chrryghst
Member
My first batch was an English Brown ale, a Brewer's Best extract kit with steeping grains. It has been in bottles for two weeks, and today I decided to crack one open to see how it is coming along...
and it was everything I hoped for and more!
It was so good that if someone had set a glass of this beer in front of me, I would've definitely assumed it was a professional craft brew and would have been SHOCKED when told it was homemade.
I only had one problem on brew day: I didn't mark the 5 gallon mark on my 6.5 gallon carboy, so I just guessed. However, I now know that I had approx 5.5-6 gallons in there when the recipe was for 5 gallons. I was very worried about it tasting watery.
The first thing I noticed was how clear the beer was! Clarity was very very important to me. Not so much for my sake, but for the sake of my friends and family who are looking forward to trying my homebrew but regularly drink budweiser. I am afraid they may be turned off by a beer that doesnt look like it was "cold filtered."
anyways... so yeah, it was crystal clear. I used Irish Moss for the last 10 mins of the boil, used a secondary where it sat for 2 weeks, and then cold crashed in my refrigerator for 24 hours before bottling day.
The beer had a nice appealing color. It was definitely a brown beer, but a very slightly lighter color than newcastle. One might call it a dark amber. The head was modest, but respectful of the style. The aroma was mouth watering! The prominent malt component of the aroma was ideal for a brown ale with hint of hops and a little nutty aftertaste.
My worries about it tasting watered down was finally put to rest. It was a mild, easy-drinking beer, but it certainly had some body to it. It didn't taste "watery." at all. My OG was much lower than it was supposed to be, so the alcohol content is only 3.5%. Not ideal, but in a way, it works. I like it. Very malty with hoppy finish.
The last thing I'll say about it is that it wasn't fully carb'd yet. The first half was almost there, but the second half was flat. I think it needs another week or two before I let my friends and family try it. But, again, the flavor and aroma was perfectly balanced with no fruitiness, astringency, or off flavors that I could detect. Besides carbonation, I can't imagine how age could possibly make this beer any better than it is.
So if there is anyone reading this who is fermenting their first beer and is worried about it tasting like "homebrew," set your fears aside. I would put my beer up against some of my favorite craft brews
, and it ABSOLUTELY tasted better than Newcastle (out of a bottle). Better than Bell's Best Brown? Nah, but for those of you in the midwest, you ought to know that Bell's is usually hard to beat.
and it was everything I hoped for and more!
It was so good that if someone had set a glass of this beer in front of me, I would've definitely assumed it was a professional craft brew and would have been SHOCKED when told it was homemade.I only had one problem on brew day: I didn't mark the 5 gallon mark on my 6.5 gallon carboy, so I just guessed. However, I now know that I had approx 5.5-6 gallons in there when the recipe was for 5 gallons. I was very worried about it tasting watery.
The first thing I noticed was how clear the beer was! Clarity was very very important to me. Not so much for my sake, but for the sake of my friends and family who are looking forward to trying my homebrew but regularly drink budweiser. I am afraid they may be turned off by a beer that doesnt look like it was "cold filtered."
anyways... so yeah, it was crystal clear. I used Irish Moss for the last 10 mins of the boil, used a secondary where it sat for 2 weeks, and then cold crashed in my refrigerator for 24 hours before bottling day.
The beer had a nice appealing color. It was definitely a brown beer, but a very slightly lighter color than newcastle. One might call it a dark amber. The head was modest, but respectful of the style. The aroma was mouth watering! The prominent malt component of the aroma was ideal for a brown ale with hint of hops and a little nutty aftertaste.
My worries about it tasting watered down was finally put to rest. It was a mild, easy-drinking beer, but it certainly had some body to it. It didn't taste "watery." at all. My OG was much lower than it was supposed to be, so the alcohol content is only 3.5%. Not ideal, but in a way, it works. I like it. Very malty with hoppy finish.
The last thing I'll say about it is that it wasn't fully carb'd yet. The first half was almost there, but the second half was flat. I think it needs another week or two before I let my friends and family try it. But, again, the flavor and aroma was perfectly balanced with no fruitiness, astringency, or off flavors that I could detect. Besides carbonation, I can't imagine how age could possibly make this beer any better than it is.
So if there is anyone reading this who is fermenting their first beer and is worried about it tasting like "homebrew," set your fears aside. I would put my beer up against some of my favorite craft brews
, and it ABSOLUTELY tasted better than Newcastle (out of a bottle). Better than Bell's Best Brown? Nah, but for those of you in the midwest, you ought to know that Bell's is usually hard to beat. 
