Friday, October 12, 2012

Homebrewing your own beer

homebrew beer supplies, best homebrew beer kits, homebrew beer bottles, make homebrew beer, beer homebrew kits, beer homebrew kit, beer recipes homebrew, beer homebrew recipes, beer bottles homebrew, maestro homebrew beer kit, craft beer homebrew kit, home brewing kits, homemade beer kits, home beer brew kits, brew your own beer kit, beer maker kit, make your own beer kits, make your own beer kit, make your own beer home, make your own beer labels, brew your own beer kits, make own beer, brew own beer, brew your own beer home, beer making kits beginners, mr beer kit instructions, mr beer com, mr beer coupon codes, mr beer refills, mr beer brew kit, mr beer recipes, mr beer refill kit, mr beer refill, cheap beer kits,
 Been at this homebrewing my own beer, for about a year now, and still have not had any great results from it. No matter what flavor malt we try, different storage methods, time periods etc etc, it still all comes out tasting about the same. Out of 15 batches, we have only had one that came out halfway decent, and that was only a few bottles. The only constant thing that has been the same, is the water. For some reason, the water out here that comes from the tap is different that in Port Angeles. I was thinking of buying a few gallons of water, to see if it made a difference or not. I know that will cut into my savings, and the whole reason for making my own beer in the first place, but i need to know.

6 comments:

  1. I always used bottled water. Your water can seriously affect your beer, so if you're having an issue with your beer all tasting the same, either you're picking recipes that are too similar, or it's something like water that's affecting the brew quality. Yeast is particularly sensitive to water differences, and if you have heavily chlorinated water, and don't let it all gas out, you might be killing most of your yeast and stressing it. If it all has to grow back from a smaller amount, I can well imagine that affecting the flavor. Give it a try with bottled water.

    The only thing some people complain about with bottled water is that it isn't as well aerated, so the yeast doesn't have as much oxygen to work with. A sanitized fishtank bubbler stone and a pump can solve that. I've even heard of some people using an oxygen tank on a bubbler stone for a short while to give their wort a boost.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the advice, i will have to give that a try. The water out here is heavily chlorinated, so i hope that is what the problem is. I also notice that the air trap doesnt bubble as much as i have seen on other brewing videos, so the aeration (did i spell that right?) may be an issue as well. I have been using the "Mr beer" kits, and trying different flavors, but they all come out tasting the same.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Mr. Beer kits are all designed to give fairly steady results. Find a local homebrew shop and get actual ingredients and make some beer from a recipe. Pick up Charlie Papazian's homebrew book, there's a number of great recipes in it. You don't have to go whole-grain, you can work from extracts easily, with no more effort than the Mr. Beer kit, but you'll have a far greater latitude to work with in terms of character and results. But I would definitely try bottled water in any case. Pouring the larger amount into your wort and making bubbles when you pour it, instead of pouring it gently, will probably give you enough aeration for most beers. That's what I did, and it came out just fine. If you're not getting much activity in your lock, I suspect your local water may have too much chlorine and it's not gassing out. Are you letting it stand, open, for at least an hour before you use it, to let the chlorine gas out? Or are you simply filling a jug and pouring it in? If that chlorine will kill contaminants in the water treatment plant across town, it'll kill your yeast and affect the flavor. I'd be surprised if it all didn't come out tasting like a swimming pool. Go for bottled water and try it again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh what a great idea. I never thought of letting the water stand for a few hours before using it.
    We just recently got a Pur water purifier as well, and I am hoping that will help as well. It will just take forever to pump 2-5 gallons of water through it lol
    The water here is just awful, and remids of the local swimming pool. Wish me luck, and thanks for the help. Theron

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've heard that it tastes better if you let it age.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Like I could wait THAT long.....lol

    ReplyDelete