disheartened
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If it tastes like Fosters you've got serious problems. 
That's a really useful guide. Unless you're the brewing equivalent of a hypochondriac, in which case you'll think you have all of them!
I've had acetaldehyde on 3 occasions, one of which disappeared in a fortnight. The guide describes it very well.
I was thinking something similar to @ExpatBrewer - if its affecting all your brews it could be a fermentation issue - have you tried different yeasts? And what temps are you fermenting at? Could the calibarion on your temp controller be out?
chesters-mild
Member
+ 1 on the above, do try your local home brew club, they may well be able tohelpyou out - and it will be fun!
Cheers
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IainM
Landlord.
+ 2
That sucks man. Find a brewclub or some experienced brewers. Infections, scorching, stressed yeast, sanitiser tainting, all these have characteristic tastes which can be identified. Heck, send me a bottle or two and I'll take it to my local brew club and we can do a tasting. In fact, we have an upcoming off-flavour sensory training session coming up so we can use your beer as a real-world example and hopefully pinpoint your problem. If it's any consolation, I suspect that once the problem has been identified and dealt with, then the fact that you have optimised all the other aspects of brewing, your beer should be awesome.
BeerCat
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I dont know your setup but as you have done it once is it possible your burning all your beers just a little? I found it happened to me a lot especially if you don't boil clear wort. If you have a thick bottomed pan it should not happen but I can get my buffalo or ace to scorch if I am not careful.
I have poured away a lot of beer myself.
I have poured away a lot of beer myself.
IainM
Landlord.
I did this too, and this was the first thing that sprung to mind when I read this post, but then again it could be something else. It affected three batches in a row for me. Finally identified it by doing a stove-top maxi-BIAB and it went away, then double-checked by doing a beer with a 15 minute boil which also turned out ok. Pissed me off at the time as I was stuck with a mucky/smoky hefeweizen, and I had to ditch an AIPA (only batch I've ever thrown, luckily I tased the problem in the trial jar before adding the prodigious dry hops).
BeerCat
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I recently gave a friend some beers and he called me saying he loved the smoky one. It clicked at that moment that i had burned yet another beer. I guess at the back of my mind i knew what it was but i was trying to convince myself otherwise. I think the reson was a heavily stuck mash. I also did a stove top batch a few months ago on a very thin pot and burned that.
I really try to get clear wort everytime now and i have very little build on the bottom of the buffalo. When i can afford it i am going to buy a largeer pot with a triclad bopttom.
Saisonator
Landlord.
So how about using your Bulldog to heat up some LME or DME, steep some speciality grain at 67c using the basket, don't bother recirculating just a gentle stir. Boil and add hop additions.
Cool and pitch yeast.
That will take the mashing process out of the equation.
Cool and pitch yeast.
That will take the mashing process out of the equation.
JonBrew
Landlord.
a few thoughts.
firstly, as others have mentioned, it's important to try and work out if it's a case of the same off flavour coming from every batch, or if it is just that you don't like the final overall impressions of the finished beer. that will help you decide how to best address the issue.
secondly, as well as speaking to a local homebrew club, try entering the beers you've brewed into a decent sized competition for feedback. I think you might be surprised with the response which leads me on to my next thought.
third: are your expectations too high? Is it that the beer your brewing actually tastes decent/average but you are seeking perfection?Competition feedback could help here.
pH and water chemistry is also an area you could look at, however, with a solid recipe and quality malt, hops and yeast, you should be able to make a very enjoyable beer with bottled water from a supermarket without adjustment.
final thought, share a sample of your recipes on this thread for forum members to give feedback on.
firstly, as others have mentioned, it's important to try and work out if it's a case of the same off flavour coming from every batch, or if it is just that you don't like the final overall impressions of the finished beer. that will help you decide how to best address the issue.
secondly, as well as speaking to a local homebrew club, try entering the beers you've brewed into a decent sized competition for feedback. I think you might be surprised with the response which leads me on to my next thought.
third: are your expectations too high? Is it that the beer your brewing actually tastes decent/average but you are seeking perfection?Competition feedback could help here.
pH and water chemistry is also an area you could look at, however, with a solid recipe and quality malt, hops and yeast, you should be able to make a very enjoyable beer with bottled water from a supermarket without adjustment.
final thought, share a sample of your recipes on this thread for forum members to give feedback on.
Saisonator
Landlord.
If it's Ashbeck water being used then there is very little in the way of minerals and it will certainly be too low in calcium.
you could as previously suggested do an extract beer and I'd add to that with a hop tea and bottled water.
you don't need to mash or boil so that will cut out 2 bits of kit. A packet yeast re-hydrated with boiled bottled water at 30-35 (for mangrove jacks) takes more out of the equation too.
question, are you syphoning using your mouth? - I recall bruintuns did and he gave up after tipping his first 3 batches down the drain.
you don't need to mash or boil so that will cut out 2 bits of kit. A packet yeast re-hydrated with boiled bottled water at 30-35 (for mangrove jacks) takes more out of the equation too.
question, are you syphoning using your mouth? - I recall bruintuns did and he gave up after tipping his first 3 batches down the drain.
17p chase spring is perhaps better than ashbeck. altought ashbeck is good for use with starsan
I' m still very much learning. ..out of 33 brews there's only one I'm not pleased with,a part mash cali common. It tastes ok but originally had a rotten smell about it,which over time has started to fade. I still have a few malingering bottles...
There is a distinct difference in taste regarding my last two brews which were brewed using malt miller grains for the first time. A Yorkshire bitter and bottled today an American ipa ...both tasted miles better at bottling than anything I've done previously. I put that to freshness of malt ...maybe. I'm looking forward to these two..the bitter,having had three weeks to carb up indoors,is absolutely crystal clear.
What beers are you hoping to emulate? Do you always buy ready done kits and from the same place?
There is a distinct difference in taste regarding my last two brews which were brewed using malt miller grains for the first time. A Yorkshire bitter and bottled today an American ipa ...both tasted miles better at bottling than anything I've done previously. I put that to freshness of malt ...maybe. I'm looking forward to these two..the bitter,having had three weeks to carb up indoors,is absolutely crystal clear.
What beers are you hoping to emulate? Do you always buy ready done kits and from the same place?
JonBrew
Landlord.
I appreciate calcium is important from a water chemistry perspective but how low are we talking? My tap water is low in calcium, around 17 ppm, and the other key brewing minerals in but, and my point is, I can still make good to very good beer (style dependant) without mineral additions. The OP is talking about beer he considers only worthy of the drain.
Ashbeck is 10ppm Calcium. It's a great base brewing water that can be adjusted up to match whatever style you want. They say that 50ppm is a good minimum for the mash. My feeling is that low Ca is far from his issue. It would affect the mash but surely not result in a beer whose reaction is to be spat down the sink. That kind of reaction smacks of the real nasty stuff like chlorophenols. I'm quietly betting on VWP not being rinsed off thoroughly somewhere. That stuff is damn hard to get out of plastics. It seems to seep into it somehow. Even with multiple rinses I could still detect 'swimming pool' on the nose. It's long been eradicated from my 'brewery'.
Saisonator
Landlord.
I always use VWP, but well diluted, never had any problems.
