For those of you who don’t know – I combine my legal work with my brewing hobby!! For me, it works!! And, for my clients, who wander to the basement, grab a brew, and wander to the boardroom – it also seems to work!

Now, I guess the worst thing that could happen, is that I serve the clients a bad brew – the only thing that might be worse, would be to lose a case!! To avoid that, in the past year, I have thrown out three brews – two North German Pils, and one Porter!!

Our fearless leader, Roxy, tried to make me feel good by suggesting that it was/is the water. I wanted to believe it, and, for a while, I did!

Then, one day, as I tasted another brew – an IPA – I tasted what I thought were the unpleasant characteristics of the three dead guys – a sulphur, like, sour taste!! That same evening, I was doing another brew (can’t remember what!), and was getting something from the pail where I have a lot of gizmos soaking in water and Javex. As I fished for the rubber stopper, I felt some crystalline stuff on the side of the pail. I tasted it. Javex crystals!!!! Yuk!!! I tasted the IPA, again, that sharp taste – like, “Yuk” again! I went back, and read my notes, same stuff on the three brews I had thrown out!! I checked my carboys (I used to let water and Javex sit in them… .) – low and behold, Javex crystals!!! I was putting all that delicious wort into a carboy laced with Javex crystals!! Damn!!!!

I am convinced that was the basis of my failures! Not the water (thanks Roxy!)!
So, I did a check – imagine my surprise when I discovered that everything I was brewing with, that was glass or plastic, had some crystallization. Out went the Javex solution, and I spent the next several hours looking for a neutralizer (vinegar works). I cleaned, I scrubbed, and I tasted. Finally clean.

I then took a look at the overall process I carried out, and, I cleaned up. Gone is the grain dust, gone is the sticky wort from the floor, and, gone is the yeast buildup on the bottom of some of the bottles. I have read a lot of the need for good brewing habits, now I know that to be the case. I don’t want to serve a bad beer, nor do I want to lose a case!!