My last batch of Beer!

[CanadianBacon]

Well, I think i have made 20 + batchs of beer mostly the coopers line up ( along with afew other brand available locally ) using everything form their brew inhancers, dextros, corn, double cans, honey, sugar, maple syrup and brown sugar with not one I fully enjoyed. Maybe beer kits just cant compare to even the cheapest Canadian nut brown, or pale ale.

I tried primary for 1, 2, 3 weeks even a month. I tried secondary up to 4 months and left in bottles for another 4 months. Unfortunately, I still get that taste that can only be described as, Metallic, extremely hopp full beer. Even when threw lots of equipment thinking, leaching flavors?

I have however, made good cider, wine, ext so I will focus on that! I wonder if its the kits, the water supply or what? Oh well, Obviously it hasent meet my expectations and I gave it a long try!

My journey will continue with meed! Now that I cant drink wine often due to heartburn, to bad considering I feel im to young to have heartburn from drinking!

 

[wyccad915]

Sorry to hear. Good luck with the mead!

 

[unionrdr]

you could have a lot of iron in your tap water. Or your kettle is aluminum without the protective oxide layer, or mild steel without being enameled or oxidized by boiling water in it. Improperly stored grains can also give this flavor. They must be stored cool & dry.

 

[CanadianBacon]

you could have a lot of iron in your tap water. Or your kettle is aluminum without the protective oxide layer, or mild steel without being enameled or oxidized by boiling water in it. Improperly stored grains can also give this flavor. They must be stored cool & dry.

There is allot of iron in my watter accualy, enough to stain everything red over time. Interesting...

 

[unionrdr]

That's got to be your source. Try RO water, distilled or jugged spring water. I have two sources of spring water I use for everything from AE to PB/PM BIAB.

 

[didinho]

There is allot of iron in my watter accualy, enough to stain everything red over time. Interesting...

did you ever try to brew with bottled water?

 

[JonM]

Take a look around the recipe database here. There are some tried and true great extract recipes, and you can order the ingredients where you are. Try that along with distilled water from the grocery store and you might be pleasantly surprised by what you can make.

 

[CanadianBacon]

did you ever try to brew with bottled water?

Not yet. The added cost turned me off when trying to save money.

 

[jwalk4]

Hmm. Too bad.

At least you have a positive attitude. Keep up with the meads, ciders, etc.

 

[TheHopfather]

RO water at the grocery store is cheap, its about $0.35/gal where I live. It might be worth the expense just to see if water was your issue. Just take a carboy or two to the store with you and grab some RO water and you won't even have to buy a jug.

 

[Teromous]

Unfortunately I have had a few problem beers that have been remedied by buying spring water from the local grocery store. For me it was more of a bandaid flavor...I tried boiling water, filtering it, and even using campden tablets...in the end nothing really tasted as good as the spring water (whether it is really spring water or not)

 

[kh54s10]

It seems strange that you would go so long without trying different water. It also seems strange that you would just decide to give up rather than trying to find out the problem.

Agreed that you should give it another go using bottled water. Maybe use one of the popular recipes on this site with fresh ingredients.

 

[Hanso]

You likely have chloramine in your water, and the solution is cheap and simple: half a campden tablet in your brew water as you heat it up.

 

[bucfan1234]

I have to admit that I don't yet understand the intricacies of water analysis, but my first few batches, two all grain BIAB and one grains plus extract, were a bit on the astringent side. Found out the ph of my water was causing it, extracting tannin from the grains..

I switched to RO water on the fourth batch, and that solved the problem.

I still use my tap water for the occasional Coopers or Muntons can kit when I don't have time for all grain and full boils, and it seems to be fine for that application.

The other benefit to RO water is that it come in nice 5 gallon PET 1 bottles that have all sorts of uses. From what I can gather they are very similar to a better bottle. Secondaries, small batch primaries, storage for sanitizer, etc... When I am done, I just rinse them out, take em back and exchange for new ones.

 

[jwelch1103]

If there is enough iron in your water to stain the fixtures then there is too much iron to brew beer with, period!
As far as the added cost of water it can't be more than $10 for enough of the most expensive gallon jugs of water at the local supermarket to brew a 5 gallon batch and as mentioned before RO water for a 5 gallon batch would be about $2 if you bring your own container.

 

[jwelch1103]

I should have also mentioned that with RO water you will have to add some chemicals to the water, depending on what kind of beer you're brewing.

By eliminating that iron your beer will be much better.

 

[bucfan1234]

Can you help me by posting a simplified explanation of what those of us with bad water should be adding to RO water for all grain brews, or posting a link to a simplified version? Thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, for my 2c worth, I spend like $2.99 per 2.5 gallon container of spring water @ Giant Eagle, 2 of the 2/5's & a one gallon @ 79c for a 5 gallon batch. This includes boil off & top off. I also use water from White House Artisan springs @ 25c per gallon. I fill my sanitized BB to 5 gallons & get 2 gallon jugs of it for brew day. Spring water seems to be enjoyable to the lil yeasties. It also tastes a tad better than our tap water for canned AE brews with plain DME in the boil for hop additions. Also great for my pb/pm biab brews. It saves me some on the learning curve, as far as water chemistry is concerned.

 

[Hello]

Can you help me by posting a simplified explanation of what those of us with bad water should be adding to RO water for all grain brews, or posting a link to a simplified version? Thanks.

There is a great water chemistry section here that will help.


OP, good luck. I'd try bottled water if it were me and would have tried much sooner. Money spent on that will not amout to the money wasted on 20 extract batches sent down the drain anytime soon.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, spring, distilled or RO does seem to be cheap insurance to me thus far. Works quite well, even for AE brews. just a bit better than tap for the AE beers, good for mashing so far as well.

 

[JonM]

If you're brewing with extract like the OP, you don't need to add anything the water (but you can add gypsum, etc for flavor contributions if you want to.)

 

[theheroguy]

Well, I think i have made 20 + batchs of beer mostly the coopers line up ( along with afew other brand available locally ) using everything form their brew inhancers, dextros, corn, double cans, honey, sugar, maple syrup and brown sugar with not one I fully enjoyed. Maybe beer kits just cant compare to even the cheapest Canadian nut brown, or pale ale.

I tried primary for 1, 2, 3 weeks even a month. I tried secondary up to 4 months and left in bottles for another 4 months. Unfortunately, I still get that taste that can only be described as, Metallic, extremely hopp full beer. Even when threw lots of equipment thinking, leaching flavors?

I have however, made good cider, wine, ext so I will focus on that! I wonder if its the kits, the water supply or what? Oh well, Obviously it hasent meet my expectations and I gave it a long try!

My journey will continue with meed! Now that I cant drink wine often due to heartburn, to bad considering I feel im to young to have heartburn from drinking!

There is allot of iron in my watter accualy, enough to stain everything red over time. Interesting...

Alright, why in the hell would you not try to solve the problem by addressing your source water given this information? Why would you go through 20+ batches and never think to look at this? Did you just not read into water chemistry at all? Really think about it one of the biggest differences between your beer and other fermented beverages is the volume of water you need to add.

 

[unionrdr]

Nothing need be added to the water for AE brewing, but the type of water, in my experiences, does make a bit of difference I can taste.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

@CanadianBacon I'm gonna sound like a horrible echo here: change your water. I first started brewing in Vegas. my first ever beer was a stout recipe put together by the guy at the home brew store. I used city water and it was downright undrinkable. there was other problems, but after I switched to bottled water, my beer improved greatly. I re-brewed that recipe a few times after that and each one was better than the last. I think the most important change I made was the water followed by fermentation temp controlling. don't give up on the beer, make a few changes. first and foremost, change your water source. second, some people seem to find bad tastes from canned extracts/can kits as they can sit for a long time on a shelf before you buy them. see if you can get some fresher from a HBS. Northern Brewer has very fresh variety of extracts. there are also other options such as Partial Mash, Brew In A Bag, and All Grain. I brewed with extracts for 13 years and been AG for almost 4 years now. AG is nothing to fear. I wish I would have started AG much much sooner.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, same here. I wish I'd have tried pb/pm biab a lot sooner.

 

[Yooper]

I hate to be a dissenter, but I found that using those pre-hopped LME kits (ie Coopers and the like) NEVER made a decent beer for me.

Sure, water without iron will be important, but using a good quality kit and/or good quality ingredients is the most important thing.

I HATE the taste of fermented brown sugar, especially. Any pre-hopped extract kit that comes in a can is not good, and adding 'boosters' to it makes it even worse.

I'd suggest trying a kit that uses fresh crushed grain and dry extract and hops before giving up on it completely. And of course water that tastes great and has no chlorine in it.

 

[ncbrewer]

I hate to be a dissenter, but I found that using those pre-hopped LME kits (ie Coopers and the like) NEVER made a decent beer for me.

Sure, water without iron will be important, but using a good quality kit and/or good quality ingredients is the most important thing.

I HATE the taste of fermented brown sugar, especially. Any pre-hopped extract kit that comes in a can is not good, and adding 'boosters' to it makes it even worse.

I'd suggest trying a kit that uses fresh crushed grain and dry extract and hops before giving up on it completely. And of course water that tastes great and has no chlorine in it.

I agree, except that I wouldn't reject a kit with LME and specialty grains, either. IMO if the LME is fresh (less than 3 or 4 months old), it will make good beer.

 

[slym2none]

I have used those kinds of kits before. I have made so-so beer, I have made drinkable beer, and I have made good beer with them.

I will add, I at least added some malt extract & hops to every one, if not some steeped grains.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

you could have a lot of iron in your tap water. Or your kettle is aluminum without the protective oxide layer, or mild steel without being enameled or oxidized by boiling water in it. Improperly stored grains can also give this flavor. They must be stored cool & dry.

If he brewed 20 batchs I bet the kettle is ozidized.

 

[unionrdr]

It must be oxidized by boiling water in it, not an acidic solution first, as in aluminum or mild steel.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Got it I just figured in 20 batchs doing extracts the job would be done. I boiled the water before I added and extracts when I first started. So no acids should be present then. I bet it is the ingredients or the water.

 

[bobeer]

Not yet. The added cost turned me off when trying to save money.

I have to use store bought water due to all the chlorine in my tap water. I've tried to fix it with additives but the water is still pretty bad for brewing. Fermenting with the tap water makes it even worse than just drinking it straight up.
I brew 3-4 gallon batches during the winter so I only need to buy 5-6 gallons of water. If you can get the big 5 gallon jugs of spring water at the store or hardware store you can save a few bucks on the cost. Might be worth looking into if you really want to brew beer. Good luck!!

 

[urg8rb8]

I have to use store bought water due to all the chlorine in my tap water. I've tried to fix it with additives but the water is still pretty bad for brewing. Fermenting with the tap water makes it even worse than just drinking it straight up.
I brew 3-4 gallon batches during the winter so I only need to buy 5-6 gallons of water. If you can get the big 5 gallon jugs of spring water at the store or hardware store you can save a few bucks on the cost. Might be worth looking into if you really want to brew beer. Good luck!!

But doesn't spring water have unknown minerals in it? RO and distilled water has the minerals removed from it.

 

[unionrdr]

Spring water generally isn't over-mineralized like ground or "well" water can be. It comes from pockets in the bedrock. White House Artisian Springs, for example, had to drill 6 wells around northern Ohio to get to it. They then ozone, filter, use UV light, etc to polish it before you get it. I can only imagine others, by newer laws, have to do the same thing.

 

[slym2none]

The spring water I use is distributed to many companies for re-sale. It's out of Pennsylvania, I think, & one can find the water report for this water rather easily. I'd use it for any beer I was going to make but an IPA - not that it would make bad beer, but using RO & adding the right salts would be better for getting the most out of an IPA.

 

[unionrdr]

Oddly enough, as an example, I've found that Giant Eagle's spring water to be better for hoppy beers, & White House's water good for maltier beers. But White House Artesian Spring's water is only 25c per gallon, versus like 79c for GE's.

 

[CanadianBacon]

Well, I gave in and used filtered water this time with a kit I cant even remember its been so long and used farmed honey. Left it since december in secondary and just bottled it with a bit of heavily oaked corn whisky in growlers. I plan to leave all of it expect a test 2 littler aside till the first snowfall.

Took a sip before bottling, quite a difference. Also, left it in primary for only 2 weeks and fermented at very cold temps as low as +5 to +10 and at the most +17 on a good day with heat.