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My issue is not that the beers aren't Hoppy enough. It's the simple fact that I can't taste the hops whatsoever. Given I've used over 100g dry hop I should be able to taste something. I don't. The beers don't taste off or anything, they are still completely drinkable. But it's not good enough. I'm wasting time and money throwing all these hops at these brews and not getting any reward for my efforts, due to some unidentified issue that's somehow over powering what the hops should be doing. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. Friends have tried my past brews and all have said good things, however these blokes don't usually drink much else than megaswill. I'll drink srong pale ales and ipas on tap when out and about. At home, the beers i drink that are store bought range from any various brands of pale ale, to euro lagers like Peroni in the warmer months, or on odd occasion I'll splurge and get a 6 pack of something local like PL, prancing pony, etc. I'm not expecting my home brews to be on par with these crafties, but i should be getting something a bit more flavoured than just a kit twang. That being said, I can't explain how the Cooper's IPA, OS lager and TC bootmaker pale bases can all come out tasting the same at the end. It just doesn't make sense. I did make a stout in amongst the above 3 and it still tastes like a stout. It's OK, but not too bad. Still has a hint of the extract twang, but it was still fermented in the Cooper's FV using swamp cooling method. It had some choc malt steeped and added after a 15 min boil. The other main difference was I used 2 X kit yeast and no dry hop for it. The hops I just used had been in the freezer for awhile. When I opened the ziplock they were in, could still smell a very nice hop aroma before adding them to the hop sock.  If I do a side by side taste of the bottled end result and the bottled one i did before adding the dry hops, and there is a noticeable difference, then surely it must be something to do with the hops?? REPSPEC: you said you've had this happen a couple of times. What did u do to get past the problem? Have u managed to make any successful brews since? What did you change.   As far as I can tell, my cleaning and sanitizing methods are quite thorough and meticulous. The only thing that comes to mind with the latest brew was that I think I just rinsed my hop sock under the hot water tap when finishing the previous brew. I didn't boil it in water this time, just dunked it in starsan before adding the hops and throwing it into the cube.  FYI, when I mix up everything in the FV, it just sits on a towel on the kitchen floor, so the jig and sink are still at arm's reach if needed. I use filtered puratap water which is chilled overnight in sanitised clear plastic bottles, which had only had soda water from woolies in them beforehand. 

Hi Hairy. I have not used them in beer, but have in wine. Since yeast metabolize vanillin, don't add them pre-fermentation. Vanilla beans are quite expensive. A lot of cider makers are switching to oak for this reason, and I am thinking of doing this myself. They say you can get quite a lot of vanillin from one ounce of medium toast oak cubes as well, if added post fermentation. Boil in a small amount of water for a couple of minutes, to kick start the flavour release.  American oak has the most vanilla, but French is pretty good too. Leave for a week and then start tasting every couple of days; probably should not leave longer than two weeks. Once bottled the beer will need to age for a couple of months, to integrate the tannins. If you are making a stout, aging is not a bad thing. Cubes are preferred to chips. Good luck with the brew. Cheers. Christina.

Are you saying like 'commando' style at cold crash? 

Although I'm not a fan of glad wrap on fermenters, I don't think this is causing your issue. I use my fermenter lid in a similar way (sans airlock) and never experience any issues. It could be that where you mix your brews there's a concentration of wild yeast or other bugs, it could be the scratches in the fermenter harbouring bugs. But there's a difference between beer that tastes like it's infected or otherwise compromised and a string of batches that merely taste like each other. If it's tasting off a bit then you could have a spoilage organism - other than the yeast you pitch of course. Gelatine won't drop out visible hop matter either. Its primary use is for yeast, though it probably helps a bit with some chill haze causing protein particles as well (I don't believe it works on polyphenols). These particles are invisible, unlike floating or suspended hop matter that you can see plain as day. Only time and/or cold temperatures will see visible hop matter drop out. Cheers Kelsey

See attached for the definitive easy solution to internal bottle haze buildup. Cheers,