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Old 03-11-2015, 09:50 AM   #41
carbonrod
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Originally Posted by Misterpants View Post
I don't think I've ever tasted any home brew that didn't make me have a new appreciation for Club.
To the OP, there is lots of wisdom in posts like this. Don't go at it thinking I am going to make beer for 6 cents a gallon. Take the time to get what you need to make a batch from grains. If you really can't make it from grain initially, make it from one of the better wort in a bag kits. Even with those, there is return on investment in choosing good yeast and hops.

The coopers type kits are typically the source of the Misterpants type experiences IMO.

Also take your time when cleaning the bottles/equiptment. View the whole process like making fresh cinnamon buns, or even bread. If you do your homework, and put the work in, your beer will be better than most commercial offerings, but if you start with the dough you buy in the freezer at the supermarket, results may not be there.
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:54 AM   #42
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Originally Posted by carbonrod View Post
To the OP, there is lots of wisdom in posts like this. Don't go at it thinking I am going to make beer for 6 cents a gallon. Take the time to get what you need to make a batch from grains. If you really can't make it from grain initially, make it from one of the better wort in a bag kits. Even with those, there is return on investment in choosing good yeast and hops.

The coopers type kits are typically the source of the Misterpants type experiences IMO.

Also take your time when cleaning the bottles/equiptment. View the whole process like making fresh cinnamon buns, or even bread. If you do your homework, and put the work in, your beer will be better than most commercial offerings, but if you start with the dough you buy in the freezer at the supermarket, results may not be there.
I couldn't agree more.

So many bad brewing experiences stem from starting off with a crappy kit that has sat on the shelf for 2 years (meaning most of the hops have no flavour, and the yeast is 90% dead).

I was lucky in that my brother came home from NZ having brewed with all-grain for 2 years, so I got a crash-course.

I would recommend anyone who can go straight to all-grain (even if you brew-in-a-bag) and be sanitary. The improvement in quality is incredible.
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:55 AM   #43
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An excessive 'yeast' taste is probably more related to the termperature the beer has fermented at rather than the 'amount' of yeast in the beer.
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Old 03-11-2015, 11:54 AM   #44
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Yeasty taste means just that a ton of yeast. Could be many reasons. You tasted before it was dine fermenting, you used to much yeast, you let it sit in one carboy to long or you had your Siphon hose touching the bottem of the Carboy.


My money is on you had siphoned the yeast from the bottem. Did you add a straw to the bottem of the hose to prevent this? Basically a half in or so at the bottem of the carboy is a toss out/ starter for the same type of brew.

To make sure anan excess of yeast is not bottled have another carboy on hand . after 2 weeks tranfer the first Carboy to the empty one by siphoning. MAKE SURE NOT TO INTRODUCE AIR BY SPLASHING!!! Then add a little more suger to the carboy. This will provide more for the yeast that has made the transfer some food to produce a little more C02 to push out the air from the Carboy. After 2 to 3 weeks begin bottling process ( remember to prime your bottles). Filter if need be.
I did another taste test last night and it was great. A lot like Rickards Red, but just a tad more bitter which I really like.

Cruising around on the various homebrew forums the past month, a lot of people said if you have a yeasty aftertaste, when you crack the bottle, leave a bit of beer at the bottom. I did it this time and it was had a fabulous taste.

There is a huge debate as to whether or not the secondary fermentor is even needed. Lots people have said that they just leave it in primary for 4 weeks, and then move to bottles for a 4 weeks and they have never noticed that it tastes any worse.
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Old 03-11-2015, 11:59 AM   #45
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Originally Posted by carbonrod View Post
To the OP, there is lots of wisdom in posts like this. Don't go at it thinking I am going to make beer for 6 cents a gallon. Take the time to get what you need to make a batch from grains. If you really can't make it from grain initially, make it from one of the better wort in a bag kits. Even with those, there is return on investment in choosing good yeast and hops.

The coopers type kits are typically the source of the Misterpants type experiences IMO.

Also take your time when cleaning the bottles/equiptment. View the whole process like making fresh cinnamon buns, or even bread. If you do your homework, and put the work in, your beer will be better than most commercial offerings, but if you start with the dough you buy in the freezer at the supermarket, results may not be there.
A lot of people take the Coopers kits and modify them and it seems to make very good beer.

Even just using the Coopers kits and not doing much you can still get very good beer from them if you do it right.

Problem is people don't realize its not as simple as sticking into fermentor for 2 weeks and then bottling, put in fridge, wait a few hours till its cold and then drink it. Bottle conditioned beer needs time to be good. Proper sanitation practices need to be used as well.

Guides to making great beer with even the Coopers kits are easy to find. People just choose not to do any proper research and then they wonder why their 'homebrew' tastes like terrible homebrew.
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Old 03-11-2015, 12:14 PM   #46
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Secondary helps with the clarity of the beer.

When I do Lagers or lighter Ales, I always do a secondary. If you're cleaning your stuff properly, there's no more risk, and after the primary has done it's job, there isn't a lot of room for infection with alcohol already present.

I also dry hop in a secondary. It's more work, but if I wanted easy swill I'd just buy it.

Easier to bottle from a secondary because you can get more beer out of it if you aren't worrying about a big yeast cake on the bottom.

First picture is a commercial Lager:
Spoiler!


Second picture is my homebrew lager
Spoiler!

I don't use finings in my beer to help clarify it either.

It's really difficult to get that kind of clarity without transferring to secondary.
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Old 03-11-2015, 12:49 PM   #47
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Originally Posted by Flash Walken View Post
Secondary helps with the clarity of the beer.

When I do Lagers or lighter Ales, I always do a secondary. If you're cleaning your stuff properly, there's no more risk, and after the primary has done it's job, there isn't a lot of room for infection with alcohol already present.

I also dry hop in a secondary. It's more work, but if I wanted easy swill I'd just buy it.

Easier to bottle from a secondary because you can get more beer out of it if you aren't worrying about a big yeast cake on the bottom.

First picture is a commercial Lager:
Spoiler!


Second picture is my homebrew lager
Spoiler!

I don't use finings in my beer to help clarify it either.

It's really difficult to get that kind of clarity without transferring to secondary.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but in my experiments (and others I've read online) the secondary doesn't do anything for clarity. If that's how you brew though, then by all means keep it up.

I do sometimes dry-hop in a secondary, but most of the time I just add it to the keg (in a big tea infuser ball).

We always add irish moss to our brews, and cold crash them after kegging. This has always resulted in crystal clear beers. Nowadays we also are trying out Clarity Ferm, which is another clarifying agent (and reduces gluten to non-measurable levels), so if anything, it is clearer than before. All without a secondary.
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Old 03-11-2015, 12:57 PM   #48
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I'm not saying you are wrong, but in my experiments (and others I've read online) the secondary doesn't do anything for clarity. If that's how you brew though, then by all means keep it up.

I do sometimes dry-hop in a secondary, but most of the time I just add it to the keg (in a big tea infuser ball).

We always add irish moss to our brews, and cold crash them after kegging. This has always resulted in crystal clear beers. Nowadays we also are trying out Clarity Ferm, which is another clarifying agent (and reduces gluten to non-measurable levels), so if anything, it is clearer than before. All without a secondary.
Yeah, my brewing operation is barely post industrial.

I lager in a big tub on my deck using evaporative cooling, I don't use kegs and don't have any dedicated cooling/storage space. What you're saying is all true, but for people who are starting out they probably don't have all that ready to go.

The point was, you can make very nice beers at home without much if any specialty equipment, but it takes more time and more steps.

For new brewers, the secondary just helps rid yourself of the yeast cake without stirring up too much yeast sediment when it comes time to bottling.
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Old 03-11-2015, 01:23 PM   #49
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Have you tried making beer with Clarity Ferm in it? We are experimenting with it right now.

My SIL is gluten sensitive and can now drink our beers without issue.

A few different brewers have experimented with it, here's one - http://beerandwinejournal.com/clarity-ferm-i/

It is very promising for GF brewing!
I've heard of it, and will keep an eye on progress, but I don't want to contaminate my brewing equipment with gluten at this point, or risk making a batch that makes me sick.


I've been told that my gluten free beer is as good as normal beer(which I've almost forgotten what tastes like now) so I'll keep refining it for now!
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Old 03-11-2015, 02:56 PM   #50
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I've heard of it, and will keep an eye on progress, but I don't want to contaminate my brewing equipment with gluten at this point, or risk making a batch that makes me sick.


I've been told that my gluten free beer is as good as normal beer(which I've almost forgotten what tastes like now) so I'll keep refining it for now!
Do you have one recipe that you made consistently? or do you have a calculation for replacing base malts with gluten-free grain? sorghum?

I will have a pale ale ready to go in a few more weeks that has Clarity Ferm in it. I'll prepare a few bottles for you to try if you want. (just remind me!)
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:04 PM   #51
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I have a balanced base recipe of sorghum/brown rice syrup that works well, and I've just been playing with it, adding more or less of either and other stuff. All Sorghum or all rice both have a bit of off putting flavours, but with the right balance they work well. I've found lots of bottle conditioning helps as well.
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Old 03-12-2015, 09:27 AM   #52
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A lot of people take the Coopers kits and modify them and it seems to make very good beer.
Perhaps. I have been a part of a couple of bring us the best beer you can make starting with a coopers competitions, but I've never sampled a 'winner' that beat an all grain start, or even beat the good quality wort in a bag kits.

The way I look at it is to make homebrew, you will spend a truckload of time sanitizing everything, monitoring for when to do the transitions, etc. The extra to do a good wort in a bag, or grain kit is worth it.
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Old 07-06-2016, 08:54 AM   #53
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Where is the best place in Calgary to just get beer yeast? Or is online shopping from the USA better?
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Old 07-06-2016, 09:19 AM   #54
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The Home Vintner and the Vineyard both carry a good supply of Wyeast liquid yeast (which is great if you don't mind the cost). They sell enough of it that they usually have a shipment coming in every two weeks or so. If there's a yeast strain that you want that they don't usually carry, you can just call ahead and they'll order it for you. Either store will do that.
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Old 07-06-2016, 09:20 AM   #55
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PS, liquid yeast is the one thing I don't buy mail order... Too worried about it freezing in the winter/cooking in the summer. Also, shipping costs just for a packet of yeast aren't worth it. Better to buy that local.
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Old 07-06-2016, 11:14 AM   #56
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Where is the best place in Calgary to just get beer yeast? Or is online shopping from the USA better?


I buy most of my dry yeast online. When I need a liquid yeast I buy it from Grapes to Glass in the SW. Great store.
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:21 AM   #57
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Bump...

I just put down a batch of home brew...

Its a Muntons Red Ale. Hopefully it will turn out OK.

But what I really need is a good bottle cleaning brush as most of my bottles have been sitting for a few years and need a good scrub before use.

My go to place is in the midst of moving.

Any recommendations in the South for good beer making accessories ??

Thanks.
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:43 AM   #58
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I'll use dextrose instead. Cheap enough to buy.

Finished my Festa Brew Red Ale and it is currently sitting in the bottles. 3 weeks at room temp, and now have some in the fridge and the rest sitting at room temp. Want to give it as long as possible.

Next batch on the go is Coopers Australian Pale Ale. Misread the instructions so I never had any brew enhancer on hand so I had to use 1kg of dextrose instead. Might do some dry hopping to see how it turns out. 4th day fermenting at this point. Has a nice color at least.

I tried the Festa brew a few weeks ago, and it was okay, but had a bit of a yeasty after taste? Not sure exactly how to explain it. So I'm gonna leave it in the bottles a while longer and see if it gets better. Had a pretty good taste though outside of that!
Sometimes I use honey to prime my mead when carbonating but have not tried it for beer. Natural carbonation always give a better mouth feel than forced carbonation.
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:46 AM   #59
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Bump...

I just put down a batch of home brew...

Its a Muntons Red Ale. Hopefully it will turn out OK.

But what I really need is a good bottle cleaning brush as most of my bottles have been sitting for a few years and need a good scrub before use.

My go to place is in the midst of moving.

Any recommendations in the South for good beer making accessories ??

Thanks.
http://grapestoglass.com/
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:57 AM   #60
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Originally Posted by Nufy View Post
Bump...

I just put down a batch of home brew...

Its a Muntons Red Ale. Hopefully it will turn out OK.

But what I really need is a good bottle cleaning brush as most of my bottles have been sitting for a few years and need a good scrub before use.

My go to place is in the midst of moving.

Any recommendations in the South for good beer making accessories ??

Thanks.


Vineyard in SE is awesome, unless they’re the ones moving!
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