Back to basics after a few poor brews

[Martybhoy]

A few months ago I went from 20ltr mash tun batches to 10ltr BIAB batches, in order to get through my brewing wish list. At the same time I started water treatment and got myself a brew fridge.

Everything went well apart from fermentation in the dark ales (stouts, scotch ale). I really missed FG on them. By a lot.

Completely scunnered at this, I am going to back to full batches in the tun. And being as thorough as possible in all steps (I think complacency played a part in my failures).

I've always had success with fermenting IPAs, wheat beers etc, so I'm going back to beers like those in order to build confidence back up.

Does anyone else have trouble with dark beers? I've brewed about 6 or 7, and always missed FG. Sometimes by a couple of points, sometimes by a lot.

Also, does anyone else have a few failures under their belt? Enough to make them question home-brewing as a worthwhile pursuit?

 

[Gunge]

I certainly wouldn't give up. Just make and refine the ones you're good at! My dark ales and stouts are great - it's the very pale ones/ lager that are lacking. I can live without lager so that's no big deal. Sounds like we both have a 'problem' with our local water but at different ends of the spectrum. I don't mess with it much as it happens to be fine for the stuff I like. I guess someone who knows all about water chemistry will soon enlighten us both! As the years ticked by and I fiddled with the water for occasional lagers, there was definite improvements but still not right, so the problem obviously lies there.

 

[Dutto]

HA!!

That brought back memories - all bad!

I had 2 x 23 litre batches go off and (not having an immediate use for 46 litres of vinegar) it scuppered my beer brewing for many years!

I was more "ignorant" than "complacent" and as a result I didn't sanitise anything at that time.

Even after getting back into brewing and reading all the dire warnings and recommendations on this Forum, it wasn't until a visit to the Cropton Brewery in Yorkshire that the need for sanitisation really hit home. Seeing the gallons of sanitising fluids that they had scattered across the site really brought home how seriously they took the subject.

Up to today (fingers and everything else crossed of course) I have had no trouble in the last three years and I am relatively paranoid about sanitising everything that touches the wort after it is cooled and the beer until it is bottled.

I think nowadays, I would take a good hard look to establish exactly why a brew went "off" rather than giving up my obsession! :thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

Don't let a few bad brews put you off, as someone once said "the master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried". I've had my fair share of failures and I think your back to basics approach is a good idea. When I have a couple of mediocre beers then I brew something simple that I've been successful with in the past, usually a saison.

 

[foxy]

If you are pitching correct quantity of yeast and you are within pH range I don't see how you would miss your fg. You say you have no trouble with the pale beers, try steeping your dark grains and adding the liquor from the steeping after fermentation has finished, but carefully so as not to add oxygen.

 

[Martybhoy]

pH usually 5.4-5.5, for all my brews. Struggle to get it any lower.

I'll bear/bare that in mind about steeping the dark grains next time I do a stout.

I'll be doing an APA this weekend or next weekend. Looking forward to it.

 

[DoctorMick]

Keep an eye on your mash temp as well, too hot and your fg will creep up.

 

[Sandimas]

A few months ago I went from 20ltr mash tun batches to 10ltr BIAB batches, in order to get through my brewing wish list.

I do 10L-12L BIAB similar to you and it took me a while to achieve mash consistency, but I got there. Always hit 68% efficiency now.
- I mash in a stock pot, which will just fit in my oven, so I put the oven on it's lowest level for 10mins then turn it off. The stock pot goes in there with the mash in it, and the oven temp helps keep the mash temp up. It usually hasn't moved after an hour.
- I get the water to 72C which usually gives a mash temp of 66C. Use cold or boiled water to make small temp adjustements.
- I always stir at the start, mid-point and end.
- And then dunk sparge.

 

[JFB]

I've a few fg problems in the past. The two things I changed were to rehydrate the yeast(if your using dried) and I bought a balloon whisk and give the wort a proper thrashing prior to adding the yeast. Fingers crossed things have been good since then.

 

[pms67]

I'm going to do something similar,my last brew has come out looking not great and tastes/smells ,well, just ok,a bit hoppy but Ive no clue what's doing what,Ive chucked 3 different hops in and oats so I'm going to do a half dozen smash beers to get a grip of it and then add bit by bit

 

[johnbarleycorn]

Biggest improvement was modifying my system to a HERMS system after watching the old farts brewery on you tube.....I appreciate not everyone can do that, but for me its amazing and the efficiency is around 80-85 %.

 

[Martybhoy]

Glad to report that my back-to-basics brew has so far been a success.

Brewed an APA last Saturday and this morning I'm 1 point off FG so I'm a very happy (and relieved) home brewer.

It was a fairly long brew day as I was as meticulous as I could be in all aspects of the brew day.

Definitely worth the extra attention. And confidence in my brewing abilities is back.

Happy daze.