Shit beer/Trouble with brewing/Help/whinge

[Toam]

I am reasonably new to brewing. Started several months ago. I bought the coopers kit and made my first beer, which was the one that came with the kit (ie: Coopers Lager). It was pretty decent (ie: drinkable), and better than a couple of my mates first attempts so I was pretty happy with that. I did this in the summer months and strggled to keep it cool but brewed it at about 25 degrees.

The second brew I made was a coopers draught (I have not yet done anything outside of the Coopers range and I have not been creative at all). By the time I got around to doing my second brew it was much colder (or at least it was shit weather that week). Due to my house being poorly insulated we had the heater on most of the day and off at night. This cause massive temperature fluctuations during brewing (something like anywhere between 18 and 29 degrees). This beer is pretty much undrinkable. I am guessing the temperature is largely to blame.

The third was a Coopers Bavarian lager. It was brewed at a more stable temperature probably around the 24 degree mark. It tastes ok but varies bottle to bottles which I am assuming a sterilising problem.

The fourth was a Coopers Canadian Blonde. It was recently "ready" (I had planned not to even open this for a few months but with my first brew down to the last bottle and me needing beer to take when my and my homebrewing friends gather to drink homebrews has forced my hand!) I opened one the other day and it was very yeasty. I opened two today only to find that they were flat and a third that was undercarbonated. I am wondering if this is due to some problem or if maybe I f---ed up when priming the bottles and missed a few.

The fifth is priming and the sixth is fermenting.



This is all very discouraging!


....end rant.

[Pale_Ale]

Ok firstly

I find the Lager kit hard to ruin. I have tasted a few very nice 'first brews' from guys using the Coopers kit.

Fluctuation is a big thing try not to let it happen. USe a sleeping bag or something or store it in a place where you don't get as much fluctuation.

Variation bottle to bottle can mean sterlising, also carbonation drops, as well as temp of each bottle.

[Toam]

Fluctuation is a big thing try not to let it happen. USe a sleeping bag or something or store it in a place where you don't get as much fluctuation.

Yeah, we have a basement/cellar type deal under the house. I have purchased a heater and intend to move my operation down there in future.

[Dogger Dan]

Huge, rapid temoerature fluctuations will do you in every time and will often make a very nice banana brew. We have all done it.

Are you bulk priming your beer prior to bottling?

Dogger

[Rysa]

I found that when i started using yeast from the home brew store such as Saflager and a few other additions like hops and/or liquid malt my brews seemed to get better.

[morgs]

I found that when i started using yeast from the home brew store such as Saflager and a few other additions like hops and/or liquid malt my brews seemed to get better.

I second that. Use safale us 56 and it seems to cope nicely with higher temps. Also read the sticky ' Simple things to make homebrew better."

[chargermac]

This is all very discouraging!

Don't be.
think about how beer was made when Adam was a boy.
you're heading in the right direction,still early days.
question? Are you having fun? or is it a chore?
it's gotta be fun right?
i'm still a newbie (xmas prezzie) and some work some don't some are soso and some are great IMHO, but it's all fun.
what a hobby, spend a little, make a little mess and drink the produce.
What could be better.
just keep scouring this forum,it's a great resource of info, (Thanks to all you regulars)

[Rysa]

This is all very discouraging!

Don't be.
think about how beer was made when Adam was a boy.
you're heading in the right direction,still early days.
question? Are you having fun? or is it a chore?
it's gotta be fun right?
i'm still a newbie (xmas prezzie) and some work some don't some are soso and some are great IMHO, but it's all fun.
what a hobby, spend a little, make a little mess and drink the produce.
What could be better.
just keep scouring this forum,it's a great resource of info, (Thanks to all you regulars)

It is GREAT fun and very addictive.
Didn't mean to be discouraging in any way , just trying to give advice in a positive form. The more you read, the more you add the better the brew.
It's all a learning curve of which we find our own way through.
Lots of help to be found out here.

[Rysa]

Hey Charger!
good to see your'e local, was chatting to Averil and Roger (spelling?) at our HBS recently and she was saying sometimes they've wondered if it's worth it!!!
I told her bout the response she has had from this forum alone and that there would be many more that feel the same way.
Would not be a good thing to loose our LHBS!

[chargermac]

Hey Charger!
good to see your'e local, was chatting to Averil and Roger (spelling?) at our HBS recently and she was saying sometimes they've wondered if it's worth it!!!
I told her bout the response she has had from this forum alone and that there would be many more that feel the same way.
Would not be a good thing to loose our LHBS!

that would definately not be good. where would we go? Big W has the basics but no hops or grains or the wealth of knowledge and experience Rog and Averil have. i'll have to drop by tomorrow and tell them myself. it's a good excuse to get some adds for my next brew.
PS get someone to make you a batch of her double choc muffin mix. YUM

[Emo]

I started brewing about 7 or 8 months ago and haven't looked back. I even managed to pick up a second fermenter. Luckily I haven't brewed a dud yet but I'm sure it'll happen.
Just keep at it. I've managed to do some ripper honey porters, stouts, irish ales, honey wheats etc.

[buscador]

i admit, the one brew that i felt like making it was a chore tastes like shit to me, my friends like it - its a Bavarian Lager Coopers with some honey and corianderseeds crushed-

the only time Ive not felt the hobby part of brewing and the results still linger on my teeth...

treat every brew like its your last...(tears fall from eyes)

b

[shane_vor]

I am reasonably new to brewing. Started several months ago. I bought the coopers kit and made my first beer, which was the one that came with the kit (ie: Coopers Lager). It was pretty decent (ie: drinkable), and better than a couple of my mates first attempts so I was pretty happy with that. I did this in the summer months and strggled to keep it cool but brewed it at about 25 degrees.

The second brew I made was a coopers draught (I have not yet done anything outside of the Coopers range and I have not been creative at all). By the time I got around to doing my second brew it was much colder (or at least it was shit weather that week). Due to my house being poorly insulated we had the heater on most of the day and off at night. This cause massive temperature fluctuations during brewing (something like anywhere between 18 and 29 degrees). This beer is pretty much undrinkable. I am guessing the temperature is largely to blame.

The third was a Coopers Bavarian lager. It was brewed at a more stable temperature probably around the 24 degree mark. It tastes ok but varies bottle to bottles which I am assuming a sterilising problem.

The fourth was a Coopers Canadian Blonde. It was recently "ready" (I had planned not to even open this for a few months but with my first brew down to the last bottle and me needing beer to take when my and my homebrewing friends gather to drink homebrews has forced my hand!) I opened one the other day and it was very yeasty. I opened two today only to find that they were flat and a third that was undercarbonated. I am wondering if this is due to some problem or if maybe I f---ed up when priming the bottles and missed a few.

The fifth is priming and the sixth is fermenting.



This is all very discouraging!


....end rant.

The first beer is always good!

Re. your draught problem, do you know what the temp of the wort was during the ferment? It takes a bit to vary the temp of that volume of iquid a great deal....Why is it undrinkable? What does it taste like? Do all bottles taste the same or is there some variation? The taste will give you an indication of where you went wrong (or right as the case may be...you may have inadvertently brewed a trappist ale!!!)

Re. Bavarian Lager. Little-taste beers, like lagers, can be easily affected by problems... well, more so than big beers like stouts whose taste can disguise the brewers errors. Some would argue that there shouldn't really be a difference in taste between bottles because firstly the alcohol content and then the lack of oxygen helps prevent infection. I'd look at your bottling method and bottle sanitation (don't let the bastards start another sterilization -v- sanitation argument again!!!)

Re. your blonde...you could have missed a few when priming, it may also be a bit cool and secondary fermentation has not had time to properly carbonate the bottles. Bulk priming will sort your poor memory out however, if you stuff a bulk prime ALL the bottles are buggered! Yeasty? Leads me to think you've not given the brew time enough to settle maybe...

Discouraging? nah! Discouraging is sitting on a stool in the backyard tipping out 60 longnecks onto the grass due to a major brain fade!!!

Hope this helps and I'll stand corrected on any error I've made. All care and no responsibility and all that...

[Toam]

I should just brew a tooheys beer so that when it tastes shit I know it isn't my fault!

[warra48]

I should just brew a tooheys beer so that when it tastes shit I know it isn't my fault!

If you look in the recipe thread on this forum, there are some very good and straight forward recipes. Brewing lagers is probably not the best start for a beginner. Keep it simple, and maybe look at doing a pale ale with a can of Coopers Bitter or Lager and a kilo of something like Brewcraft No 15, some Fuggles and Goldings hops (the teabags are fine) and one of the Safale yeast. Just make sure the wort in your fermenter is down to an appropriate temperature before pitching your yeast, and try to keep the temperature stable over the time it takes to ferment.
Good luck, and have fun.

[Toam]

It's all good.

I am gonna be keeping the temperature a lot more stable from now on and not use the kit yeast.

I'll do another basic kit brew or two before I start getting adventurous, though.

[Tipsy]

Discouraging? nah! Discouraging is sitting on a stool in the backyard tipping out 60 longnecks onto the grass due to a major brain fade!!!

Poor Bastard, I feel for ya