Homebrew Beer Myths

[fury_tea]

My dad brews kit beers and believes the 'rocket fuel' myth. I've taken my hydrometer round to test the gravity for him and the beers he brews (the Simply pouches with some brew enhancer) are usually around 4% abv or lower. He won't accept that though. "It has to be more than that, I couldn't see straight last night after a few pints" or "4% in homebrew is definitely stronger than 4% commercial beer". When I asked him how many he drinks in a night, he didn't know.

 

[kelper]

When a kit home brew works well it is a match for 90% of the beers you can buy in a pub. Clear, bright, a good head and mouth feel; lots of lovely flavours and forty pints all the same. In most pubs there are some great pints, some good pints and some flat, stale horrors. I think home brew has the advantage of not travelling through long pipes which get tainted. And, for me, pub beer is too cold and up here in the Highlands, too gassy.

 

[HarryFlatters]

I know most people of my parents generation think that homebrew is rocket fuel/cheap and bad

I know that my Dad (71 tomorrow) is actually shocked at the quality of beer I can produce at home, but his friend (74) absolutely refuses to try it based on preconceptions of terrible kits from the 1980s.

 

[kelper]

but his friend (74) absolutely refuses to try it

I'd be very tempted to put some homebrew in a used bottle of commercial beer and recap it.

 

[HarryFlatters]

I'd be very tempted to put some homebrew in a used bottle of commercial beer and recap it.

That would require me to brew a batch of something like Tennants and I don't think I could bring myself to do it

Kiddin', there's no point getting upset about it. The best drink is the drink you want to drink, the way you want to drink it. Be it macro brewed lager, or neat Bells, or having a Lagavoulin 16 with Coke... there's no snobbery involved in my garage pub. Saying that, I might hide the bottle of Laphroaig Lore I just bought, it's waaaaaay too good to make into smokey coke

 

[strange-steve]

just the other day I was told this. Don't you you need the blanket of CO2 to protect it from oxidation? If there is no CO2 due to there being a non fully sealed fermenting bucket, meaning CO2 is escaping, does thay mean oxygen is getting in? Therefore oxidation will happen inevitably?

During active fermentation there will be CO2 protecting it from oxidation, but how long will that protective layer remain in place after CO2 production stops? That'll be dependant on how well your FV is sealed and how often you open the lid, which is why extended ageing in plastic FVs can cause oxidation issues (as those who have made lambic in a plastic vessel might confirm), and why it's best not to open the lid every day to check on the beer. Yes CO2 is heavier than air which is why it pools at the bottom of a container, but it doesn't stay there otherwise we'd all pass out every time we lay down.

 

[Brewed_Force]

That if you squeeze the BIAB bag you will get nasty tannins.
Using Fuggles & EKG for bittering is a good idea.
That you need to chill wort quickly.

 

[kelper]

I've just lowered a lit match into my FV after leaving the lid off for over a minute. It went out as soon as it was below the rim. And this brew has been going for a week.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/42ZokGmzRTYYvj7c9

 

[thesteve]

The temptation for me used to be having a really cold beer but recently coming round to the idea that having it slightly warmer is a better idea and you can actually taste what you are drinking and appreciate it a bit more.

 

[kelper]

The temptation for me used to be having a really cold beer but recently coming round to the idea that having it slightly warmer is a better idea and you can actually taste what you are drinking and appreciate it a bit more.

If you can, please measure the temp that you enjoy. CAMRA/Cask Marque insist on 12°C. I'll post mine later.

 

[Sadfield]

I've just lowered a lit match into my FV after leaving the lid off for over a minute. It went out as soon as it was below the rim. And this brew has been going for a week.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/42ZokGmzRTYYvj7c9

That doesn't mean there is no oxygen though, 16% oxygen in the environment is needed to support combustion. Air typically only has 21% oxygen.

 

[strange-steve]

I've just lowered a lit match into my FV after leaving the lid off for over a minute. It went out as soon as it was below the rim. And this brew has been going for a week.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/42ZokGmzRTYYvj7c9

That proves only that the oxygen level is <16% (compared to about 21% for air), not that the beer is protected from oxidation. [Edit. @Sadfield got there first ]

As with many myths there is some element of truth to it, but there's a misconception of the impenetrable protection provided by CO2 "blanket".

If you're interested in what an actual brewing scientist says on the matter, see this article by Dr Chris Colby.

 

[Sadfield]

As with many myths there is some element of truth to it.

The myth is there are brewing myths.

 

[kelper]

That doesn't mean there is no oxygen though, 16% oxygen in the environment is needed to support combustion. Air typically only has 21% oxygen.

True, but it went out at rim level - there would have been more CO2 closer to the wort. That it went out proves the O2 was 16% or less. I've tried it with butane from a stove lighter and that only needs 12% O2. Got any hydrogen? That only needs 5%.

 

[MickDundee]

If you can, please measure the temp that you enjoy. CAMRA/Cask Marque insist on 12°C. I'll post mine later.

Depends on style though. I generally try to go cold for lagers, 7-9C for American ales and 12C for English.

 

[fury_tea]

I've just lowered a lit match into my FV after leaving the lid off for over a minute. It went out as soon as it was below the rim. And this brew has been going for a week.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/42ZokGmzRTYYvj7c9

Don't tell @Grizzly Notations to try this, he'll blow up half his neighbourhood!

 

[Drunkula]

Keeping the lid on always means DMS.
Squeezing your bag makes tannins come out (not, it just bloody hurts!)

 

[MickDundee]

Keeping the lid on always means DMS.
Squeezing your bag makes tannins come out (not, it just bloody hurts!)

Usually for me, keeping the lid on means massive boil-overs! I often keep the lid on to speed up the heating up from mash to boil and if I forget about it I have a utility room covered in foam!

 

[strange-steve]

I'm surprised and impressed that there hasn't been a single Brulosophy mention in this thread so far.

Actually there's another myth, that Brulosophy have "proved" anything.

 

[MickDundee]

I'm surprised and impressed that there hasn't been a single Brulosophy mention in this thread so far.

Actually there's another myth, that Brulosophy have "proved" anything.

They shouldn’t be taken for science fact, but what they do is reassure people that they don’t need to worry so much about these “myths” if our goals is just to make beer we enjoy.

I do wish they would age their beer longer before their tests though. Some of their tests (oxidisation for example) wouldn’t give the beer long enough to develop symptoms. With my early folly on my Fermentasaurus where I attached an empty collection bottle to the dump valve after it finished fermenting it took about 6-8 weeks in the bottle for it to start tasting funny, not 10 days after kegging.