using carbon on beer

[partonken]

Sometimes when i brew beer you get a strong homebrew taste. I was thinking about lightly using carbon to get rid of this off flavour, only problem is you might get rid of the flovours you want.

anyone had any experience with this?

maybe i should make better beer off the start. I think im doing everything correctly right off the start to get a good tasting beer. Chow

[The Chemist]

What's a "homebrew taste"?

[partonken]

The home brew taste is an off taste that you get more with the light beers.

Ive tried heavier beers and there is alot less or next to nothing in off tastes.

I think it might have something to do with the size of the batch, the smaller the batch the more off tastes. This is the best explanation i could find.

[cannon.co.tn]

Doing partial mashes and good sanitation will help with that homebrew flavor. using dry malt Extract rather than liquid will also help.

If you still get a little of that weird flavor try using polyclar or gelatin fining. fining your beer will help strip out both tannins and proteins which often carry those flavors. It will also strip out some of the yeast so it may take longer to bottle condition. You can also add a packet of dry yeast to your priming sugar and then rack your beer on top of it before you bottle so that you get a little extra yeast in the bottle.

Fining will also help minimize chill haze because it is caused by proteins.

[mikeac]

Glad I read that, I was having problems with the home brew taste too, I'll try a fining agent next time.

[blanikdog]

What's a "homebrew taste"?

I think that the taste to which they are referring is the taste of fermented sugar. It sorta hits at the back and top of the mouth, but if one uses dried malt and bugger all sugar it seems to disappear.

Mind you, since I began making spirits I haven't made beer because I found it such a hit and miss affair.

[duds2u]

I noticed on a Home Brewing site where they were talking about improving the taste of home brew pack beers.
It seems that using sugar will give the home brew beer a cidery flavour and they were recommending to swap the sugar for either dextrose or liquid or dried malt

[duds2u]

Here's the link to the site that gave the info on improving home brew pack beers.
http://oz.craftbrewer.org/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[partonken]

Thanks for the info guys! This Canuck is now a happy brewer!

Cheers to this site!!

[cannon.co.tn]

I didn't even think that you might be brewing with cane sugar. You should really not use sugar in most beer recipes, there are some exceptions. If you do choose to use some sugar make sure it is less than 20% of total fermentables.

[mikeac]

Most kits ask for sugar...

[cannon.co.tn]

There are a few really good homebrew stores that really deserve our business as brewers. If you want to brew a kit try the kits at:

http://www.morebeer.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (my favorite as they're local and have free shipping on orders over $59 in the US)

http://www.austinhomebrew.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow also has a great reputation and supposedly has really good recipesfor their kits.

I've brewed the stout and Blind Pig IPA from more beer neither of which call for sugar. They also keep their hops in the freezer and yeast in the fridge until they ship. I'd use dry yeast and not bother with a chilled shipping container. You'll never know just how good homebrew can be until you start using top shelf ingredients.

Just like distillation, if your beer isn't better than 90% of the beer on the shelves you can do better. I'm new to distilling and I know that my distilled spirits will improve as I improve my techniques and gain experience. I found that with partial mash kit recipes it only took 3 or 4 batches before my beers were better than anything put out by the big brewers. Now, I can't top Stone Brewing or Russian River but not many can!

[wineo]

I dont know if your using a kit,or mashing and hopping yourself.One thing you can do to improve the flavor is to leave it in the fermenter for an extra week.This will condition the beer better.Never use cane sugar.Only use corn sugar and only a pound or two.It could be the kind of hops used also,or the amount,and boil time.Mashing conditions can greatly influnce taste,and too hot of a mash out will extract tannins from the grains.If your doing a mash,check your thermometer.It might be off by quite a bit,and if it is,your temps are wrong.Your beer should be completely clear before bottling.There will still be enough yeast to carbonate it.One other thing that can cause off flavors is the fermentation temp.If your doing an ale,it should be no higher than 72f.I hope this helped you out.
wineo

[partonken]

i usually buy the kits at the local wine making shop. the can has malt, hops, yeast and is ready to go after boiling water and malt, enough to make 5 gallons.

When i make a kit i use enough plain white sugar to take the wort to 5%.
maybe i should use corn sugar?

I never use a clearing agent,i let it sit until clear.

Maybe i should buy a mini filter and i can use it for carbon filtering on my spirits and then use it for filtering out the finished wort?




























5

[wineo]

Dont bother with the filtering,and clearing agents,Just leave it in the fermenter longer,until its really clear.The cane sugar will give a cidery off taste in beer.Use corn sugar or some dried malt extract.A pound of each in your kit beer will improve it alot,and get it to 5%.
wineo

[bronzdragon]

As others have said, I wouldn't touch my beer with carbon. It would strip out a lot more then what you want.

As for the "kit" flavor ... I agree with several people above. A lot of the small kits say to boost the alcohol with corn sugar. The corn sugar is the culprit of the off flavors. While it may be the cheapest way to make alcohol in beer, it's by far the best way.

First I would go away from the canned beer kits and order a fresh kit from a good homebrew store. You can never tell how long that malt has been in that can ... whereas the big homebrew shops online go through hundreds of gallons of this malt a month and package it nicely.

Secondly would be as another posted above, start doing a mini-mash with some grains. That adds a lot of flavor.

Stick with all malt, except in some instances, such as Belgian dubbels and trippels that use sugar specifically. And you'll be on the road to much better beer.

cheers
~r~

[wineo]

A pound or 2 of dried malt extract will do wonders for your kit beers in the place of corn sugar.Doing a mini-mash will make it 100% better too.
I havent made any in a while,but still have 5 cases left.I used to use canned malt,but do all grain now,all the time.Its more work,but I enjoy it.
wineo

[gecko]

A simple rule in Kit and Kilo beer brewing is using no simple sugars in your primary fermentation. Using sugars such as dex or corn only adds off acids as your yeast doesn't really enjoy digesting it. Replacing your sugars with malt at and steeping 100grams or so off grain along with the addition of hops will at all times brew a better beer. Spending a few extra $'s adds flavour to any beer. Don't trust what is said on the leaflet under the lid of the tin. It's all bull. If you use a good Saflager or Safale yeast and keep your brewing temp to 12 to 18 degrees celcius you'll always get the best flavours from your yeast and fermentables.

[stillborn]

Just to set the record straight, sugar does not leave a cidery taste. This is all urban myth.

As a point of proof, Belgians will use up to 30% of their fermentables as sucrose... common, household sucrose. Read "Brew Like a Monk" if you don't believe me. These beers have no hint of a cidery flavor. Adding a small amount of sucrose at priming can in no way affect the flavor.

See this thread if you still don't believe me.

[Puma]

Just to set the record straight, sugar does not leave a cidery taste. This is all urban myth.

As a point of proof, Belgians will use up to 30% of their fermentables as sucrose... common, household sucrose. Read "Brew Like a Monk" if you don't believe me. These beers have no hint of a cidery flavor. Adding a small amount of sucrose at priming can in no way affect the flavor.

I must say, I had never heard of or experianced a cidery flavors from sugar. I make a lot of belgian beer....I mean a LOT, and have never had a cidery flavor. I wouldn't use sugar at or near 30% of the griss though, more like 5%.

A simple rule in Kit and Kilo beer brewing is using no simple sugars in your primary fermentation. Using sugars such as dex or corn only adds off acids as your yeast doesn't really enjoy digesting it. Replacing your sugars with malt at and steeping 100grams or so off grain along with the addition of hops will at all times brew a better beer. Spending a few extra $'s adds flavour to any beer. Don't trust what is said on the leaflet under the lid of the tin. It's all bull. If you use a good Saflager or Safale yeast and keep your brewing temp to 12 to 18 degrees celcius you'll always get the best flavours from your yeast and fermentables.

Not sure what you mean by "simple sugar" but I do agree in not adding sugar unless you are making a beer that calls for it.

Dextrin is not a fermentable sugar for brewing. It takes yeast too long to brake down the chains (4 or more molecules long) to a fermentable (less than 4 molecules long); for brewing, it is a non-fermentable. Dextrins are made, or added, to increase the mouth feel of beer and not alcohol.

Corn sugar is what is used for brewing (when, and or, if you use sugar). Corn sugar is very fermentable.

FYI the kits that come with the cans of pre-hopped malt extract aren't worth the time it takes to make them. Don't bother. Ether get a good quality kit or just buy extract, grains, hops, yeast, and make your own. Or better yet, convert a cooler to a mash/ lauder tun and use all grain.

Making good beer takes time and information, reading a few brewing books would help.

I'm wondering if the "home brew" flavor has more to do with contamination than anything. With the cheap ass good for nothing pre-hoped extract kits, you get some little packet of cheap ass good for nothing yeast. The cheaper packets of yeast tend to be a mix of all sorts of yeast strains. Some of them have multi-ale and lager strains in the same pack. Not to say anything about their sanitation. For beer I wouldn't use dry yeast at all, you can always get a good liquid pack.

cheers

[Eugene]

I have done more than 100 batches of Home brew, all have been kit, most have been kegged, not bottled. here are a few rules I follow.

Use fresh ingrediants, this means if you are using a Kit dont use one within one year of the best before date, I wont touch a can of brew if it has under 18 month to go till the best before date.

Use good yeast, use the one under the lid of the kit to make your spirit wash, buy a good yeast SAF make good stuff, should cost about $3. for 15 grams, but you can culture it and reuse if you like, the yeast will change the flavour of your beer, use a yeast that is inline with the type of beer you are trying to brew.

Brew at the lowest temperature that your yeast can handle, I know the kit will say 25-30 degree C, but the ferment is so fast and violent that the beer will taste off. if brewing a lager, with a proper lager yeast, you can brew down to 12-14 deg C, it will take alot longer, but the beer will be much much better, clearer and taste as real lager should.

Rack your beer: mix and ferment your beer in your primary container/fermentor, once the SG has reached say 1.015 or a little lower, either syphon or run a hose from your tap to the bottom of another fermenter and transfer the wort into it, try not to disturb the yeast trub on the bottom of the primary, you dont want any of the trub in the secondary, the beer should be clear not still cloudy (unless your doing a wheat beer). Now airlock the new container and let it sit for 7 to 10 days, you will see a very small amount of trub now, the beer will be really clean and free from the yeast taste mose home brews have. It is important not to airate the beer duning the transfer, if you airate the beer, you may get an infection, ensure the transfer hose goes all the way to the bottom of the new fermentor and does a loop or two, keeping the distubance of the surface of the beer to a minimum. ALL HOSES ETC MUST BE CLEAN AND STERILE, JUST LIKE ALL YOUR BREW GEAR.

After 7-to 10 days your beer is ready to either lager or bottle/keg.

Lagering, this is just like the Racking, do the same again, leave the trub behind again, there will be much less left behind, now put the sealed, (or airlocked) container into a fridge set at 3-4 degree c, you can let this sit for a week, or a a year, up to you, the yeast that is left in the beer will drop like a stone to the bottom of the container again, from here you can keg or bottle your brew as ussual.

If you bottle and prime the bottles for the carbonation, it will take longer to happen, but it will happen, as most of the yeast is gone it take a while (up to 3 months) to get a good carbonation, but you should be waiting at least this long anyway (unless doing a wheat beer)

If you are keeging just keg away and put back in fridge with serving pressure of Co2 and wait two weeks, enjoy.

Keep good records of waht you do, so you can learn by mistakes, but repeat the winners.

Keep your beef for at least 3 months before drinking, store for two-3 weeks at 18-20 deg C to allow carbonation to happen in the bottle, then store cooler if you like, but be patient, the longer you leave the beer, the finer the bubble will become, the taste and flavours will develop and you will have great beer, I know it is hard to wait, but even keep so half of each batch, number the cars, write down the details for the brew with the matching number, try them at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and so on, you will soon see why you should wait.

Have fun and enjoy.

Oh yeah, the biggest single thing I ever did to imporve my home brew was throw out all of your bottles, use kegs, perion. the beer is 5 times better.

[rubber duck]

The home brewed tast is probebly a phenolic flavor due to the use of dry yeast. In beer a good quality liquid yeast will go a long way in improving yout brew.

[Selby]

In my 40yr.+ brewing experience, I long ago found out that the only way to remotely approach anything like a good commercial beer is to ferment at as low a temperature as possible - prefferably in a 'fridge set no higher than 5deg. centigrade for at least 3 weeks. This means of course you are using lager malt & making lager beer which is all I have made over the past many years. Ale also benefits from low temperatures within the yeast tolerence. Hope this helps, Cheers, Selby.