Home brew taste

chillin · Post by **chillin** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 9:26 am

My brew is clear (when not making dark or wheat beers) but I still have a hint of that home brew taste. What can I do to iradicate this problem. I have not sediment and I use glucose drops.

Is there a product to help with this.

OldBugman · Post by **OldBugman** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 9:53 am

avoid using sugars, such as dextrose, table sugar, brewing sugar, glucose...

All malt all the time!

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 10:51 am

Temperature control

lethaldog · Post by **lethaldog** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 10:57 am

As far as i know , the only way to avoid the homebrew taste is to go all grain which i am doing in about 5 mins

Saying that though i brew some mighty good beers just using kits and extracts and adding grain and hops, at least i dont notice any off flavours anyway.
Try using a good quality kit along with some grain and hops and extra malt as i dont think just the kit alone will give you the taste that you are after...

eg.

Coopers lager
1kg ldme
250gms crystal grain
20 gms hallertau pellets (last 5 mins)

And make sure to use a good quality yeast eg. saf or wyeast

chillin · Post by **chillin** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 11:49 am

Thanks to all that have replied.

I will take all this onboard.
Thanks
Chillin

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 11:52 am

If it's too hot it'll produce that vegemite taste.....A good rule of thumb is to keep it around 20C....

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Saturday Dec 09, 2006 12:22 pm

Keep the temp within a few degrees of ideal when fertmenting (don't believe what most of the kit beer instructions tell you about the ideal temp). Search this site for more info.

Use a good yeast (does not need to be liquid).

Use fresh malt or other fresh products for your fermentables.

Use new products (check use by dates).

Give your beers 6-8 weeks minimum to mature.

Refridgerate your beer for at least 3 days before drinking.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 9:18 am

Refrigerate for 3 days? Why?

Adzmax · Post by **Adzmax** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 9:44 am

Funny thing, I was about to post the same question a while ago, I know what you mean by "homebrew taste". Anyhow I think one of the better things I've done is added grains to my brews and used better yeast. I could be wrong but I think the main part of that taste is the yeast and the taste from crappy sugars

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 9:57 am

And temperature control. It is amazing the effect that has.

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 2:31 pm

I have done side by side tests with beers chilled for a few hours, and ones that have been in the fridge for 2 days, (same beer). I could taste the difference (I did this as a blind test as well). I'm not sure what exactly is going on, but it made a positive difference.
Give it a try.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 2:38 pm

Chris wrote:Refrigerate for 3 days? Why?

The yeast in the bottle sticks to the bottom of the bottle making your beer clearer. Or at least thats what i have read and the reason why i do it! Guess its also the same as cold conditioning on a smaller, shorter scale......

chris. · Post by **chris.** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 5:42 pm

drsmurto wrote:
Chris wrote:Refrigerate for 3 days? Why?
The yeast in the bottle sticks to the bottom of the bottle making your beer clearer. Or at least thats what i have read and the reason why i do it! Guess its also the same as cold conditioning on a smaller, shorter scale......

Bang on. Not only will the yeast settle out but, to an extent, protein haze will also settle out better with the lower temperatures.

I like to leave mine in the fridge for atleast a week before drinking. Well I try

I'd vote temperature control #1. All malt is good but a little dextrose doesn't hurt IMO.

morgs · Post by **morgs** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 6:54 pm

chris. wrote:
drsmurto wrote:
Chris wrote:Refrigerate for 3 days? Why?
The yeast in the bottle sticks to the bottom of the bottle making your beer clearer. Or at least thats what i have read and the reason why i do it! Guess its also the same as cold conditioning on a smaller, shorter scale......
Bang on. Not only will the yeast settle out but, to an extent, protein haze will also settle out better with the lower temperatures.

I like to leave mine in the fridge for atleast a week before drinking. Well I try

I'd vote temperature control #1. All malt is good but a little dextrose doesn't hurt IMO.

Yeah well this is just cold cond. is'nt it? Which would be preferable to do in the secondary thus avoiding the crap in the bottle in the first place. Although only possible if you have a spare brewfridge.

chris. · Post by **chris.** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 7:04 pm

Right on Morgs

Boonie · Post by **Boonie** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 10:33 pm

Temp control is IMO the major point.

2 points though.

1. Starting temp and
2. Maintaining a constant temp.

I have noticed that my malt brews have more flavour, but dex is OK, especially for Mexican brews (with a little 20-30g's fresh Saaz hop flowers)

I have fooled a few fools (see commercial drinkers) into believing that what they were drinking was "Commercial". IMO that was my greatest triumph, having people say "Bullshit, that's not Homebrew"

Cheers

Boonie

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 9:27 am

I guess I'll give the fridge 3 day thing a go.

Biggles · Post by **Biggles** » Wednesday Dec 13, 2006 8:37 am

My Mex Cervesa is loads and loads better after extended time in the fridge. Basically the longer its in the fridge before drinking the better it tastes. So much so, I now find its borderline drinkable if it hasnt been in the fridge for at least a week.

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Wednesday Dec 13, 2006 8:47 am

Agree. Also affects head and carbonation.

I refrigerate all my beers, including commercial for at least a few days, but the more the better. And if you have a bar fridge, put as much beer as possible into it and crank the temperature up. I like em cold!

Aussie Claret · Wednesday Dec 13, 2006 11:34 am

chris. wrote:
drsmurto wrote:
Chris wrote:Refrigerate for 3 days? Why?
The yeast in the bottle sticks to the bottom of the bottle making your beer clearer. Or at least thats what i have read and the reason why i do it! Guess its also the same as cold conditioning on a smaller, shorter scale......
Bang on. Not only will the yeast settle out but, to an extent, protein haze will also settle out better with the lower temperatures.
I like to leave mine in the fridge for atleast a week before drinking. Well I try

I'd vote temperature control #1. All malt is good but a little dextrose doesn't hurt IMO.

Protein Haze does not settle out over time, infact the longer you store cold the worse it will become. Protein Haze is usually only a problem for AG brewers, who haven't taken precautionary steps to remove it (you should add irish moss, koppafloc or whirl floc) to aid precipitation during the boil. It isn't usually a problem with K&K.

If you have it in an AG beer you can treat your beer with polyclar then filter.

AC