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I've been drinking beer I've brewed, so please humor me. Or ignore me. Either way. There isn't a question, just some observations (and anecdotes) as someone that's been brewing for less than a year and on a relatively small budget. I'm on my sixth batch of beer (all Mr. Beer extracts). I've done some experiments in meads and wines and a cider too, but essentially I just started beer #6 (and have ingredients for #7). Batch #6 is a Churchill Nut Brown Ale. I plan to add vanilla and cold-brew coffee to half of it just for fun. I'm not the hugest Brown Ale fan, but it was on sale last month. My first two batches had a lot of issues. The first one was undrinkable (an "American Lager"). I let it age for over 8 months and it never got better. I was slowly dumping a few out at a time (after tasting and gagging) to use the bottles, and finally gave up on it entirely. I've since bought a bottle capper and started saving my commercial beer bottles. The second batch was a Bavarian Weissbier where I wanted to add some hops in hopes of adding some citrus flavors... but I boiled the hops in water by themselves before adding the HME to the cooled hop-water, and it turns out "hop tea" beer isn't the best method. It tasted very tart at first. It was drinkable but not especially good. It got slightly better with age, but it never really stood out as tasty. I did drink them all eventually except for one, which I'm keeping just to see how it ages. My third batch was the Long Play IPA done straight up with only adding two booster packs for a higher ABV. I figured it may as well be strong since I'm not the hugest IPA fan (I'll do them, but not my first pick), but it came with the kit for my second little brown keg at a great Black Friday price. I brewed shortly after (beginning of December). My temperature control was pretty much spot on. I let it carbonate for two weeks, condition for an additional two. They were decent then. Since then, I've drank all of them but two of the 740ml bottles until about 3 months ago, when I finally bottled batch #5. Batch #4 ("Horses Ass Ale") decided to leak out into my fridge the night before bottling while I was cold crashing. The LBK (my first one) that I used for this had given me headaches with the spigot prior to both the brews I started in it, and then (for whatever reason) finally gave out, so at this point I just let it go and decided to not use it again. I bought a 3-gallon Fermonster carboy to replace it and plan to use it for batch #7. Batch #5 was another Bavarian Weissbier, with a Golden LME added. I've tasted it after many stages in aging, and it's been "decent" but has something of a "twang" (what I assume is the "extract twang" people speak of on these forums. A little dash of salt on top before drinking seems to help, but it may be in my head). ANYWAY.... I needed to free up space in the closest I'm using as my "brew area." Between all my one gallon carboys and extras for mead/wine, I needed just a little more room. Among the things sitting around, I had two of the Long Play IPAs (batch #3, bottled at the end of January) left as part of the things I wanted to clear out. I put them in the fridge for about 5 days. Today I planned to go out (and drink some tasty Hefes), but my girlfriend is on a new diet/exercise plan (not a "craze" diet thankfully) and wanted me to help her food prep since I'm always the one to man the cast iron skillet for chicken. So I decided to drink these instead. After conditioning (even in relatively high heat given I live in California) for about six months, these IPAs might be the best thing I've brewed! With age, they've become somehow more mellow and tasty than I even expected, especially for an IPA. The high ABV is a bonus. All of a sudden, I regret drinking all but two of them so soon. But these two were hands down the best thing I've tasted from my own beer brewing experience. Since they were in the fridge already... I also drank a couple from batch #5 (the Bavarian Weissbier, which has only been bottled a month), and again, it's pretty decent, but has a "twang" to it. The point being: giving my brews time to "mature" always seems to pay off. Though I understand that many IPAs (and wheats) are supposed to be good to go when they're still pretty "green," it seems that the mellowing that time brings really helps them stand out as pretty decent brews despite my lack of experience. This hobby is teaching me to SLOW IT DOWN. And being from the age of instant gratification, I really love it for that. And I love it because, well, I get to drink beer. I'm very excited to see how batches #6 and #7 turns out after being allowed to condition (with even better temperature control!) Thanks for humoring me.

Just tasted the Diablo IPA that I brewed and conditioned for 4 weeks. Not bad, I'm interested in seeing what it taste like with a couple of more weeks of conditioning.

Today I brewed my 2nd AG attempt, a Voodoo Ranger IPA clone, BIAB. All in all it went pretty well. Took me 5 hours (including clean-up) compared to a Mr Beer partial mash which takes on average, 1.5 hours. And that's usually because I'm not in a hurry. I've definitely noticed that not being able to sparge efficiently using the bag is seriously affecting my overall efficiency. But, I listened, and I stuck to recipe & paid attention to process. I didn't try to hit a specific OG. No late DME additions. As I've read time & time again, better to chase flavor than alcohol. I think the hops will shine through in this one - the hydrometer sample had great hop aromas (didn't notice any overpowering malt like last MOFF SMASH). My LHBS gave me some pointers & suggested I use IBU calculations - so I used this: https://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/. Used a few specialty grains in addition to the 2Row base grain, & used 4 hops: Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic & Cascade. I'm going to dry hop @ 7 days. I look forward to trying this one!

just bought the international discounted sale that Mr. Beer has. Between those six, and an American Light, I should be able to start the brewery up again soon. Hopefully Yoda, Senior Master Brewer of Dagobah Brewery.

Update... It's been about 5 1/2 weeks since I bottled this Diablo IPA and IMHO it has improved with another week and a half of conditioning. I love it and will definately be making this one again some time. The extra week made it just right for me!

OK this is my 4th batch of brew and I think I'm getting pretty good at this. This is a standard American Lager and it turned out great! My neighbor who always taste my latest brew with me said I haven't made one yet he didn't like.

My last lager was temp controlled for the first week at 5 PSI then i let the temps go where they wanted and turned the PSI up to 10. After two weeks i kegged it. Its been sitting in a keg for three weeks and it pours crystal clear with no yeast esters detectable by my senses. Im very happy with fermenting under pressure

There was a glitch in the Matrix which caused an issue with my most recent order. I won't bore everyone with the details, but MRB resolved the issue in a much, much more than satisfactory way. I've said it before and I'll say it again, MRB's customer service is second to none.

I'm drinking something very dark right now, as it hid in my basement for a very long while (most likely Irish stout). Probably over a year old and closer to 2 years. Super tasty! Mellow, rich, coffee undertones, not sweet but great malt flavor. Truthfully, I forgot the exact recipe I used, but it has certainly aged well.

Planted my “this year” hops around May 25th. They didnt do anything until a few weeks ago. The pic from the previous post was my Hartwick plant. This post is to showcase my Prussia plant. Crazy what this thing has done in two maybe three weeks

some beers like ipa and wheat beers (hefeweizen) are better consumed young. heavy beers like stouts and high alcohol beers due better with a little age to mellow out flavors. i also like saisons when they are young.

I planted mine and they did absolutely nothing for months. Now theyre starting to grow. I thought they were dead. Guess not

I enjoy it and still have about seven bottles on hand. I recommend trying one right at minimum conditioning time, then periodically afterwards so you can see how it develops. (Or just drink them all...it's quite tasty. ) I also recommend checking your final gravity to be sure fermentation is complete. I had some swollen PET bottles a few days after bottling and had to vent them all.

As Rick said, I'd go with some Crystal 60*. Have you done partial mash brews before? If so, I'd start with steeping 4-6oz as a baseline and adjust up or down as needed based on the result. A Robust and/or Smooth LME would also add some flavor and richness. *Here's the description of Crystal 60 from MRB's website: "Crystall 60 is a widely used and versatile medium crystal malt that will contribute a rich sweetness, pleasant toasted bread notes, and a pronounced, full caramel flavor with a light reddish hue. Use 1-4 oz in numerous beer styles for enhanced body and foam stability as well as additional flavor and color."

Many flavors in brewing are not made with the ingredients you think. "Hey, that honey beer really tastes like honey!" From honey, right? Nope - honey dries out a beer, the honey flavor comes from honey malt. "Hey, I like that citrus flavor is this beer!" From fruit, right? Nope - usually from hops. "Love the chocolate in this beer!" From melting a chocolate bar, right? Nope, can't do that, has fat, ruins beer. From Chocolate Malt grain, very small amounts. "Hey, I like that caramel flavor in that stout!" From melting caramels, right? Nope - from the addition of caramel malts usually. When you progress to steeping grain, you would steep some Caramel/Crystal grains, perhaps 40 or 60.

what makes it frustrating the most is even under the most perfect conditions, the yeast will still do what they want to do. all you can do is give them a safe home full of good food, at the right temps, and try to keep them happy. the yeast do all the hard work beyond that. what helps is that most of the problems people have are fixable once the cause is known. had a coworker who brewed with his dad. they gave it up because every batch tasted like rubber. they hated it. . .got frustrated and quit. i asked what water they were using? city water from the garden hose. ack. so hot baked rubber leeched into water.. with added chlorine from muni water... easily fixed but they gave up.

Spruce tip experiment. Disclaimer: None of the beer judges are trained or certified. Wife = Tastes like whiskey Daughter = Reminds her of a bourbon beer Son-In Law = Sweet, hint of fruit with maple aroma. Me = Tart citrus taste, slightly overpowering Going to age more before next sampling.

This has been one of my favorites. Looking at the notes I keep, I had it as excellent at Week 4 and did not note any marked improvements at Weeks 5, 6 and there on out. Kevin

i like the 3 weeks time guideline because it gives the yeast a chance to clean house. on the last week i move the fermenter to someplace around 70f to encourage the yeast to stay busy. it also gives any crud that washed into the beer from the side walls a chance to settle out...usually.

Actually, they can usually have these beers out of primary in 7-10 days. They have pressurized, temperature-controlled systems that can promote a full fermentation without off-flavors so it's a lot easier for them to ferment a large amount of batches in shorter periods of time.

vinegar usually comes from a sanitation issue. there is a nasty little bacteria everywhere. it's on your hands. in the air. .. everywhere to some degree. it is acetobacter. this nasty little bugger can sometimes get into your wort or inside scratches in your fermenter. they sit there quietly waiting for your yeast to produce alcohol, then they spring into action. the bacteria feasts on the alcohol and pees out co2 and vinegar. two things start to happen. your bottled beer starts to over-carbonate. the beer inside starts to turn into acetic acid. (vinegar) if left to consume all available alcohol you can get bottle bombs... and when you go to drink it, the acid concentration can be strong enough to hurt your mouth. --- if it is very very slight 'sour' instead of in your face vinegar, it might be a lacto-bacillus infection. they too are everywhere. these guys are more polite. they dont consume the alcohol but produce lactic acid. the same thing in unflavored yogurt that makes you pucker, ends up in your beer. another 'sour' source is a yeast called Brett C. this yeast is common in nature too... and it produces the beers known as gueuze, lambics to name a couple. --- take a sip of your 'off' beer and hold it in your mouth. does it burn in any cuts or scratches in your mouth lining? or is it just sour? if youre hitting the sour notes more than the acid notes you can still drink your beer. i had a lactobacter in a pumpkin weis batch.. god awful on its own. when i wanted to drink it i stirred in a spoon of tang which cut the sour. --- fermenting at 67-70f means at peak fermentation (usually within the first 5 days) the temp inside your fermenter can hit 77-80f. your typical ale yeast gets stressed out at high heat and pees out acetaldehyde. this can give your beer a strong apple cider taste.. .which some ppl might find 'sour' or tasting like apple cider vinegar. work on getting your fermentation temperatures down closer to 60-64 f ambient during the first week. also what sanitizer are you using? ---- when you opened the fermenter to bottle did you notice a white/grey film floating on top? (google beer infections for pics) hope this helps

I'll chuck the Caramel 120 and go with something a little lighter, then substitute Pale DME for LME. Other than that, I think I've got all those hops on hand for a mid/late summer session IPA.

And yes, I did see Mama Mia #2 this weekend. Don't ask, don't tell (but it was a very good movie) Thinking another mid-west get-together. While I have no problem with another visit to 3 Floyds, I'm open to suggestions on where to go this time. There are a lot of great breweries in the mid-west area. Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and other areas in between. Not going to plan anything yet, perhaps a get-together in March/April of next year. Just opening the table for ideas, as far as where and when. Yoda

Welcome to our shared addiction and happy to know you found this forum. You've discovered the age old conflict between marketing and reality. For most contributors on these forums, the first batch wasn't the greatest, but it was beer; beer they had made. After that first batch they began the quest to learn how to improve their second batch. For some, we got lucky but couldn't repeat the results. As suggested above, seek out RickBeer's posts. Rick's posts summarize the knowledge of many who have gone before us. You will discover temperature control is vitally important for all brewers. Yeasts have specific temperature ranges they love, ranges they'll tolerate and ranges they really don't like. When in doubt, for best results, hold your temperatures as close to the low end of the recommended temperature range. Yeast doing their thing during fermentation generate heat. When the temperature strays outside the recommended range, the yeast will produce compounds which you may not like or do not fit the style of beer. Patience and perseverance. If your first batch doesn't please you as much as you had hoped, set the bottles aside and wait. Often, the yeast will devour the off flavor compounds created during that first week of fermentation. Don't allow disappointment discourage you. Humans have brewed beers for nearly 10,000 years. In other words, it ain't rocket science, but it does require knowledge to repeatedly brew tasty brews. Appreciate the processes required to brew those beers you love. Homebrewing can be a very enjoyable hobby or disappointing and discouraging work. Ask questions and you'll be surprised by the help received. As a community we look forward to your contributions to these forums.