Does any other brewers go through phases of the beers being brewed are not want they wany anymore?

[The Baron]

I am going through a phase of the beers no longer being what I expect anymore. I do know what I am doing but some of the hops are being over egged and hopping with more and more seems to create beer to bitter which over rides the taste or they are not what is expected even when whirlpooling.
I think I am going to bin some of my beers and go back to basics using maybe clone hop blends or cloning kits.
Anybody else gone through these phases or have been through this?

 

[Andrew Booth]

Well as a predominantly British brewer who brews English malts and hops I am going through a phase of liking New Zealand hops at the moment

 

[The Baron]

Hi Andy my problem is that I have had to upthe hops and at some point no matter how careful you are the bitter overides this and the beer is lost.
I have over the years brewed some lovely beers but I think I need to stop chasing the dragon and brew what are copies or variations of proven beers.
At this moment I have poured 2 pints of different brews that are supposed to be hoppy down the sink but I have now poured a English ale style to give me something I can drink

 

[Andrew Booth]

I tend to find moderation is key I’m a big fan of weaving malt sweeteners with enough bitterness to taste but not overpower

One recent Brew was a typical English Bitter

3.5kg Maris
250g Crystal
200g Wheat
200g Flaked Maize

20g Fuggles 60 Minutes
30g Bramling Cross 15 minutes
Flameout 50g Bramling Cross 80 degrees 30 Minute Whirlpool.

Makes a quite nice session ale not ott on the hops I brewed this with Nottingham which I have always known to give a clean fast ferment under temperature control.

 

[The Baron]

Ales and bitters are not the problem I have a hobgoblin and Tribute style beer I do regular but it is the IPA I have issues with I maybe need to stop using every hop under the earth maybe.
I do these mainly for SHMBO and she has a fantastic palate much better than mine so any issue is noticed.
She said that humans were given a dislike to bitter as most poisonous things were bitter and they would not eat bitter berries or food etc to stop being poisoned ( many years ago)

 

[Stu]

I made a couple of ridiculously hoppy IPAs a while back.
I'm sticking to the kits and some "safe" recipes right now.

 

[Andrew Booth]

I don’t tend to brew clones I freestyle most of the time mainly British styles and the occasional Lager

 

[MashBag]

I suspect chasing the dragon is the problem. (obvs joke aside) Find one you like and stick with it.

 

[Stu]

I suspect chasing the dragon is the problem. (obvs joke aside) Find one you like and stick with it.

and this is the thing. I'm now on my third brew of Dark Rock - Hazy Daze. I really like it.
But I also want to experiment.

When there's only me drinking, and I probably drink 6-8 pints a week, it takes a while to get through things.
I've currently got 14 bottles of the wheat beer, 20 bottles of the really bitter NEIPA (I threw most of it, but I know that NEIPAs tend to lose their flavour after a while), 20 litres of Duvel clone, I'm struggling to justify doing something different.

I'm toying with doing a really heavy Imperial Stout. Thing about those is that they'll last forever.

I've got around 120 bottles and 2 corny kegs. So I'm not short of storage.

 

[Sadfield]

When it comes to hoppy beers I want bitterness. West coast IPAs are where it's at. Aromatic hops and esters upfront, deep malt sweetness followed by bitterness that encourages the next mouthful of beer. Beer should be a balance of flavours and sensations across the palate that is cyclical with every swig. Hazy/NIEPAs are boring and one dimensional being all aroma, body cut with tasteless oats and no bitterness. Could it be you are missing the middle element of sweetness,body and depth of flavour? Great beer is all about balance, whatever the style.

The funny thing is, drinking hoppy beers used to lead to the opposite, a resistance to bitterness, with lupulin threshold shift being a common observation.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/lupulin-threshold/

As to the original question. No, I know what I like and how to get there. The reason I started brewing was better access to the beers that weren't commercially mainstream.

 

[The Baron]

I am listening to all of you and I think I need to brew safe brews for a while.
Yes i think you may be correct Sadfield and I need to look at balanced beers ATM and maybe stop experimenting.
Ps you would probably love the more bittered beers I am brewing at the moment but unfortunately SWMBO does not and I mainly brew that style for her.
I still can not understand how some are coming out so bitter a I have brewed similar brews for years.
{think a re-visit of basics is required)

 

[dad_of_jon]

I am going through a phase of the beers no longer being what I expect anymore. I do know what I am doing but some of the hops are being over egged and hopping with more and more seems to create beer to bitter which over rides the taste or they are not what is expected even when whirlpooling.
I think I am going to bin some of my beers and go back to basics using maybe clone hop blends or cloning kits.
Anybody else gone through these phases or have been through this?

@The Baron just put all those hops in far later or even flameout only. I will say too much of the same and it no longer becomes a special treat. I impy stouted myself out at a recent visit to York where I had 7 in 3 days. equally I've over dipa'd. I realized i've not been drinking much Belgian beer recently and after trying @DocAnna dubble knot was inspired to brew my own Belgian strong golden and it was . I very often go through phases of beer styles but find variety is the key.

 

[Sadfield]

@The Baron What is your pH going into the boil? Hop utilisation increases with pH, if you're water has changed you could be extracting more ibus.

 

[The Baron]

PH is good I always control this well and the sparge PH usually @ 5.4

 

[MashBag]

I am listening to all of you and I think I need to brew safe brews for a while.
Yes i think you may be correct Sadfield and I need to look at balanced beers ATM and maybe stop experimenting.
Ps you would probably love the more bittered beers I am brewing at the moment but unfortunately SWMBO does not and I mainly brew that style for her.
I still can not understand how some are coming out so bitter a I have brewed similar brews for years.
{think a re-visit of basics is required)

Thats interesting that you see it as "safe". That suggests you like excitement of the new recipe or challenge. It not a recipe as much a mindset.

Call it "House".. That for me gets a deep dive, brewing a few times, tweaking, polishing, learning. Changing one thing at a time and seeing the effect. Building the consistency. This is the difference between a one of good recipe and a repeatable great recipe.

You might have seen that frying pan quite a bit in 'bread porn" I am doing the same with a new baking method.

 

[YeastFace]

Going back to a tried and true recipe, and something you love, is a great reset.

 

[The Baron]

I have even cut the hops down to 180g whirlpool and added some fruity(mango/pineapple) only about 1.5kg but that has believe it or not taken over the taste of the hops which I did not expect I thought it would be a hint of with the hops.
Think I will reset and do single hops for a while and see how that goes in in pales and IPA's

 

[MashBag]

"down to 180g" What were they?

 

[The Baron]

I usually do 200g and I have ben using Sabro/Motueka/El Dorado/Taiheke etc infact I have done a Wheat beer with 100g of Motueka in the whirlpool and it is way more bitter than the IBU's it says plus not a lime like taste as should be.
I may bin some hops and as I have said reset to basics.
Ps the ales are ok its just Pales and IPA's so the water must be ok
Edit
Just to add I have been using mainly Saturated yeast which may not be helping?

 

[Brew_DD2]

I usually do 200g and I have ben using Sabro/Motueka/El Dorado/Taiheke etc infact I have done a Wheat beer with 100g of Motueka in the whirlpool and it is way more bitter than the IBU's it says plus not a lime like taste as should be.
I may bin some hops and as I have said reset to basics.
Ps the ales are ok its just Pales and IPA's so the water must be ok

Is there maybe some oxidation going on? You should be getting big aroma and flavour from hop charges that size. Bitterness and hop burn should diminish after a couple of weeks. In the past when I was experiencing similar, it was down to oxygen exposure. Flavour and aroma was flat, and bitterness was accentuated.

What's your process like?