Just to clear a few things up:atomeyes wrote:
in your case, my suggestion would have been simple. using a cooking analogy, you were basically grabbing fridge ingredients and tossing them in a pan without any real structure or method to it. for some people, it works. other people need to look at a recipe book and follow the instructions line by line.
so the first mistake you had was not having a true recipe worked out. you could have asked any of us on here to design one for you that would have given you good results.
the next thing i'd suggest is that the apparent lack of recipe structure would make me wonder how you were reaching goals, like sparge and mash temps. so there could have been issues there.
your recipe had a lot going on. probably too much. and that's a shitload of hops going in there at boil. not even sure what kind you used, but you were likely in super-astringent high-IBU territory.
just posting this because it sucks that you were discouraged and you got rid of your equipment. if you're ever in the mood, you're welcome to pop by on a summer day and see why homebrewing can be really enjoyable.
I did have a structured recipe, that I built based on suggestions in this thread, things I found on Homebrew Talk, some IPA advice from Mitch Steele of Stone, and my two friends who are very talented brewers.
We worked out a grain bill and hop schedule ahead of time, typed it all up into a recipe building app and worked it out. I just don't remember what it was because I didn't write it down for myself as I had a inkling it would be my last batch.
I brewed it with my brewing friends (who've been at it for nearly a decade) and they did nearly all the work, including the sparging and mashing and they're adamant on hitting target temps and what not.
The hops were 1 oz of Columbus for 60 min, another 1 oz at 10 minutes and then 1 oz of Amarillo, 1 oz of Simcoe and 2 oz of Columbus all at flameout.
So while I understand where your cooking analogy is coming from, that's not really what happened. It wasn't just a random free-for-all.
What really discouraged me from the hobby was when the batch I made before this one didn't carbonate. That's pretty much when I threw up my hands and said "fuck it".
For me it really is a matter of effort I have to expend with what I get in return. I love beer and do have passion for it. I've learned though that that passion just doesn't extend to making it.
