This is a great thread! I have just made my first Dead Ringer and though I don’t really get the sweetness, I have a buddy that swears he can always taste a certain sweetness in homebrewed beers. I have always figured it was due to under pitching but this suggests that there is much more at play…
I agree, there are a lot of good suggestions here.
Re, the hydrometer… calibrated both with distilled water and I do a temp correction to 60*F which is the temp for this particular hydrometer.
Actually, SNPA is about what I’d like for a “house brew” and save the hoppier ones for special occasions. I’m in the process for gathering parts for a keezer… so I can have a couple of different brew styles on tap… ONCE I GET THIS STUFF DOWN… so, MY calibration really revolves around that… despite my love for da bombs.
Boiling Temps. I get my BK to a good rolling boil on my turkey fryer stove… shut it off and mix in the extract and relight it. Once it’s at a good roll, I quiet down the flame to keep it at a roll… but, not a crazy roll as in the beginning.
Ferm temps: I think I do a pretty good job of maintaining them. I don’t have a temp controlled fridge yet… but, I put my FV in a large plastic tub filled with water… I usually don’t have to consider heating it… just cooling, which I do a couple of times a day with frozen bottles of water. That environment provides a lot of surface area to maintain the bucket. I keep it at 68 +/- a degree or two. That part seems to work well.
Secondary: I have only used that on my last brew which was a joint venture for Big Brew day. I’m going to try to do that on my next brew. My plan is to flood the secondary with a bit of CO2… just for grins… and transfer. I’ll probably do that when I rack to the bottling bucket. Even if it’s not 100%, it’ll be better than air. 
While I think I’m doing everything right… Something must be different… maybe it IS the water… I’m still waiting for the Brewmaster at Bear Republic to reply.
I like the idea of the large water container with ice bottles for cooling, I have been thinking about doing something similar myself.
Racer V is a great beer! We have been really enjoying the Wachusett Larry around here as well.
Well, took these two brews to my LHBS where the two head honchos are both official judges… They gave me some good feedback.
The first IPA… they both picked up a bit of phenolic… but, said that could come from a number of things… including the yeast. The main comment about it was picking up some astringency… otherwise thought is was ok… but not great.
However, the second beer they thought was very good… very well balanced and had nothing bad do say about it. They would drink that one all day.
Soooooo, poop on my two friends that caused me to start this thread… I still have not heard from the Brewmaster at Bear Republic… hope to in the not too distant future…
