Expert: Spencer W Thomas - 3/14/2006

Question
Dear Sir,
I am a novice homebrewer.  I have made several different types of beer, but it seems to me that all of them taste very similar.  They all appear to be too hoppy, and I have a hard time distinguishing between the different styles.  I am not experienced enough to begin experimenting, so I use recipes and follow them to the letter.  I have a friend who also brews, and he tells me that I should skim off the scum that forms on top of the wort during the boiling process soon after I add the boiling hops.  Is this true?  Is there any other suggestion you can make that might make my homebrews more distinguishable from each other?

Answer
Without knowing more about the recipes you've used to date, it's difficult to answer your question in any detail.  If you made a certain recipe and you found it too hoppy, you might try making the same recipe again, but cutting down the hops by maybe 1/3 (in other words use 2/3 of the hops called for in the recipe.)  

Again, I don't know what recipes you've used so far.  If you're using recipes that call for canned malt extract plus sugar, I would suggest finding some that don't use sugar.  The sugar only dilutes the flavor, and can contribute to all your beers tasting the same.

Try some very different styles, such as pale ale, brown ale, and porter or stout.  

You can skim scum if you want.  I don't think it'll make that much difference.  Most of what's in the scum will fall to the bottom of the fermenter and will not contribute significantly to the flavor of the beer.

Finally, I highly recommend the (free) online book "How to Brew" at <http://www.howtobrew.com/>.  The book is also available in paper, if you prefer something you can hold in your hand.  This book starts with extract brewing, and has lots of hints on how to improve your beer and make it taste the way you want it to.

Happy brewing,
=Spencer