Lifeless beer after new equipment

I have been brewing for 6 years and have developed some great recipes that have been well received at competitions. My equipment used to be an all-grain setup using a standard 10 gal kettle and 10 gal cooler mash tun. Fermentation has always been in buckets in a temp controlled chamber.

However I recently "upgraded" to a 3-keggle setup using all stainless fittings and connections so as to brew larger volumes. Ever since that time, my beer has been lifeless. Even recipes that I have been brewing for a long time seem to lack that usual punch and drinkability. No pop and all fizz. :(

I believe my system is "dialed in" using Beersmith and I am hitting volumes and gravities as I should. I am just not getting the same flavors that I am used to.

Any help?

Topic taste equipment homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

It's a little hard to diagnose this at a distance, but one thought I'm having is that your new setup may contain metals of a different alloy which in turn could affect your fermentation. It is a well-known phenomenon, for example, that having brass parts somewhere in the mix is beneficial to fermentation, since traces of the zinc leached from the brass end up in the wort and make your yeast very happy. Then there's the effect that some alloys may have on the pH of the wort which in turn affects hop utilization and Maillard reactions during the boil as well as the mineral composition of the wort during the boil.

I know, it's a long shot, but weirder things have happened. If you're hitting your volumes and gravities this doesn't seem likely, nor does your extraction efficiency seem affected.

One other possible factor is the thermal properties of your new setup. Stainless steel is not the greatest heat conductor. A thick walled stainless steel vessel on a gas burner may have a single "hot spot" at the bottom which means that the actual boil only takes place in the center of the kettle, i.e. a major portion of your wort is not involved in the boil. Circulation in the kettle should ensure this won't be much of a problem, but you never know.

I may be way off here, of course. :)

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