It's been a while, a long while. I keep meaning to update the blog, but we have been busy. Marygrace and I have recently been looking for a house. The good news is, we found one. The bad news is that I don't really want to start another batch of beer until we move. (Although I will make an exception for a pumpkin stout for Halloween.) The house is good, but my recent brewing attempt have been rather lackluster. It seems that brewing works in waves for me since I don't really repeat any of my recipes and I always like to experiment.
I believe that one of my issues may be coming from my conical fermenter. I bought it on eBay over a year ago and it has been working great, but recently every beer that I have brewed in it (Lite American Lager, German Pilsner, and Hop Harvest) have had a stale water flavor with slight metallic undertones. The last time I cleaned it, I noticed that some of the chrome coating on the thermometer was peeling and I think this may have something to do with it. I'll have to replace it, but until then, I'm back to carboys and buckets.
The Gose that I brewed isn't as great as I would have hoped either. Since I used aciduated malt, as suggested by Brew Your Own, the flavor produced is more similar to a wort spoilage, rather than a true bacterial infection of the beer. It gives the beer a bit more of a sour milk/tea-like flavor than anything else.
The beer that I tried to make with wild yeast that I captured has scared me. I smelled it a short while ago and it still reaks of DMS. After tasting it, it was still present. I will have to try this experiment once again after we move.
My mead is a shining star of what I have done recently, proving to myself that it was not my water source that was the cause of my stale water off flavor mentioned above. My one complaint about it though is that I rushed it too much. I should have done another one or two carboy transfers, but I didn't, and the bottles have a very small layer of yeast on the bottom. Either way, it was my first go at it, and my lesson was learned.
I'm in a slump right now, and I'm glad that I got all of that off of my chest. I'm hoping a couple easy extract brews and means can get me out of it.
I believe that one of my issues may be coming from my conical fermenter. I bought it on eBay over a year ago and it has been working great, but recently every beer that I have brewed in it (Lite American Lager, German Pilsner, and Hop Harvest) have had a stale water flavor with slight metallic undertones. The last time I cleaned it, I noticed that some of the chrome coating on the thermometer was peeling and I think this may have something to do with it. I'll have to replace it, but until then, I'm back to carboys and buckets.
The Gose that I brewed isn't as great as I would have hoped either. Since I used aciduated malt, as suggested by Brew Your Own, the flavor produced is more similar to a wort spoilage, rather than a true bacterial infection of the beer. It gives the beer a bit more of a sour milk/tea-like flavor than anything else.
The beer that I tried to make with wild yeast that I captured has scared me. I smelled it a short while ago and it still reaks of DMS. After tasting it, it was still present. I will have to try this experiment once again after we move.
My mead is a shining star of what I have done recently, proving to myself that it was not my water source that was the cause of my stale water off flavor mentioned above. My one complaint about it though is that I rushed it too much. I should have done another one or two carboy transfers, but I didn't, and the bottles have a very small layer of yeast on the bottom. Either way, it was my first go at it, and my lesson was learned.
I'm in a slump right now, and I'm glad that I got all of that off of my chest. I'm hoping a couple easy extract brews and means can get me out of it.
