The gamechanger!

[SilverShadow]

Hey there ale army!

Apologies if this covers old ground, but I wanted to ask if you'd mind sharing your brewing experiences. Specifically, what was the thing(s) you changed to make the difference & transform your brews to the next level.

It could be a piece if kit, ingredient, or a adaptation in your approach/methodology, that you found suddenly elevated your beer.

As a fairly novice brewer with a low-end basic kit, I find these sorts of threads enthralling, as they often unearth useful nuggets of info. Books often give you a sound basis, but rarely give the practical insider tips that can only be found by experimenting

Thanks for your time

 

[RichardM]

Temperature controlled fermentation..

 

[Brew_DD2]

Kegging. I'd have probably given up brewing but for kegging.

 

[Braufather]

The top two are noted above for me.

 

[SilverShadow]

Temperature controlled fermentation..

It's the 1 area I'm hoping to master once we move house. At the moment my fermentation temps vary by 18 & 21'c each day, which can't help quality.

 

[DocAnna]

Temperature control fermentation and cold crash with either pressure or balloon measures to avoid air being sucked back in when cold crashing.

 

[SilverShadow]

Temperature control fermentation and cold crash with either pressure or ballon measures to avoid air being sucked back in when cold crashing.

I will definitely have to consider the latter, if I switch to cold crashing in the FV

 

[The Baron]

Time!!!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

There’s rarely one thing that improves your beer - unless you’ve been doing that one thing wrong of course!

The basics are sanitation, temperature control, some basic water treatment, minimising exposure to oxygen, cold storage of your finished beer, good recipes and ingredients, patience, and record keeping.

As a more specific example maybe… For a hoppy beer I focus hop additions on the hopstand for flavour and a very late dry hop for aroma.

 

[obscure]

A few things over the years first up a grain bag and BiAB brewing cost me about £5 but this was what converted me to all grain brewing I had tried a batch before on the stove but discovering how damm a easy BIAB made all grain was a game changer for me.

Secondly yeasts that work well at high temperatures apart from Kveik I would also add in Saison yeasts, as I don’t have a brew fridge these made it practical and easy to brew descent beer in the summer months.

 

[sifty]

I started with good temp control and sanitation so probably my biggest improvements have come through reading brew books. Recently gained a much better understanding of yeast behaviour from John Palmer's book, so my pitch rates and fermentation temperature setting (plus adding time) have improved things immensely...

 

[Harbey]

Camden tablets in the mash and sparge water - I had a couple of band aid beers until I started using them.

Since then, kegging has recently transformed brewing into a pleasure rather then a chore (or at least transformed bottling day) not to mention how much better the finished product is with regard to good carbonation.

 

[Leon103]

Kegging.

 

[foxy]

Hey there ale army!

Apologies if this covers old ground, but I wanted to ask if you'd mind sharing your brewing experiences. Specifically, what was the thing(s) you changed to make the difference & transform your brews to the next level.

It could be a piece if kit, ingredient, or a adaptation in your approach/methodology, that you found suddenly elevated your beer.

As a fairly novice brewer with a low-end basic kit, I find these sorts of threads enthralling, as they often unearth useful nuggets of info. Books often give you a sound basis, but rarely give the practical insider tips that can only be found by experimenting

Thanks for your time

Beer is easy to make. Reading books and searching online libraries to obtain good technical information to understand what is going on throughout the process will lift your hobby to a new dimension. Even with basic equipment there is no reason you can't make terrific beer once you have the knowledge, never stop learning.

 

[labrewski]

It's the 1 area I'm hoping to master once we move house. At the moment my fermentation temps vary by 18 & 21'c each day, which can't help quality.

Can a small variable in temp make a difference I'd love to know

 

[labrewski]

Camden tablets in the mash and sparge water - I had a couple of band aid beers until I started using them.

Since then, kegging has recently transformed brewing into a pleasure rather then a chore (or at least transformed bottling day) not to mention how much better the finished product is with regard to good carbonation.

Had a few dodgy brews lately also do u just throw capdem tab in while grain soaking ,mashing

 

[Clint]

AG,temp control, water treatment, keeping records,master the equipment and relaxing and enjoying the process. Except for bottling.

 

[RichardM]

Had a few dodgy brews lately also do u just throw capdem tab in while grain soaking ,mashing

No, you add the campden tablet to brewing liquor (water) before you start the mash

 

[Moe]

Assuming sanitation etc is all well, it’s another vote for temperature control from me. Absolutely night and day.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Temp control for lagers even more so. I know a lot of folks have temp control fridges etc but the addition of the Ferminator to my brewing kit has absolutely changed the game for me with lager.