all my beers taste the same

[machetazo]

hello everyone.
this is my third batch of beer and i realise all of them (different styles) taste the same.
i use london tap water. i use camden tablets to remove clorine.
my beers got the same flavor but i cant say exactly what it is.
i dont know if is the water itself or if is the lack of oxygen before pitching or something else.
i really stuck with it.
thanks.

 

[oldbloke]

Welcome to the forum.
Some ale brewers will be along shortly to address your problem, I hope...

 

[nobyipa]

hello
not much info to go by there
fermentation temperatures
yeast etc
:drink:

 

[Jeltz]

If you think its the water try a brew with bottled water and see if that changes it. Most supermarkets sell 5L bottles quite reasonably.

 

[CaptainMallard]

I felt that at first too. I did MakeYourOwnDrinks Stout; IPA; Nut Brown Ale, than a cider. They were all different, but there was a common taste.

Then I tried some other brands (Woodfords Wherry; Coopers Stout; Wilko Golden Ale) and these don't have the same taste. It might just be that I got better at sanitisation. I stopped using the sachets of sodium percarbonate I got from the Range and started using Videne. I suspect the MakeYourOwnDrinks beer/ale kits might have had the same yeast, which would give it a common element.

What kits have you done?

 

[IOMMick]

Just to confirm you are using kits?

All my brews taste very different, but I've been using wildly different kits.

 

[machetazo]

Just to confirm you are using kits?

All my brews taste very different, but I've been using wildly different kits.

Just to confirm you are using kits?

no i did not use any kit i used malt extract the first batches last time i did a brown ale recipe all grain fron john palmer book.
and i read the off flavors described in his book and the flavor of my beers are different.
could it be the bottling process.

 

[machetazo]

If you think its the water try a brew with bottled water and see if that changes it. Most supermarkets sell 5L bottles quite reasonably.

i dont think is the water.
starch conversion was fine. efficiency less than 75% .
specific gravity was 3 points less that it should be 1049. fermentation temperature was 20 degrees during 2 weeks and half.
final gravity was 1011.
my concern is if i did not get enough oxigen before pitching because my tap water does not taste bad.
thanks

 

[Jeltz]

I've tended to use a long drop and stirring to oxygenate the wort, but I do do that every time.

Its hard to say without knowing what the similar flavour is, certainly if you have concerns then about oxygenating the wort then thrash the heck out of the next one to make sure there is plenty of oxygen in it. Problem solving is best done by making small changes, if the aeration doesn't work then the single largest ingredient in beer is water so if it was me trying bottled water would be next. Certainly getting a handle on how the mineral content of the tap water is composed i.e. Calcium, pH, alkalinity and so on would be helpful.

 

[pittsy]

If you could give use a few of your recipes and yeast used and the process of brewing . Are you using the same yeast ?

 

[Hawks]

Are you using the same yeast ?

This was my thought as well pittsy, it can make up so much of the taste of the final beer

 

[Runwell-Steve]

If you are doing All Grain then you do need to look at your water. Your Alkalinity is probably quite high which will be OK for a dark beer like Stout or Porter, but it will need some tweaking with Acid if you want to brew anything else.
If your water Alkalinity is too high your Mash pH will be wrong and this will throw some harshness into your beer.

I would have a browse of the water treatment section.

 

[kev]

Are you using malt extract and boiling, etc or using the extract in place of a kit and just dissolving it?

Write down your process and we can help.

K

 

[machetazo]

If you are doing All Grain then you do need to look at your water. Your Alkalinity is probably quite high which will be OK for a dark beer like Stout or Porter, but it will need some tweaking with Acid if you want to brew anything else.
If your water Alkalinity is too high your Mash pH will be wrong and this will throw some harshness into your beer.

I would have a browse of the water treatment section.

well my water is report says that...
total hardness is 280
magnesium estimated 25 to 50
calcium they sais that is total hardness divided by 100 and multiplied by 40 that means 112
they didnt tell bicarbonate as they said they do not analyze that or something like that.
i treat my water with candem tablet and i used 5.2 estabilizer for the mash.
do you think i have to use some salts or something into the sparge water or in whole amount of water i use to brew?
thank you.

 

[machetazo]

I've tended to use a long drop and stirring to oxygenate the wort, but I do do that every time.

Its hard to say without knowing what the similar flavour is, certainly if you have concerns then about oxygenating the wort then thrash the heck out of the next one to make sure there is plenty of oxygen in it. Problem solving is best done by making small changes, if the aeration doesn't work then the single largest ingredient in beer is water so if it was me trying bottled water would be next. Certainly getting a handle on how the mineral content of the tap water is composed i.e. Calcium, pH, alkalinity and so on would be helpful.

thanks for the advise.
i use a 5 gallons carboy so i never know when is aereate properly but today i bought a pump for the next brew.
my last two beers were wheat beer with dry brewferm yeast and this one was a brown ale with dry safale s04.
temperatures constant at 20 c no problems so far racking.
so this time i will aereate the beer 30 mins with the pump. change the yeast for white labs london ale to do the same brown ale.
if off weird flavor persist i will buy bottled water.
thank you so much.

 

[Aleman]

Consider getting other brewers to taste your beers. It's difficult to identify what is wrong without actually tasting it.

The London Amateur Brewersmeet regularly, and they do tasting sessions of each others beers. There are some very well qualified beer judges as members, who should be able to pin down any issues fairly quickly

 

[pittsy]

If you are doing All Grain then you do need to look at your water. Your Alkalinity is probably quite high which will be OK for a dark beer like Stout or Porter, but it will need some tweaking with Acid if you want to brew anything else.
If your water Alkalinity is too high your Mash pH will be wrong and this will throw some harshness into your beer.

I would have a browse of the water treatment section.

well my water is report says that...
total hardness is 280
magnesium estimated 25 to 50
calcium they sais that is total hardness divided by 100 and multiplied by 40 that means 112
they didnt tell bicarbonate as they said they do not analyze that or something like that.
i treat my water with candem tablet and i used 5.2 estabilizer for the mash.
do you think i have to use some salts or something into the sparge water or in whole amount of water i use to brew?
thank you.

By the sounds of it your water will be around 7.4 Ph ( total hardness is high )or more and when mashing i would expect too high a mash ph and so you're probably getting astringent off flavours ? , a bit sharp leaving a not so great after taste not sour but somewhere close .
Try some acid malt this will help out , i find i can use 300g with no sour taste at all .

 

[BIGJIM72]

Whereabouts in London are you? If you are local maybe I could be a fresh pair of eyes. I have a water treatment regime that suits my local water that might help.

 

[machetazo]

Whereabouts in London are you? If you are local maybe I could be a fresh pair of eyes. I have a water treatment regime that suits my local water that might help.

hi
i live in hackney close to bethnal green.
thanks i could be very helpful to identificate the problem and how to short it out.

 

[BIGJIM72]

I work at Liverpool Street,but generally don't finish until after 9pm.apart from Fridays