back after a few years BUT

[darrenwest1]

well due to a few serous health issues i had to spend quite a while in hospital suddenly and then family life I've had i have not done a full ag brew day for over 2 years

but about 4 months ago i did 2 kits 1 was a woodfordes wherry and the other a landlord

they taste terrible i have no idea whats gone wrong but i have my daughters bbq at the end of the month and no decent tasting beer
not good

i may have to find a micro brewery local that will sell me some

any recommendations where i can get hole of 80 pints please

i have still got my stainless kit (boiler built by muddy disco ) not sure if he is still on here

ill try to get going again as i really did enjoy a good brew day

 

[Cornish Knocker]

When I lived in Devon, every microbrewery near me sold direct to the public at a reasonable cost too. If I was you I'd head to the nearest one to you, ask for a sample or four and buy a couple of polypins of your favourite. Job done.

Hope your health is back on track.

 

[JamesMcS]

Hope you're feeling better fella - what's up with them? Funny flavours, flat, chewy?

 

[darrenwest1]

the wherry tastes like citrus
the landlord tastes like water

yeah feeling spot on again now
thanks

 

[JamesMcS]

Not off flavours I've heard of - you'd have thought they'd taste a bit better after conditioning for that long... Did you add hops to the wherry?

I've found the 1 can kits to be a bit watery myself - is the landlord a 1 can kit?

 

[darrenwest1]

no hops added mate

the only difference is that on these brews i used reverse osmosis water

 

[JamesMcS]

So it's ultra pure right? I've read that minerals in the water, or lack of, can affect the flavour and strength of the brew - yeast needs some nutrients as well as sugar to multiply and thrive. Do you know what the starting and finishing gravities were for both?

I usually use spring water, it's a quid for 5 litres in Morrisons.

If that was the problem, try adding a bit of yeast nutrient next time and see how they turn out.

Doesn't help the barbie situation though...

 

[darrenwest1]

a local brewery to me had come up trumps with 100 pints of best for me

ill try this week again with spring water

I'm hoping to get my ag kit up and running again

 

[Dave1970]

RO water is useful, but not as the only water in a brew.

It's good for mixing up starsan no rinse steriliser

I've used it making AG lager. It needs low mineral water to work properly, my tap water is too hard so I dilute 2 parts RO water to 1 part tap water.

Straight RO water is only useful as something to add known minerals to, not to use as it is.

 

[JamesMcS]

Result! West's Best eh? Nobody needs to know ;-)

Have a look at 'how to brew' by John Palmer - amongst other things there's a section in there on water and minerals and whatnot.

I'm still pretty new, so learning with kits for now, but have been looking into BIAB, finding a decent size stock pot for a decent price is pricing challenging though...

 

[darrenwest1]

thanks guys
I've just got to get a new stainless false bottom made up for my mash tun
and ill be back to brewing ag again