How to get rid of the homebrew taste?

[fubofo]

Hey guys, so I have done about 5 kit brews now and they have been great.

I am now interested in ways to get my brews a little bit cleaner/clearer and to get rid of that distinct 'homebrew taste'. Any tips?

 

[PD]

The taste is less with quality kits.
I've heard that a period of boiling the wort from kits prior to making them up will help although I have not tried that.
In normal cases time in the bottle is your best bet, the taste of the beer improves many times from a new beer to one that's 3-4 months old.

 

[springtime]

What kits have you been using & have you been adding sugar?

 

[pittsy]

Hi , yes a few tips for you , first don't use sugar (unless priming) in your brews , that will be the main reason why it tastes that way , using more expensive kits are best as no sugar needed . Watch out for old kits , liquid extract is great unless it is old , fresher the better. Temperature control is very important keep it constant and between 18 to 22c , too warm will risk off flavours . But if you want to improve i would chuck kits away and go for extract brewing , dried malt extract , good yeast , hops of your choice and profile of your making will make better beer .

 

[fubofo]

Cheers guys. The first Wherry I made was great, though a teeny but off (temps went a little high while at work).

The second last ( Coopers Irish Stout, with added treacle) and last (straight Wherry) had/have that slight homebrew taste.

The stout I just finished last night after around 6 months and there was still a slight lingering taste. The Wherry has been in bottles for about 6 weeks now (4 cold, 2 inside room) and not only has the taste but hasn't fully clear like the first Wherry

 

[mickthetrick]

maybe try treating your water with a Camden tablet is worth a try.

 

[tazuk]

also wot do you use to clean your brewing gear with ??????? :thumb:

 

[fubofo]

I use bottled water from Sainsburys.

I clean with OXY, rinse, clean with high solution Vanodine, rinse. Also a quick no rinse just before use

 

[bottler]

Try a st peters 2 can kit, as they are excellent, no homebrew taste. I did the coopers stout with brew enhancer and it turned out great. :thumb:

 

[fubofo]

Just wondering, is it the remaining sugars or yeast that gives it the taste? Or something more chemical.

Would leaving in original FV for longer improve this?

 

[bottler]

The guys in here suggest brew in fv for atleast 10 days, and not what it says on the tin. How long have your brews been in fv ?

 

[jonnymorris]

I think Pittsy has pretty much summed it all up.

 

[fubofo]

I tend to keep it in the FV until the FG had settled for 2 days then bottle. Also I use kits without sugar, only priming sugar for bottling and now have a setup that keeps a steady temperature.

Would keeping it in FV for a week after steady FG help 'clean' it?

 

[wezil]

Yes but a better bet is to transfer the brew to another fv when it's finished fermenting, and let it stand for a week or so in this fv (secondary fermantation) I tend to leave brews for 2-3 weeks (or more)! in secondary (wine and beer)! Transfering of the old yeast cake helps to stop a lot of the 'homebrew' flavours developing after that it's just down to time!! Oh and try to avoid using sugar, dme gives a far better flavour!

 

[jonewer]

Dry hopping or adding some hop tea might help to hide the twang, which, I believe comes from the extract as it ages.

 

[fubofo]

Cheers guys, so moving to a secondary FV for a week or so and using DME instead of homebrew priming sugar might help?

How does the secondary FV effect yeast? I presume it still contains enough yeast to properly cover sugars for carbonation? Also is there a contamination risk?

 

[jonnymorris]

Transfering of the old yeast cake helps to stop a lot of the 'homebrew' flavours developing...

There is much discussion on the merits of racking to secondary but I don't do it and don't suffer any consequences. The risk of leaving your beer on the yeast cake is that, as the yeasts die they release undesireable favours (autolysis). However, I think you'd need industrial quantities, a particularly long time or be very unlucky to experience this with homebrew and if you did, the resulting favours would be a lot worse than a twang.

Bottom line... the only sure fire way to avoid THBT is to use fresh malt extract i.e. DME/LME or by mashing grains to extract it yourself.

 

[fubofo]

Hmm so is it the residual sugars that give it that taste, hence using DME gives better results?

 

[jonnymorris]

Consider cooking bolognaise with tinned tomatoes, frozen mince and dried garlic. Whilst it might taste alright its not going to get you very far on Masterchef.

 

[c_burgess]

Have a look at extract brewing, since switching to extract brewing and using dried malt extract I have been able to get rid of the homebrew taste but have lost a little bit of complexity in the taste of my brews.