Good to read you’re arguing strongly in favor of my point .
What isn’t clear in this thread is how much daily variation there may have been in the fermentation temperature. Was there a daily variation of 4-6* and does that temperature swing have a negative impact on the flavor of the beer? From my period of brewing with ambient temp in the 68-70* range, I had batches with 3-4* variation. I ended up with the opinion that I’d either use yeasts like @wilcolandzaat uses or I’d quit brewing. But this is just the opinion from the pallet of one home brewer - let’t be sure to not confuse it with anything scientific.
Do you remember what the yeast strain was or what the pack looked like? I suspect the kit was supposed to come with US-05, (a somewhat red-ish colored packet) which at those temps should be fine. BUT if someone accidentally shipped your kit with a packet of lager yeast, that could maybe cause what was described…
I believe it was Danstar Nottingham Ale Dry Yeast. As to temperature range I tried to keep it below 70F. The carboy was set in a plastic bin, a few inches of water in the bin. The carbow was covered with a towel and from time to time I would put cool water on the towel and some ice in the bin. I think the temperature fluctuation was from 64 or so on up to ambient as the ac was set at 72. I am in Florida and if the ambient temp was above 72F the ac would kick in.
If you haven’t been able to connect with a local home brew club, are you able to get to a “Big Brew Day (May 6)” event in your area? Someone there should be able to connect you to a local homebrew club and/or provide you with some ideas on how to build some really, really good (1-2* range) temperature control.
My second batch turned out ok. I did basically the same thing as the first. It was a different recipe and I ended up with a two hour boil to get the gravity right and used citra for dry hopping instead of simcore but it seems to be drinkable. No gelatin this time and used a liquid yeast and a starter. I am leaning towrad contamination on the first batch. This batch was not as good as I hoped for. Is it possible to get a home brew as good as a fresh brew pub type of beer? Thanks for the replies.
It will be a fun journey to a very rewarding brew. You can’t just bring some stuff and expect a great brew the first few times out… You will, provided you understand and learn, to make some of the most awesome brews YOU want to drink. There are so many peeps here that help guide you your own direction… Sneezles61
One follow up thought… a good avenue for a homebrewer is to find a style you like that isn’t brewed commercially that often. Every brewery in America is doing an IPA. I love IPAs. My best homebrewed IPA falls short of the average because so many good ones are out there. But a bitter? Damn, it’s hard to find one. A few local breweries tried them, then discontinued them because they are hard to sell. My last bitter was a better bitter than I could get anywhere locally. That might not be saying much, as I was comparing it to maybe 5 commercial beers, but it was a great feeling.
I whole heartedly agree… But, the best IPA is the one you can brew and have ready very quickly, before the hop starts to fade into the brew… Sneezles61
Now that you mention it I am noticing less bitter offerings now. Before this latest “IPA” craze most breweries had one on tap. Just recently I was at a brewery that had two which was great since I’ve been focusing on that style recently. Notice I put “IPA” in quotes
Living in Florida, I would never trust tap water going into my beer. Does anyone here use distilled water and then add minerals to match their preferred profile?
BTW if your brewing with extracts water isn’t near as important. You could get away with adding some gypsum for your hop forward beers but I would read up on water before going all in.
Thanks for all the great replies. My second batch turned out very good and I used the same water so perhaps despite fairly rigorous sanitation contamination was the culprit. I really should not trust a refrigerator filter to take out the chlorine thought. I thought of using IOS glacier water but I was concerned about the trace elements but perhaps I can use that water in the future and add elements Any advice on adding elements. Is there a supplier of balanced additives or just a shot of gypsum for the mix?
If you’re using extract the minerals are in the extract. Minerals for AG are used to treat water for proper pH and flavor. It’s much much more important.
You need to be careful with adding minerals all Willy nilly when using extract. The mineral profile is set by the manufacturer’s water and adding too much can actually negatively influence your final product.
You can use either distilled or spring water with extract. If you are brewing an IPA with distilled you could get away with adding a tablespoon of gypsum but as I mentioned before you really need to understand water composition before going all in and adding things Willy nilly.
You should include a water source, with report on it for your brewing. We can’t express how much of a difference it does make. It becomes a matter of, A, I wonder what this does, or B, I what to brew whatever I want. Don’t confuse the issues, not saying you HAVE to, but its to your advantage understanding some of mysteries. Sneezles61
One can brew good beer (extract, all grain, BIAB) with RO/distilled water without minerals.
For your first couple of bathes, consider ignoring water treatment. Focus on getting really good at sanitation, temperature control, good recipe selection.
Once the basics are in place, use minerals to “season to taste”.
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