Doing something wrong?

I respectfully disagree. The 39 pages of the first 4 chapters of Brewing Classic Styles is just a very small fraction of How to Brew.

Cheers!

 

I don't disagree that it is a small fraction of How to Brew but, if we have learned anything over the last 5 - 10 years of internet brewing forums, it is that most people will not actually read How to Brew. I propose that if every new brewer read the beginning of Brewing Classic Styles, there would be a lot less horse shit in everyone's beer

With that said, I think every brewer should read How to Brew at least twice, I learn something every time I pick it up.

Cheers to you as well

 

I'd take samples of both the beer and your tap water to a local homebrew store. They might be able to help with some of the flavors.

As for the other beers, give them some time to shape up--except for the black IPA. (That style is wasted on me). Sometimes when the process isn't tight time can heal some of your wounds. I know that my first beer, a porter, took about 3-4 months before I started to enjoy drinking them.

 

With your description of how your beers taste, do you mean literally like a barnyard flavor as a better descriptor instead of like horse s#$%? That could indicate some wild yeast got into your beer.

My other thought is that you may have a mixture of esters in your beer that come about from fermenting too warm. You probably should have a good handle on how warm it is where the beer ferments. Thermometers don't cost that much and can be critical to your successful brewing.

You also didn't answer the question above whether you are brewing with extract or are using the all-grain method. More information about your brewing processes will allow us to home in on some possible causes and fixes.

 

Sounds like your tap water may be a bit high in Iron(?)...which would make a less than tasty beer.

If the beers had the same underlying off-flavor...and you used different ingredients/yeasts, then that would narrow down the possibilities to water, fermentation temp, or sanitation.

 

If you have public water, get the water report. Otherwise, you can get your water tested for (IIRC) less than 30 bucks by Ward Labs. At Ward Labs, there are a few different tests available... get one that is for Brewers and also includes Iron. (I'm not sure they all do.) It will have a lot of useful information beyond iron.

In the meantime, if you're doing extract batches, brew one with distilled or RO water, and see how you like that result compared to what you've been getting so far.

 

On your drain pours are you getting extra carbonation? When I first started I was having issues with my 12 oz bottles becoming infected even though I was sanitizing everything. I was getting a few bottle explosions because some foreign yeast strain was taking over and just blowing up. Wasn't even an exciting yeast strain causing sour or anything just nasty tastes. I had to go to basically a 2 step process where I steam clean my bottles prior to sanitizing.