What am I doing wrong?...

[hoppingMad]

15 mins before the end I add the second load of hops (and this time some local elderflower [just the flowers] which made NO difference at all), and some Irish moss which has been rehydrated, maybe about 10grams.

Captain, where did you read that you need 10 gms of Irish moss ? You need only one teaspoon in a 23 litre batch. One teaspoon weighs approx 0.4 gms. So you are using approx 22 times what you should be using. This stuff works, believe me ! And you do not need to re-hydrate, just toss it in. Along with a rapid boil and reasonable rapid chilling or your wort ( down to 30 dgrees C over 30 mins is fine )you should be getting very clear beer after bottle conditioning. A cold secondary helps too, the colder the better for dropping out haze, but not absolutely necessary.

At the end I turn off the boiler and put in my cooler, which is a homemade coil of copper pipe attached to the cold tap. Once the wort has cooled to about 24degrees I start running off into the fermenter.

This has already been mentioned, but drop your IC into your boiling wort 15-20 mins before end of boil. And make sure there's no condensation dripping into your cooling wort from the copper. I wrap a paper towell around it.

Is that enough? Why am I rubbish at brewing? Does anyone else get on with Irish Moss? Arggghhhhh???

There are specific reasons why you can use too much Irish moss, sorry I can't direct you to this for reading but do some research on the topic. Whirlfoc contains some of the same stuff as Irish Moss.

Good on you for keeping on trying, you'll get there !

[Stonechat]

Perhaps I'm using the wrong sort of Irish Moss, but a teaspoon of it weighs 4 to 5 grams. I use 10 grams as per the Graham Wheeler recipes.

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Perhaps I'm using the wrong sort of Irish Moss, but a teaspoon of it weighs 4 to 5 grams. I use 10 grams as per the Graham Wheeler recipes.

Is this true GW??

[Frenchie Laurence]

one more thing,be careflu with the elderflower, i was really surprised how potent it is. I used a few flower heads and that was too much i thought. Now i use a pinch of dried flowers in the dry hop, few days before bottling. Find it a lot more subtle and lovely flavor. I wonder f that contributed to the "funny" taste?

[CaptainBuckfast]

Well, the Elderflower... I didn't actually get ANY kindof elderflower aroma/taste at all!!! ...and it was definately elderflower and not rowan (apparently they are sometimes mistaken for each other). I only put the flowers in, as I read somewhere that if you put in the whole head you can get nasty tannins.

I'm changing my cleaning routine to use soda crystals, then thin unscented bleach...and LOTS of rinsing! Then the use of Jim's water calulator and some CRS etc...

I'm hopeful again of another successful brew...I may feel differently when it comes to tasting,but ho hum here i go!!!

[BarnsleyBrewer]

one more thing,be careflu with the elderflower, i was really surprised how potent it is. I used a few flower heads and that was too much i thought. Now i use a pinch of dried flowers in the dry hop, few days before bottling. Find it a lot more subtle and lovely flavor. I wonder f that contributed to the "funny" taste?

Flower heads?? Not heard of that before in ales, which variety would I use?
Might try that!
BB

[Frenchie Laurence]

Elderflower is a lovely flavor in ale, but first go to Google and Google/image and check out a few pictures if you want to harvest your own! it's the flower of elderberries. You might still find some around, especially if you live up north. Homebrew shops do sale the dried flowers otherwise.

[Stonechat]

Perhaps I'm using the wrong sort of Irish Moss, but a teaspoon of it weighs 4 to 5 grams. I use 10 grams as per the Graham Wheeler recipes.

Is this true GW??

Captain, where did you read that you need 10 gms of Irish moss ? You need only one teaspoon in a 23 litre batch. One teaspoon weighs approx 0.4 gms. So you are using approx 22 times what you should be using.

There is a huge difference between Irish Mosses here Where's GW when you need him?

[Madbrewer]

Many years ago I had a very frequent Australian correspondent that sourced his water in the same way as Martin-the-Fish does - by collecting rainwater in tanks. The subject of his many letters was about his TCP off-tastes, even though his beer had no opportunity whatsoever to come anywhere near chlorine. We eventually cured the problem by chlorinating his brewing and, more importantly, his washing, water 24 hours before brewing.

Over the years I've come across many such instances. The Aussie sticks in my mind because he was so prolific with his letter writing; it marked a turning point in my thinking, and dispelled a home brewing myth of long standing. .....

Interesting - I once got a TCP taste and put it down to a fresh 'dosing' of the local drinking water. Back then they'd dose it a couple of times a year and you could taste it. Well I could taste it in my cup of tea. It didn't even occur to me it may have been an infection though.

Local Home Brew shop advice (12?) years ago though was to sterilise over night with a bleach and water solution if your in any doubt that you may have an infection. On the back of that advice and the price of economy bleach i decided to make it my sanitiser of choice. With the amount of rinsing I do though, I'd hate to go on a meter!

[Buzz]

Flower heads?? Not heard of that before in ales, which variety would I use?
Might try that!
BB

Technically I guess we do this each time we brew. Hops being the flower of the hop plant an all...

[kitwom]

Just to throw my 2 penneth in. if it were me I would buy some water from the supermarket 30 litres can be had for 6 or 7 quid. At least then you would rule out chlorine, campdens, brita filters etc etc. Don't add anything to it. Might seem expensive but weigh that against the cost of another spoilt batch!

Good luck with it.

[scarer]

If you can get to Basingstoke on the last tues of the month there is the North Hampshire Brewing Club that might be able to help with the taste you are describing.
Bring along a couple of bottles of your beer and someone might be able to identify the problem. We have a meeting next tuesday.

http://www.northhantsbrewers.org.uk/