What single change most improved your beer?

[govner1]

1- temp control, mash & fermentation
2- dialing in my system, ie, boil off volume, whirl pooling, chilling
3- keg conditioning
4- patience
5- good record keeping for consistent results


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[atoughram]

Definitely switching to All Grain, followed by moving to a different city and different water, followed by the ubiquitously mentioned fermentation/mash temperature control....

 

[rideincircles]

Buy a good thermometer. I had a a floating thermometer before buying a digital one, and realized my floating thermometer was off and all my beers were going really dry. I also noticed the hydrometer I was using was off by a few points and measured water at .995.

Making sure your equipment works well is always key. After that, I think temperature control will make the biggest difference. I have only made one beer using my fermentation chamber so far, but it's a spot on Pliny clone. Going to compare it to the original this weekend.

 

[flars]

Starting with the same brew and ever since. Yeast pitching rate and temp control.

 

[cernst151]

For me it was priming with DME instead of sugar. I did a few split batches and found the ones primed with DME were consistently creamier, better head and more "professional" feeling.

But, I'm just now shopping for a chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber so we'll see what my answer is after my next couple batches.

 

[Zuljin]

For me it was priming with DME instead of sugar. I did a few split batches and found the ones primed with DME were consistently creamier, better head and more "professional" feeling.

But, I'm just now shopping for a chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber so we'll see what my answer is after my next couple batches.

When you prime with dme, do you match it to the grain bill any kind of way?

 

[cmoewes]

I need to start checking my mash conversion doing an iodine test so I don't rush mashing and get more conversion efficiency.


Oops, misread what do I need to do should be what did I do.

Temperature control is a big one of course. But patience. I liken brewing to baking that's faster. I hate having to wait to see my result. But I brewed my first Russian Imperial Stout and Barley Wine in the last couple months and that has forced me to say "Well, gonna have to wait for a while, get over it"

 

[xben]

Taking notes/numbers and correctly configure profiles into beer software. It is now easier to predict numbers such as mash/global efficiency, OG/FG, boiloff, volumes, then to calculate on the fly adjustments!

 

[frozennorth]

Absolutely, temp control!

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Since temp control has been somthing that everyone points to, I focused on getting implemented right a way as I started brewing this year, so that hasn't been a factor for me. What did change mid-year, was that I got a pot that was big enough to hold a full boil of my 5 g extract brews.
Next is the jump to AG later this fall, once I get more time to brew.

 

[pcampo]

Temperature control-- I got better attenuation, No diacytel, and better tasting beers over all

 

[pcampo]

Also, using only 2-3 gallons of water when steeping grains for extract got rid of my tannin astringency.

 

[Darwin18]

Temperature control. I've never regretted purchasing my fermentation freezer.

 

[CRAFTBEERKING]

1. Research-books, HBT, magazines, etc (with a beer)
2. Shared experience (over a beer)
3. Sanitation...Sanitation...Sanitation...
4. Fermenting at the lower end of the suggested temp and controlling that temp completely, ie temperature gauge, etc.
5. Cold Crash at the end of fermentation
6. Yeast Starters/quantity/Pitching procedure

---------------------
This weekend: English Red Winter Ale
Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty
Kegged: Pumpkin Spiced Porter, Belgian Tripel
Bottled: Scotch Ale, Red Ale

 

[Ibrew2little]

This app


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[mikescooling]

Making large starters and pitching new, healthy, working yeast.

 

[TriggerFingers]

Water adjustments

 

[jrc64]

Best change I ever made was to stop stressing and being anal over sanitation and started enjoying the brewing process. Not saying to ignore sanitation, just keep it simple and don't go nuts. I mean, I've had my hands on my cooled wort and had no problems. I've had my fermenter open for around 30 minutes with yeast in it (got stuck speaking with my neighbor). I hardly ever disassemble my keg to clean it. Simply rinse good. Fill with BPW, shake up, let sit 30 minutes. rinse and run through the out line. Dip connectors in Star San, cover them with foil until next time. Again, never any troubles.

 

[NTXBrauer]

I must agree with the majority of the responses...Temperature control for me, and a close second is all the experience gained through the years.

 

[hezagenius]

Practice has given me the biggest improvement.

Fermentation temp control is what I plan to tackle next.

 

[ResQue]

As I only have one extract with specialty grains batch under my belt, I am glad that this forum is here and I hope to learn a lot from you all. I am gathering my equipment now and will be tackling a fermentation chamber soon since I have a unused fridge/freezer in my basement.

 

[MrSpaz]

Moving to all grain. Never have had extract twang since. Wish I had means for temp control but don't yet.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

. But I brewed my first Russian Imperial Stout and Barley Wine in the last couple months and that has forced me to say "Well, gonna have to wait for a while, get over it"

You will be glad for the wait when you do enjoy them.

On topic: I'd have to parrot a lot of others with patience being the best aid to all aspects of brewing. Recipe design, mashing, boil , chilling , fermentation, conditioning, kegging/bottling. The whole 9yrds. It applies every aspect.


Sent from somewhere to someone

 

[cernst151]

When you prime with dme, do you match it to the grain bill any kind of way?

I've just always used a very light one that won't impact the flavor at all. I suppose I could use a dark for stouts but I certainly haven't noticed it weakening my stouts so far. My current stout is as thick and creamy as any I've ever tasted. I credit a mash temp of 158.

 

[mrboz]

Well, once you get past the obvious one - sanitation, here's a couple more. I know you asked for just one, but since most of the things are free/cheap, why not do them all.

1. De-chlorinate your water (boil, filter, RO, or distilled)
2. Do yeast starter and make sure you have good pitching rates (really hard to over-pitch)
3. O2 Aeration (not the aquarium pumps, but straight o2 injection)
4. Patience with your fermentation time (really surprising the difference a 2-3 extra weeks can make - or more)
5. Temp control

 

[themachinist]

I started with a fermentation chamber so a can't realy add there but running my water through a charcoal filter has improved my beer drastically. Also since I started kegging my beer has lost an off flavor I could never quite place. I begun purging my fermenters and kegs with co2 when racking ever since I got the keg setup. I think the the flavor I was getting was and oxidized off flavor.

 

[mrboz]

Big thing is to not steep at too high a temperature - that's what will give you that astringency

 

[mrboz]

Big key is to brew a lot, so you can be patient with the brews that are cooking. When you brew a little, you are usually anxious to get into your batch and you don't let it finish.

 

[logdrum]

When you prime with dme, do you match it to the grain bill any kind of way?

I mostly keg, but if I am bottling a batch, I'll plan on holding back a quart or so of unfermented wort & use that. Here's a handy calculator for just that:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/gyle-and-krausen-priming-calculator/

 

[ATHB]

This is a great thread as so many of us use this forum as a tool to improve our homebrew process and this thread allows the less experienced to pick up on critical stages of the process so that these things can be learned early.

Cleaning/Sanitation was a no brainer for me before I even got started so I count that as that is an absolute must and not something critical I learned that improved my beer. I agree with most posts stating temperature control is critical and should be utilized early. You will not regret the day you outfit your brewery with a fermenting cooler with reliable temp control. For me that is 2 chest freezers (one 8.8 Kenmore (future keezer-currently using picnic taps) and one 5.4 Kenmore for fermentation) both using the DIY eBay temp control build found on this forum.

Next, oxygenation. I use one of those attachments that attach to a drill and spin the wort into a large funnel. I tried the oxygen wand, pump, and shake methods but they seemed a little clunky to me or not very effective. I feel the pump method was worse than the shaking method as I didn't get many bubbles and agitation. The oxygen wand was great but cost much more and needed oxygen tank replacements.

Also, contributing to this forum by purchasing a subscription since it has helped me so much through the years. Cheers!