How do I Troubleshoot Home Brewing?
Along with the growth of commercial micro-breweries, home brewing of beer has become a very popular do-it-yourself activity, and many thousands of people are brewing their own beer today. But brewing beer is an art as well as a science, and whether you are brewing a lager, a pale ale, a porter or a stout, many things can go wrong. Having a comprehensive and effective troubleshooting process is very important. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Identify the problem. Typical problems include bitterness, astringency, wrong alcoholic content or body (thickness) for the type of beer, sour notes or other off flavors. Sometimes there will be more than one problem, especially if you are new to home brewing.
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Research a solution to the the problem(s) you have identified. There are scores of potential problems and solutions in troubleshooting home brews. Use the sources provided in the References and Resources sections below as starting points for further research.
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Take steps to solve the problem(s) you have identified. Bitterness in your beer is often caused by overuse of hops, overly long boil times, excess use of black or roasted malts, or using alkaline water or water with too many sulfates. Filtration will often help with bitterness.
The wrong alcoholic profile for a beer is usually caused by an incorrect fermentation temperature. Different types of beer have different alcohol contents so you need to make sure that you are maintaining the correct fermentation temperature for the type of beer you are brewing. You can also reduce the alcohol content by diluting and/or adding malt or wheat to your home brew.
Off flavor notes like a medicinal taste or a sour note can result from over-boiling your grains, use of chlorinated water and/or bacterial contamination. A cabbage or rotten egg flavor is most often caused by malt that is too moist, bacterial contamination or a problem with your yeast.
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Tips & Warnings
Maintain sterile conditions at all times during the brewing process, and store all of the brewing equipment and ingredients in a cool, dry location.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit dark beer image by iChip from Fotolia.com
