The bar is somewhere else.
that home brew taste
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steve_flack
We used to live in a tiny two-up two-down in Hertfordshire and now for the same money have a 4 bed in Norfolk. I have dedicated space for my brewery - it's about 10ft x 8 ft. It's great having somewhere for shelving and not having to put everything away into a tiny cupboard every time I want to brew.
The bar is somewhere else.
The bar is somewhere else.
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Orkney_Rob
Nick - afraid my 4x4 is only a 2.5l 
The house was one of those opportunities that come along every so often... its far bigger than we need (the two of us and two cats), but due to the lack of TLC no one wanted the place, despite being in a popular village, so we got it for a song! Should take us 3 to 5 years to sort the place out, then my master plan (though Nat needs some convincing) is to flog it for a bundle of cash, move to the northern highlands or one of the islands, buy a croft and live mortgage free brewing beer in the barn, growing some animals and crops and flogging some photographs to passing tourists.... I can dream eh
(Please note - 4x4 used for proper work, not a Chelsea Tractor, it tends to carry large lumps or ironmongery around fields, which I discovered led to my previous Saab having its suspension replaced on a 6 monthly basis!)
(But it is a shed load of fun gunning it over sand dunes and down beaches!)
The house was one of those opportunities that come along every so often... its far bigger than we need (the two of us and two cats), but due to the lack of TLC no one wanted the place, despite being in a popular village, so we got it for a song! Should take us 3 to 5 years to sort the place out, then my master plan (though Nat needs some convincing) is to flog it for a bundle of cash, move to the northern highlands or one of the islands, buy a croft and live mortgage free brewing beer in the barn, growing some animals and crops and flogging some photographs to passing tourists.... I can dream eh
(Please note - 4x4 used for proper work, not a Chelsea Tractor, it tends to carry large lumps or ironmongery around fields, which I discovered led to my previous Saab having its suspension replaced on a 6 monthly basis!)
(But it is a shed load of fun gunning it over sand dunes and down beaches!)
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nicktherockstar
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StevieR
Steve, your setup is fantastic !! I'm really jealous. We have a four bed semi and I get the whole of 1 small cupboard in the kitchen to store everything and anything to do with brewing 
I hope that this will change in the short term as SWMBO really likes the idea of red wine....so with a bit of luck I might get more room to brew.
I could really do with a spare 'fridge for brewing/conditioning in the summer months.......
I hope that this will change in the short term as SWMBO really likes the idea of red wine....so with a bit of luck I might get more room to brew.
I could really do with a spare 'fridge for brewing/conditioning in the summer months.......
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nicktherockstar
thats my next purchase, going looking this weekend. want a waste high one thats big enough to fit at least a 12/14 litre batch in, but would like to be able to fit a fermenter in there to brew "true" lagers!!!
seem some for £99
our house is rented and comes with the fridge, and it would be good to have the spare one for when we move incase there isnt a fridge! honest mrs! lol
seem some for £99
our house is rented and comes with the fridge, and it would be good to have the spare one for when we move incase there isnt a fridge! honest mrs! lol
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anomalous_result
Back onto the water thing. My tip is not to deeply inhale from a bottle of TCP. I think i've lost at least my nasal hairs if not my sense of smell.
I just had some of my Wherry last night (brewed pretty much as per instructions
) after waiting around a month with it in bottles. It doesn't smell like TCP. It's almost like an excessive bitterness in the front of the nose, on drinking it stays on the tongue almost sharp like it had 5 times as many hops as was good for it. Oh for a decent vocabulary. And it can't be that bad, my Dad (of Boots homebrew upbringing) said 'I've had some weird homebrew in my time but that's bloody excellent'. Whether he was just being nice I don't know. This makes the third kit I've made and the third one to taste like this. Could it just be not quite ready yet? Think I'll give the 1/2 campden tablet a try in the next one.
Can you pour 5 gal of water (or the volume required less the cans) into your FV then add the crushed tablet then add the kit? Or is it better to have another 5 gal container to treat the water in and add to the kit in your FV.
I just had some of my Wherry last night (brewed pretty much as per instructions
) after waiting around a month with it in bottles. It doesn't smell like TCP. It's almost like an excessive bitterness in the front of the nose, on drinking it stays on the tongue almost sharp like it had 5 times as many hops as was good for it. Oh for a decent vocabulary. And it can't be that bad, my Dad (of Boots homebrew upbringing) said 'I've had some weird homebrew in my time but that's bloody excellent'. Whether he was just being nice I don't know. This makes the third kit I've made and the third one to taste like this. Could it just be not quite ready yet? Think I'll give the 1/2 campden tablet a try in the next one.Can you pour 5 gal of water (or the volume required less the cans) into your FV then add the crushed tablet then add the kit? Or is it better to have another 5 gal container to treat the water in and add to the kit in your FV.
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delboy
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steve_flack
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MickyD
I know what you mean by the excessive bitterness. Its almost as if ALL of the sugars have been eaten up and all thats left is pure hop juice or something.
I cannot taste any sweetness, and the initial flavour on the pallet is very sharp, which is the TCP flavour. I can also taste a very treacle taste (you know similar to black syrup) on the back of my tongue, but theres still no sweetness.
The aftertaste, a few seconds after swallowing the beer is fine, but my taste buds are still going AAARRRRGGHH from the initial taste.
Overall not pleasant. The missus says it smells ok, and tastes ok....but then she will drink corked wine and say 'mmm nice earthy taste to this one'
I cannot taste any sweetness, and the initial flavour on the pallet is very sharp, which is the TCP flavour. I can also taste a very treacle taste (you know similar to black syrup) on the back of my tongue, but theres still no sweetness.
The aftertaste, a few seconds after swallowing the beer is fine, but my taste buds are still going AAARRRRGGHH from the initial taste.
Overall not pleasant. The missus says it smells ok, and tastes ok....but then she will drink corked wine and say 'mmm nice earthy taste to this one'
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nicktherockstar
dont doubt it, its the chlorine
or on rare occasions it can come from wild yeast strains (from the complete joy of homebrewing)
try and have a spare bucket, always best to prime in a different bucket to the one you fermented in, less risk of getting sediment everywhere
in other news, just installed my fridge in the spare room, 2-3 weeks before mu first conditioning session so I am going to try and pull off a genuine lager (15c or so), i can just fit my carboy in there! wooooo
or on rare occasions it can come from wild yeast strains (from the complete joy of homebrewing)
try and have a spare bucket, always best to prime in a different bucket to the one you fermented in, less risk of getting sediment everywhere
in other news, just installed my fridge in the spare room, 2-3 weeks before mu first conditioning session so I am going to try and pull off a genuine lager (15c or so), i can just fit my carboy in there! wooooo
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MickyD
Oh I forgot to say, this time around I got another FV and filled it with water the night before and plopped in a whole crushed campden tablet and gave that a wizz with a big spoon (sterilized of course 
)
I then transfered the water with a jug, this allowed me to really make a mess....I mean splash in the new wort. And gave it a good stir every 3rd jug until I had swapped the water from one FV to the other.
)I then transfered the water with a jug, this allowed me to really make a mess....I mean splash in the new wort. And gave it a good stir every 3rd jug until I had swapped the water from one FV to the other.
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anomalous_result
To bump this thread then:
Right. So I didn't leave my Nog long (2 weeks in bottles - really impressed with s-04's performace) but I thought I'd have a quick sample and it tastes almost the same as my Wherry, which tasted almost the same as the kit before that which... anyway... I hadn't really found the forum up until the Nog and for that kit used a campden tablet in my tap water. There has been no discernable change, ie there is still an off flavour that has been present in all my previous brews. Is it likely to be something else? Is there a simple list of rank flavours in beer?
My Dad isn't bothered by it and says yeah that's good homebrew that is. He thinks that having it sit on the (inactive) yeast for too long may lead to off-flavours. He has no experience but was just relaying information from the old Marston's brewery tour, that they brewed it quick, but they're commercial and want it in the pub as soon as possible, they're losing money on it when it ferments so I'm not convinced it's necessarily better or even different to leave it settle a bit. Either way for me it's an obnoxious smell and flavour that's really putting me off brewing much more. If I can't solve what's going wrong for a kit how do I stand a chance at making a full mash brew taste half decent with a load more variables to worry about?
Without a decent vocabulary I feel ill-equiped to fully describe what I can taste. Might nip along to a local micro and see if they have a friendly brewer who uses the same water as me.
So, I've added the campden, will certainly swill the FV out with a campden solution next time too just as a multiple redundancy thing but can't see that having much effect. Any other suggestions? Could it just need longer to condition?
Sorry for rambling, but the fact it's consistent across kits must mean it's something I'm doing wrong which is, to be honest, more than a little embarassing
Right. So I didn't leave my Nog long (2 weeks in bottles - really impressed with s-04's performace) but I thought I'd have a quick sample and it tastes almost the same as my Wherry, which tasted almost the same as the kit before that which... anyway... I hadn't really found the forum up until the Nog and for that kit used a campden tablet in my tap water. There has been no discernable change, ie there is still an off flavour that has been present in all my previous brews. Is it likely to be something else? Is there a simple list of rank flavours in beer?
My Dad isn't bothered by it and says yeah that's good homebrew that is. He thinks that having it sit on the (inactive) yeast for too long may lead to off-flavours. He has no experience but was just relaying information from the old Marston's brewery tour, that they brewed it quick, but they're commercial and want it in the pub as soon as possible, they're losing money on it when it ferments so I'm not convinced it's necessarily better or even different to leave it settle a bit. Either way for me it's an obnoxious smell and flavour that's really putting me off brewing much more. If I can't solve what's going wrong for a kit how do I stand a chance at making a full mash brew taste half decent with a load more variables to worry about?
Without a decent vocabulary I feel ill-equiped to fully describe what I can taste. Might nip along to a local micro and see if they have a friendly brewer who uses the same water as me.
So, I've added the campden, will certainly swill the FV out with a campden solution next time too just as a multiple redundancy thing but can't see that having much effect. Any other suggestions? Could it just need longer to condition?
Sorry for rambling, but the fact it's consistent across kits must mean it's something I'm doing wrong which is, to be honest, more than a little embarassing
Last edited by anomalous_result on Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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anomalous_result
It's called Ritchie's, sodium metasilicate iirc produces chlorine gas in acid etc.
I put some of that (4 teaspoons?) in the bottom of the FV and add ~10 litres of boiled water. Leave it to stand and swirl it round a bit for 10 minutes then rinse with tap water. All the kit I use is in there too.
Edit: am running out so am open to suggestions if that's the problem
I put some of that (4 teaspoons?) in the bottom of the FV and add ~10 litres of boiled water. Leave it to stand and swirl it round a bit for 10 minutes then rinse with tap water. All the kit I use is in there too.
Edit: am running out so am open to suggestions if that's the problem