| Whilst it is true that home-brewing can be a very | | | | course of action is to use fresh yeast at least every |
| satisfactory and pleasurable pastime, producing good | | | | third brew, and make sure it is a quality yeast of the |
| quality beer at economical prices, it is also true that | | | | correct type (brewers yeast) Using a yeast starter |
| problems can, and do, arise from time to time. | | | | can be a good idea to get the process off to a good |
| The purpose of this article therefore is to describe | | | | start. If high nitrate levels are suspected, you should |
| six of the most common problems that can occur, | | | | be using normal tap water, possibly run through a |
| and how we can fix them. | | | | nitrate filter if you are in a known high nitrate area. |
| A fairly common problem for the beginner especially | | | | And sometimes just a good stir will get things going, |
| is that of "Set mash." This is where the mash actually | | | | especially if you think you may have overdone the |
| starts to set, maybe get a crust, and generally | | | | hops. |
| develop the consistency of very thick porage oats. | | | | If your beer turns out to be flat and lifeless, you |
| This is not good, we need to maintain a liquid | | | | should look at such things as faulty bottle closures, |
| consistency. Causes can be the over enthusiastic use | | | | make sure there is a good seal. The fermentation |
| of an electric grinder to crush the grist, or poor | | | | temperature could have been too low, you need a |
| quality malted barley. | | | | minimum temperature of 60 deg. F. Or you may have |
| The remedy here is to initially dilute with water. If | | | | left it too long between end of fermentation and |
| this fails i.e. it just breaks into lumps instead of | | | | bottling. Just try shortening the interval next time. |
| reducing to a nice even consistency, the only | | | | A sour tasting beer can be caused by the same |
| recourse is to discard it and start again. If you feel | | | | causes as those that cause flat beer (above), with |
| the quality of the malted barley is not up to scratch | | | | the addition of maybe insufficient sterilising, make |
| then you can add up to 10% of a highly diastatic | | | | sure you are scrupulous in this regard, use campden |
| malt extract. This is an extract that contains a high | | | | tablets or similar. Also the fermentation process may |
| proportion of the enzymes which convert starch into | | | | have been compromised by the yeast being killed off |
| sugar, and also break down long proteins. | | | | by extremes of temperature. Make sure that your |
| Another hiccup can be when fermentation fails to | | | | brew stays within the limits, i.e. no less than 60 deg.F |
| start. The usual causes of this are an environment | | | | and no more than 85 deg.F. |
| that is too cold, the use of poor quality yeast, or the | | | | The final problem in this article is that of the beer |
| specific gravity is too high. | | | | being just too bitter. This can be due to the |
| The fix here is to get the temperature to a minimum | | | | excessive use of hops, in which case just reduce the |
| 60 degreees F. And if the specific gravity is too high, | | | | amount used. Or not enough air circulation during |
| warm the brew, stir well, and add more yeast. | | | | fermentation. A good practise to avoid this is to |
| Slow fermentation is another nuisance, again the | | | | remove the cover daily and skim the debris off the |
| temperature could be too low, poor quality yeast or | | | | top. |
| malted barley may have been used. There may be | | | | So there we are. Just a little knowledge and attention |
| excessive nitrates in the water or the hop content | | | | to detail can save us from many of the common |
| could be too high (this shows by the lack of a nice | | | | problems that beset the home-brewer. Don't let a |
| yeasty head). | | | | few setbacks put you off, use them as a learning |
| Depending on what you think the cause is, the usual | | | | experience and you will be a better brewer for it. |
