makemorebeer
Brewer
- Joined
- May 21, 2018
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 0
I've been brewing for about three and a half years now and this last spring made the jump to all grain brewing. I've gotten very good feedback on many of my Beers, both borrows recipes and one's I've written myself. this weekend i was brewing a SMaSH IPA with a buddy of mine from a few hours away and we came to the conclusion between brewing and sampling each others beers from over the past six months that somethings up.
The first time it came up was after mashing we had 6.9 gal on the burner and were bringing to a boil. this is always a game of cat an mouse for me. I have an 8gal. tallboy on a darkstar burner and the trick is to get it rolling without the foam boiling over. this preboil foam has been a constant problem for me since i started extract brewing on my kitchen range a few years ago. so i was talking to my buddy about this and he's like no. i boil full volume on my gas range at home and i never have this foaming issue.
So my first question is what could be causing the excessive foaming. do others experience this? is it water profile. because that leads into my next question.
later that evening, and notably 5-10 beers, some roasted duck and Greek salad later, we were side by side comparing his Lemon Wheat against my Citrus Blonde. his recipe was based on mine although the hops are different, the grain bill is very similar. he used flaked wheat and pilsen extract, and mine used white wheat with pilsen extract, and he skipped a 5min. Citra hop addition. but the lemon flavor in his is very much smoother and more pronounced. then later again we sampled his Dry Irish Coffee Stout, again based off my recipe borrowed from a magazine. again the coffee flavor was much more evident in his brew than my own.
So my second question is, what could be causing his beers to show secondary flavors better than mine where as mine seem to be muted by the malt and hop flavors? could it be a difference in water? he uses tap water in his city, and i use well water at my home roughly 3 hours apart.
Appreciate any help as we both strive to make the best beer we can and i'm left wondering if i'm doing something wrong, missing something, or is it simply my water.
The first time it came up was after mashing we had 6.9 gal on the burner and were bringing to a boil. this is always a game of cat an mouse for me. I have an 8gal. tallboy on a darkstar burner and the trick is to get it rolling without the foam boiling over. this preboil foam has been a constant problem for me since i started extract brewing on my kitchen range a few years ago. so i was talking to my buddy about this and he's like no. i boil full volume on my gas range at home and i never have this foaming issue.
So my first question is what could be causing the excessive foaming. do others experience this? is it water profile. because that leads into my next question.
later that evening, and notably 5-10 beers, some roasted duck and Greek salad later, we were side by side comparing his Lemon Wheat against my Citrus Blonde. his recipe was based on mine although the hops are different, the grain bill is very similar. he used flaked wheat and pilsen extract, and mine used white wheat with pilsen extract, and he skipped a 5min. Citra hop addition. but the lemon flavor in his is very much smoother and more pronounced. then later again we sampled his Dry Irish Coffee Stout, again based off my recipe borrowed from a magazine. again the coffee flavor was much more evident in his brew than my own.
So my second question is, what could be causing his beers to show secondary flavors better than mine where as mine seem to be muted by the malt and hop flavors? could it be a difference in water? he uses tap water in his city, and i use well water at my home roughly 3 hours apart.
Appreciate any help as we both strive to make the best beer we can and i'm left wondering if i'm doing something wrong, missing something, or is it simply my water.