Things ain't what they used to be

[Ned Lud]

I've just swigged the contents of my measuring cylinder, whilst checking the SG of my Tom Caxton Best Bitter after some problems with secondary fermentation. The beer is obviously very young and very cloudy, it has a very complex flavour. It's very gassy, it has a very prominent banana flavour, quite bitter and sweet at the same time. It has a cloying "amyl" pear drops type background that develops as the banana flavour fades. It's very full-bodied with a tremendous after-taste. I think my FV got a bit too warm during primary fermentation; lots going on there that I hope will balance out with time.

All-in-all, not the ideal result. But then, compared to the Tom Caxton kit I was brewing 20 years ago, this is wonderful stuff. Its got flavour for a start, it's got body and it doesn't taste like 5% ABV water. It tastes NICE, It's Drinkable - even after a few days secondary fermentation. So what's changed? Is it the yeast (S-04)? the malt extract in the kit? The added sugar (BKE)? The hermetically sealed fermentation vessel with air-lock? Is there one factor that has improved the performance of home brew kits, or is it a combination of factors? What do you think?

Ned

 

[tubby_shaw]

The main factors I think are :-
Home brewers have a better understanding of what they are doing now, in that they know that using beer kit enhancer or extra malt extract instead of table sugar will make better beer.
The kit instruction are clearer and more accurate. Quality of the malt extract used in the kits has improved as has the yeast (mainly) and because of the increase in competition the choice and quality has had to improve :party:
The biggest single improvement I made when making kits was dechlorinating the water

 

[theboytony]

how do you dechlorinate water

 

[Aleman]

1/2 a campden tablet in 20US Gallons of water (17UK Gallons) will eliminate 3mg/l of Chloramine or much more of simple chlorine. . .. Don't worry about overdosing by using 1 tablet in 5 gallons, as the remaining sulphite acts as a reductone, which helps prevent oxidation later on

 

[Bribie]

Banana
Pear
Welcome to our world

We're entering the golden brewing months here in Australia as we head into winter, and the major problem from September to May is high temperatures. Most kit brewers who don't have dedicated brewing fridges or other temperature control systems run into a lot of ester flavours doing using ale yeasts over 22 degrees and banana and pear and nail polish remover are common funky flavours you will get.

What temps did you do yours at? Esters aren't always bad if you know where they are coming from and I know brewers who deliberately ferment warm and 'push the esters' when using some UK style yeasts like West Yorkshire Bitter or Ringwood.

However if you can keep the brew below 20 degrees, especially coming into the northern summer, then the brew will ferment out a lot cleaner. Actually I didn't mind Tom Caxton back in the 70s when I started brewing in Cardiff, glad to hear it's still a tasty drop :thumb:

 

[Ned Lud]

It must be terrible having all that sunshine Bribie, you poor thing! We are so lucky here in the UK having cold windy wet cloudy summers . As you suggested, my Tom Caxton did get a bit hot. I found some polystyrene boxes that my FV fits into perfectly. I thought these would be useful as summer is almost upon us so, naturally, it still freezing cold here. I put the fermenting brew in the box, not realising that fermenting yeast generates an awful lot of heat. The polystyrene held all the heat in and my brew spent 24 hours at 27 degrees. I had a further sneak taste of the brew recently and after only one week, the banana/pear flavour has subsided and the beer is not half bad. I ended up drinking the entire 2 litre bottle. I thought it might give me a hangover but I'm pleased to say it didn't. That's another thing about 21st century home brew, No hangovers!

Ned