My First Homebrew, Part 4: Tasting! (23 December 2011)

[leo14t]

whats up with the suit?

[Chad9976]

@leo14t It was a special occasion.

[iRLadyKi113r]

what do you think the abv is?

[Chad9976]

@iRLadyKi113r 5.6 - 5.8 ish

[HeedAndSucceed]

Get drunk off it.

[mixedbrewing]

Keep trying! Its only gets better. Every brewer has some that aren't perfect... but they get better and better. Its the most rewarding hobby I know.

[n2prs]

the bitterness will mellow and blend more after a few more weeks. dont listen to a lot of these comments, go to homebrewtalk .dot com for advice and tips. midwestbeersupply do.t com and morebeer d.ot com sell good extract with steeping grain kits

[Chad9976]

@n2prs i hope so. Right now it's more like a red ale than an IPA

[glitch777]

you should try one a week and take notes. it will change. it will probably taste best at 4 weeks in the bottle.

[Chad9976]

@glitch777 I find it actually tastes better and smoother at room temp than fridge temp

[glitch777]

@Chad9976 cool. seriously though. try one a week and watch how it changes. there will be a point when it's perfect. and from there it will decline. that way you know exactly when it tastes best in case you ever brew that particular recipe again. happy home brewing!

[weirdbeer]

Nice job. Congrats on a finished product!

[dstorm258]

Keep brewing, it only gets better!

[SaleoMkd]

looks good, too bad i cant taste it :). congratulations!

[loggerlance]

Congrats on your first homebrew, looks good

[TheBeebopper]

Astringency can come from either grain or bittering hop. You can adjust the influence of either by quantity, temperature and time. It is quite possible that dropping the beer after the initial fermentation (3 or 4 days) then dropping again, after two weeks, into the bottling bin (and leaving a couple of days) would have cleaned up the taste a bit. There's also the option of using a fining agent, but this is when you should hold back a pint of the unfined beer to add back after fining, 4 yeast

[sjporr]

This just the begining of what you can do. Sky is the limit and the good thing is you already have a good grasp on what a craft beer is all about. Once you get your system down I'm sure you will produce some great beers.

Enjoy The Fruits Of Your Labor And Brew Beer!!!!

[shurguardlock]

Congrats on making your firet homebrew! 

[HopZine]

My friend who was/is a great homebrewer and now a brewery manager told me that its best to leave a beer for 1 week for every increment of ABV (4%=4 weeks). I warm condition for 1-2 weeks then cold condition for at least 2 weeks.

[StumpyJoeJr]

All you can really hope for your first batch is that it's drinkable. I don't use a secondary unless I'm going to be doing it for an extended period of time. The yeast cake will clean up a lot of off flavors when you leave the beer in primary for longer time.

[arrogantbastardale]

@StumpyJoeJr Yeah, what Ryan said. Secondary wouldn't have made a difference.

[EeRocKK]

The bitterness is suspended grain protein. To lessen that, find another store that sells $30 carboys, and secondary ferment for 4 weeks total (2 x 2 weeks). All of the malts and hops you use, and even yeast flavor profiles will stand out a lot more. Nice color!

[Chad9976]

@EeRocKK yeah next homebrew I'll definitely get a carboy and do a secondary. One of the reasons I didn't for this one was because I wanted to have the beer ready to drink by Christmas because I'm going to give a lot away to friends and family.

[EeRocKK]

@Chad9976 Right on man. I failed in that venture, so I'm dropping my next batch on my peeps at the end of January when it has a ton of time to age in the bottle. Honey Beet Dubbel APA... yeah, figure that one out! The first phase of the batch was actually a beet braggot rather than a beer, so it remains to be seen how the Phase II will turn out like. Phase I was delish, and 17L (4.5 gal) went into a honey beet Belgian style ale. You'd be welcome to some if we can swing it. I dig the reviews!

[geoffolehane]

I brewed a Tripel which came out pretty good. I brewed a lot in the 1990's but since 2010 I have gotten back into it a bit. Congratulations on your first home brew. It does give you a new perspective on beer.

[geoffolehane]

@geoffolehane - Actually my Tripel ended up getting a little oxidized because the lid on my fifteen year old carboy doesn't fit that snuggly anymore. So when I say "pretty good" I mean I can drink it. But I'll keep at it and hopefully come up with something more successful.

[leousn]

Shaun is a moron, why do you keep bringing that guy on?!

[Chad9976]

@leousn you can't tell by looking at him, but he's mentally challenged. I adopted him as part of a "bigger brother" program.