO2 and use the KegLand spunding / prv on the gas post set to 10 psi to ferment under pressure and begin the carb process.

Doing 5 gallon batch of pilsner fermenting in a 6.5 gallon corny keg. 1st time.

Like I said... Just winging it.

 

[Chetbrews]

Do you use a spunding PRV to vent excess CO2 gas, or the blowoff hose into a jar? Or both?

My first attempt is in progress. Just winging it - no clue. Currently using a blowoff tube in a jar, which is inside the freezer/with inkbird - set currently at 57° F. Blowoff tube is connected to a corny keg lid fitted with a gas post. I took the spring and center rod out to allow easier gas exhaust during the early robust phase of fermentation. It is gurgling nicely at day 3+.

Sunday will be day 6 and most of the big ferment action is over. I will replace the lid with a std corny keg lid, purge with CO2 and use the KegLand spunding / prv on the gas post set to 10 psi to ferment under pressure and begin the carb process.

Doing 5 gallon batch of pilsner fermenting in a 6.5 gallon corny keg. 1st time.

Like I said... Just winging it.

I do have a spundit valve, but I usually just use a simple prv valve. Mine is red and rated for 10-12 psi. I use it in place of the grey prv valve that is located on the lid. Works pretty well for me. Update us with how the pilsner turns out for you!

 

[BrewZer]

Not saying one way or another is better I never did extract. I did BIAB then to all grain. Culinary school taught me to enjoy the entire process. I have heard good things about extract. Currently I use extracts to propagate yeast.

I started out all-extract, started adding grain for flavor and color, and then wound up doing all-grain BIAB. I've found process control, whether you're using extracts, bags or what-have-you, is key.

1. Grist size
2. Strike water temperature
3. Mash duration (use the iodine starch test!)
4. Sugar extraction (squeeze the bag/sparge)
5. Boil times and temperatures
6. Precise hop timing
7. Quick cool-down
8. Yeast preparation (liguid vs dry)
9. Sanitation (everything that touches the beer after cool-down)
10. Temperature control in the fermenter
11. Monitoring SG drop
12. Quietly racking to bottling bucket with priming mixture -or- anaerobic transfer to keg
13. Proper head space in the bottles
14. Patiently waiting for proper conditioning level (which is why I usually bottle 3 or 4 12-oz testers)

 

[flipster]

The first thing, that made my beers better was probably simply gaining experience and developing a routine after the first few days of brewing. Learning by doing.

The main improvement by a major change after a while was instead of buying pre-ground malts (and store them sometimes even for weeks) buying a mill and grinding it while strike water heats up.

Attending a brew seminar for home brewers at Kiesbye's Academy for brewers and beer someliers we learned, not to get crazy about the numbers, what home brewers often do. You're dealing with organic materials and they differ a lot (e.g. each season). And another thing I took from there was "stay pragmatic!" - like the monks back than, they didn't even have a therometer or knowledge about mirco-organisms and they made decent beers for centuries. As well as if you're enjoy home brewing you will get always a good beer!
What I took also from this seminar, while visiting the Trumer Privatbrauerei next door, where Axel Kiesbye was brew master before: he was the one installing the open fermentation vats of his design. Beside a clever cleaning mechanism the double-walled vats for temperature control where the key feature of that.
I do not have temperature control for top fermenting beers, but now I have a socket with a control for the fridge

I started at day one with brewing all grains and three vats, because I only learned much later that extract brewing is also a thing for home brewers. I realised there is a thing called BIAB just a few moths ago, when I joined the HBT. And btw it's not a surprise, that there are very good extract beers - it wouldn't be a thing in also huge breweries all over the world (also in Germany) if it didn't turn out good.

I'm quite happy with my process and the routine at the moment - and don't know where really to start to have measurable improvements.
I read a lot about oxidation issues (fears?) here in the, but I do not feel to have an issue with that - probably because I do not have the chance to compare it. Just to try it seems a huge investment, I'm not willing to do right now.
Using bottles combined with open vat fermentation may reduce the oxidation while siphoning the beer into bottles. There's always some carbon dioxide released, and the yeast will consume the left over oxygen while carbonizing / conditioning.
I thought about buying an agitator in combination with a temperature and time controlled socket, but stirring while heating up is the thing I like on a brew day. A pump to transfer wort - seems more work cleaning than a benefit for the one transfer from the mash tank to the lauter vat.

 

[hottpeper13]

Once you have a pump or two you'll be like, why did i wait so long. 8.3 lbs per gallon buddy!

 

[flipster]

Phew! I feel now like I really dodged a bullet here just by being used to the metric system: (a bit more than) 1kg per litre sounds much easier to handle

 

[wepeeler]

For me it's been:
Improved process: taking notes, not making drastic changes, brew again and again with improvements in mind
Temp control
Pitch rates
Quality ingredients
Research! Ask questions. Pick your local breweries brains. Never be afraid to talk beer. Most every brewer loves to talk beer!
(I still don't check mash pH - RO water with water chem adjustments and I trust Brewfather...blindly)

 

[RyPA]

Eliminating oxygen is my #1 all time change. I started brewing using extract in 2017 and all of my beers tasted like garbage, and I quit after a few batches. Late 2021 I decided to try again and go all grain (thinking extract was partially at fault), my first batch was good at first but again turned into garbage over a short period of time. Then I learned about the oxidation issue with IPA's, and ~3 years & ~20 batches later, here I am.

I am looking to get a mini freezer soon to allow temp controlled fermentation. I'd also like to try different yeasts, I've brewed only with dry yeasts, specifically US-04, US-05, Verdant, Voss Kveik, Lutra Kvekn, Nottingham, and Windsor.

 

[Beernik]

Simplifying recipes, pick one flavor and everything else supports it.

With few exceptions, if my first cut at a recipe has more than 4 types of grains or 3 types of hops, it needs a second draft.

 

[BrewZer]

Once you have a pump or two you'll be like, why did i wait so long. 8.3 lbs per gallon buddy!

Yeah, but Johnny 5 (pump disassemble!) and 10 - 20 feet of silicone tubing to sanitize every time? Sounds like an easy path to an infection...

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, but Johnny 5 (pump disassemble!) and 10 - 20 feet of silicone tubing to sanitize every time? Sounds like an easy path to an infection...

I took my pump apart once in 5 years. Pump boil temp wort through the hose and back into the kettle for heat sanitizing before cooling it down. If this was a real world problem, thousands of brewers would have given up long ago.

 

[corkybstewart]

I took my pump apart once in 5 years. Pump boil temp wort through the hose and back into the kettle for heat sanitizing before cooling it down. If this was a real world problem, thousands of brewers would have given up long ago.

Periodically I pump boiling water with PBC through my whole system-pump, chiller, etc., recirculating for t least 30 minutes. It works well and is easy to do.

 

[hottpeper13]

I CIP the whole system with alkaline brewery wash every 3 brews, mostly because it will be more then a month before the next one. One thing I do is have the pump outlet valve 1/2 open so the cip kinda gose into the cavity behind the ball. I disassemble the valves on news years day or there abouts.

 

[bwible]

For me it was getting a water report and learning a little water chemistry, especially mash ph. Ph of different grain bills will be different and adjusting with acid malt or lactic acid makes a huge difference in mash extraction and in the finished beer.

 

[BrewZer]

I took my pump apart once in 5 years. Pump boil temp wort through the hose and back into the kettle for heat sanitizing before cooling it down. If this was a real world problem, thousands of brewers would have given up long ago.

So it's not as much work as it seems like it would be...?

 

[day_trippr]

It takes me less than 60 seconds to remove a head from my March 815pl pumps and another 30 seconds to expose the impeller. No big deal at all, and occasionally necessary to replace thrust washers...

Cheers

 

[G_robertus]

Experimenting has told me a lot about individual grains and combinations, and about hops to a lesser degree. It's easier to make simple fermented malt tea than it is to get one with changing hops and not have oxygen play as big a role.

pH was also major, mostly for darker beers. My stouts have massively improved. I actually need to try and recreate an old recipe with pH control to see if the recipe itself wasn't half bad. Lighter beers apart from hoppy styles seem less affected by mash or post boil pH though.

Kegging and the threads on IPA have massively improved my IPAs as well.

Apart from that I think I learned most from just doing and tweaking tiny bits to unravel their impact.

 

[johnsonpvb17]

My biggest improvement was seen from:

Investing in a G30, Conical Pro, modifying a cooler, getting some kegs, CO2, O2, and a dedicated fridge.
And appreciate I am able to do that.

Investing in time to read threads like this, and other books and articles about Home Brewing.
Thanks to those that post here.

Being more meticulous in all steps of the process.

 

[Snuffy]

Moving to all-grain with an electric system was the next level. I had brewed some very good beer with extract, kettle, stovetop, buckets and carboys. I had also brewed some mediocre stuff. If I stick to the recipe and use fresh ingredients with the G30, it never fails me. Mashing away as we speak.

 

[crazyjake19]

Liquid yeast
Closed transfers to keg
Stopped listening to Brulosophy
Fermentation temperature control (though not as much change as I expected)
Attention to pH throughout the entire process, not just mash pH
90-minute boils
Proper yeast pitching (overpitching is at least as bad as underpitching)

 

[seatazzz]

As many have noted above, fermentation temperature control was my big thing. I was lucky enough that we bought a new house fridge a few years ago, and the old one (a 15-year-old french door Samsung) became the ferment fridge. The compressor capacitor went out at one point, but a quick installation of a 3 in 1 Supco put paid to that quickly. I can brew lagers in the deepest summer heat, and kveiks in the dead of winter (although I usually do those in the house).

Other things that have improved if not the beers, then the process:

1. Having a T professionally installed from the natural gas line to the hot water heater, so I could use natural gas instead of schlepping to Home Depot for propane every couple of weeks. Costs me pennies a brew and I never run out of fuel.
2. Learning how to reuse yeast, to keep costs down.
3. Buying grain and hops in bulk.

For the actual improvement in my beers, other than the ferment fridge, it's been learning how to brew recipes consistently; detailed notekeeping helped there. Also last year I bought a fermzilla (albeit the one without the yeast catcher thing). We all may sometimes laugh at the LODO crowd, but having NO oxygen touch my beer from pitching time until it hits the bottom of my pint glass has vastly improved the quality of my beer.

 

[Willy]

I started this thread about 4 months ago... So many great contributions!!! And yeah ... It's a process - how do I make it even better is a never ending path but yields great suds.
So ... Here's my 5 most important things after learning from all the brewmeisters!!!

Temp control - whether doing a kyveik in summer or controlling a lager in a ferm chamber (used freezer from FB mktplace) or keeping a tight range with an inkbird.

Oxygen - your friend and enemy. It depends. I really aerate well before pitching and am insane about O2 free beer. Huge!

Yeast - nutrients, doing a starter, but mostly keeping yeast happy (temperature) ... Next up, learning to harvest and reuse yeast.

Kegging - when I began this thread, I had never fermented in a corny keg. Hey, try it ! It works pretty dang well - best with a floating dip tube.

Recipe testing, tweaking, perfecting. Long ago. I did a million styles and I loved most of them. But I now have 6 taps and all are "must haves" - so I tweak the recipe. Nottingham or US-05 or liquid? A little more hop fragrance ? More caramel less brown?
(Tap#1 - blonde ale, #2 - Nut Brown, #3 - Lager, #4 - Pilsner, #5 American Brown Ale, #6 stout )

Make better beer and be thankful. Ahhhh.

 

[monkeymath]

Tbh, I don't think my beers actually got that much better.

 

[Bobby_M]

Tbh, I don't think my beers actually got that much better.

Which of the anecdotal improvements did you try that didn't make any difference?

 

[Willy]

Do you use a spunding PRV to vent excess CO2 gas, or the blowoff hose into a jar? Or both?

My first attempt is in progress. Just winging it - no clue. Currently using a blowoff tube in a jar, which is inside the freezer/with inkbird - set currently at 57° F. Blowoff tube is connected to a corny keg lid fitted with a gas post. I took the spring and center rod out to allow easier gas exhaust during the early robust phase of fermentation. It is gurgling nicely at day 3+.

Sunday will be day 6 and most of the big ferment action is over. I will replace the lid with a std corny keg lid, purge with CO2 and use the KegLand spunding / prv on the gas post set to 10 psi to ferment under pressure and begin the carb process.

Doing 5 gallon batch of pilsner fermenting in a 6.5 gallon corny keg. 1st time.

Like I said... Just winging it.

Initially in a jar w sanitizer for 2-3 days depending on blop blop blop rate ... Then I take that off and put a cover on the triclamp port (or my homemade hop bong if dry hopping). On day 3-14 it is in the fermenter with about 10psi , with spunding off corny gas post. I also got a new corny lid with a gas post that has a carb stone that drops into the keg so I can carb thru liquid as opposed to just carbing the headspace.

 

[monkeymath]

Which of the anecdotal improvements did you try that didn't make any difference?

Well I started out with all-grain and adjusted my water four batches in, so I can't really speak to the efficacy of those. Same goes for yeast starters.

I've since switched from a pot on the stove top and a plastic lautering bucket that also served as a fermenter to a Grainfather and a stainless steel fermenter.
I don't think the mash recirculation or precise temp control during the mash has a noticeable impact on the final beer. Rapid chilling of wort instead of cooling over night? Probably. But I once had to resort to overnight cooling and can't say the beer came out any worse.

Controlling fermentation temperature is certainly a plus, but I think the effects are often exaggerated in anecdotal reports. In the blind side-by-side comparisons I've read about, the impact was much less significant.

I've flirted with the idea of going LODO, but ultimately decided it was a rabbit hole I didn't want to dive into. Reproducing generic German lagers is not a goal of mine at all, and certainly not worth the added equipment, complexity and headache for me.

Building my brewing water from zero is certainly something I look forward to, although reverse osmosis doesn't really go great with my currently low brewing frequency.
I have some issues with my brews and I believe they're mostly due to my grain crush, so I'd like to improve that area as well.

 

[Bobby_M]

Well I started out with all-grain and adjusted my water four batches in, so I can't really speak to the efficacy of those. Same goes for yeast starters.

I've since switched from a pot on the stove top and a plastic lautering bucket that also served as a fermenter to a Grainfather and a stainless steel fermenter.
I don't think the mash recirculation or precise temp control during the mash has a noticeable impact on the final beer. Rapid chilling of wort instead of cooling over night? Probably. But I once had to resort to overnight cooling and can't say the beer came out any worse.

Controlling fermentation temperature is certainly a plus, but I think the effects are often exaggerated in anecdotal reports. In the blind side-by-side comparisons I've read about, the impact was much less significant.

I've flirted with the idea of going LODO, but ultimately decided it was a rabbit hole I didn't want to dive into. Reproducing generic German lagers is not a goal of mine at all, and certainly not worth the added equipment, complexity and headache for me.

Building my brewing water from zero is certainly something I look forward to, although reverse osmosis doesn't really go great with my currently low brewing frequency.
I have some issues with my brews and I believe they're mostly due to my grain crush, so I'd like to improve that area as well.

Hmm, I would argue all those things should make a noticeable difference, especially in combination.

 

[BrewZer]

Tbh, I don't think my beers actually got that much better.