THAT HOMEBREW TASTE!!!

[Kyral210]

I really wish another author would pull his finger out and deliver on his promise to write a good UK Based brewing book

Maybe you should? Maybe we could make a wiki on this website and write the guide together? The THBF guide to brewing?

 

[Green Pesto]

I did'nt mean pressure (just the wrong wording/phrase) .... I meant that the layer of gases given off from the yeast remains there & acts as a (want for a better word) barrier preventing air & any air-born yeasts contaminating the brew. There is however as a by-product a build up of pressure with a lid attached!
Direct air surely increases the risk of vinegar rather than a pleasant tasting beer?
A tight fitting lid also helps whilst the airlock eliminates the build up of gases & pressure & again prevents the risk of contamination entering the brew.

If I am way off the mark, then again I am open to suggestion!

Regards

GP :thumb:

:

 

[Tony]

Hi GP
nope - that's pretty much what I said earlier ... but I'd still like to see the research/theory about degassing beer if you can point me in that direction.

That's some fish in the pic .. what did it weigh?
:

 

[Moley]

We're in agreement now GP, the protective head of CO2 is a Good Thing :thumb:
Apart from at the start of fermentation when yeasties are multiplying, oxygen is a Bad Thing :nono:

 

[Red Devil]

I am quite new to homebrewing but I have learned so much from replies to posts on the forum and reading all the others.. my next door neighbour does homebrew.. he only uses the budget youngs lager kits and starts drinking the beer the minute it stats to clear, EVERYTHIBG he has given me a tast of has had that "homebrew taste". Personally I love ales and bitters, For eample I have done a few Tom Caxton Real Ale kits using just normal tap water and they have tasted fantastic, none of that classic homebrew taste as such! Same with a Woodfords Wherry, I have got a Muntons Smugglers kit condioning and I am sure that will be great as well, I have learned from the forum to leave your beer in the FV for at least 10 days this has really helped... as for my neighbour he continues to turn out crappy lagers that taste awfull and its stuff like that that give homebrew a bad name!!!!! gggrrrrr!!! I am proud of the beers I have done and feedback from people who have drank it has been brilliant.. I went and had a pint of John Smiths bitter in the pub whilst watching the match last week and compared to my homebrew it was rubbish, it had a good head but just no taste whatsoever! :

 

[graysalchemy]

I really wish another author would pull his finger out and deliver on his promise to write a good UK Based brewing book :evil:

Oh come on Aleman pull your finger out and get it written, we would all be queing up for a copy especially a signed copy :thumb: :thumb: . You have been mentioning it quite alot recently, I think there must be one in the pipe line :hmm: :hmm:

 

[Green Pesto]

Yup! We're all singing from the same hymn-sheet now! :clap:

The Carp was around 16lb caught at C&C Hereford site! ... :hmm: ... The 20lb+ ones still eludes me as yet!

 

[Moley]

I have learned from the forum to leave your beer in the FV for at least 10 days this has really helped... as for my neighbour he continues to turn out crappy lagers that taste awful and its stuff like that that give homebrew a bad name!!!!! gggrrrrr!!! I am proud of the beers I have done and feedback from people who have drank it has been brilliant.. I went and had a pint of John Smiths bitter in the pub whilst watching the match last week and compared to my homebrew it was rubbish, it had a good head but just no taste whatsoever!

Fair play to you Red Devil, I think you've got the right attitude :

Even budget kits these days are so much better than I remember from years gone by, if brewed properly. They still benefit from a bit of patience, and can be improved considerably by using extra spraymaly and less sugar.

Again, if brewed properly and with a bit of patience, the two-can Premium kits can be as good as anything you will buy from the pub, at around 50p a pint.

Of course, if you stick with it and really get the bug, it's possible to brew considerably better than anything you will buy from the pub, for 25-30p a pint.

 

[tubthumper]

Red devil why not teach your neighbour what a good kit brew should taste like
teach him to do it properly that way you will have a brew buddy when you get to the dark side ( allways nice )

 

[craigite]

I found the 'homebrew taste' slowly went as I brewed more. (or did I just get used to it? )

One big difference for me was stopping using cheep packets of yeast and racking the brew into a 2nd FV about day7 of the fermentation.
Next I started to allow the brew to settle for about 7 days in 2nd FV in the cool garage.

As for a tight lid on the FV. I tend to just sit the lid on the FV for the first 7 days just to stop flies or a towel falling in. (Built the airing cupboard with space under the towel shelf for fermenting :clap: ) My understanding is that fermentation usually takes place in an open vessel :pray: .
The second 7 days in the 2nd FV in the garage I snap the lid on, it is not tight enough to hold pressure but it does prevent any nasties entering.

Aleman, any suggestions for good books to read? :grin:

Happy brewing :

 

[evanvine]

Aleman, any suggestions for good books to read?

He's not written it yet! :rofl:

 

[Sean_Mc]

I found the 'homebrew taste' slowly went as I brewed more. (or did I just get used to it? )

I wonder about that too

I've currently got a lovely brown ale, fuggles and goldings with Nottingham yeast that's in the keggerator, which is nearly three months old.
After a few weeks conditioning it had an awful green apple taste (acetaldehyde :hmm:), but now I'd say its one of my best brews I've done. Amazing what a few weeks left alone will do to a beer

 

[Red Devil]

My Neighbour wont listen, he sees homebrewing as just a way to get a drink as cheap as possible!!! no passion for a good tasting ale! :

 

[evanvine]

My Neighbour wont listen, he sees homebrewing as just a way to get a drink as cheap as possible!!!

Unfortunately there are some Philistines about :|

 

[norlettdriver]

I brewed quite a few beers when I was studying for my a levels, the main focus for my brew-mate and I was cheapness - we used relatively cheap 1 can kits and always used regular granulated sugar off the supermarket shelf. Every single brew had a filthy aftertaste. Needless to say we always drank them but it was hard work!!

Since I've returned to home brewing I've aimed to make better beer even if that costs a few pence more per pint!! My first brew since my re-birth was half sugar half beer enhancer - the "homebrew" taste was less apparent, since then i've never added any granulated sugar to anything (except coffee!) and i'm really pleased with my beers. I passed a couple of bottles back to my old brew mate and he was amazed by how good they tasted.

I've moved to a different part of the country since the old days so maybe the different water has had an effect, but i feel pretty convinced (based on little or no evidence!) that the change in sugar has been the cause of the improvement. Any one else found this?

 

[Cussword]

I really wish another author would pull his finger out and deliver on his promise to write a good UK Based brewing book :evil:

Oh come on Aleman pull your finger out and get it written, we would all be queing up for a copy especially a signed copy :thumb: :thumb: . You have been mentioning it quite alot recently, I think there must be one in the pipe line :hmm: :hmm:

There is, he is just keeping us in suspense

 

[Springer]

My Neighbour wont listen, he sees homebrewing as just a way to get a drink as cheap as possible!!!

Doesn't believe in responsible drinking then?
Theres none so blind as those who don't want to hear :? :lol:
I wouldn't bother to tell him, but turbo cider is probably for him, nothing against it myself, popular with our pack, when its warmer

 

[highwayman]

I really wish another author would pull his finger out and deliver on his promise to write a good UK Based brewing book :evil:

I agree with Ev...and I have been saying it for months now....A window of Opportunity Knocking Aleman :whistle:

 

[The Goatreich]

Baddabing-baddabump!

I've done 4 kit beers now, coopers aussie lager, coopers irish stout, coopers cerveza and woodeford's wherry. All bar the stout have had the homebrew tang, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's me.

I've used all brewing sugar, extract/sugar mixes, two can kits with no added sugar. For the wherry I added a campden tablet, but the tang is still there, albeit less so.

It doesn't seem to get better with age. My last aussie lager bottles was drunk around 6 weeks ago, and that had been in the bottle for a few months.

Only things I can think really are, changing from VWP for cleaning, something which I've started doing for wines, but not for beer yet, or controlling fermenting temperature more, either with an old fridge, or water bath.

Has there ever been any discovery for what the tang is, and why it occurs in homebrew? I'm moving to all grain very soon once I've built up the gear, but would hate to go to all that effort and find the tang still there!

 

[pittsy]

the twang will not be there unless as you say it from cleaning but i would of thought its cuz of kit brewing :thumb: