Aha! Opened my first Caribou Slobber

My very first 1 gallon batch has been in the bottle one week as of tonight. I opened one up because curiosity got the better of me.

To my surprise, it was nicely carbonated and actually smelled like beer!

It was a bit thin and didn't quite taste I imagined it would. Certainly no off flavors or anything like that. Perhaps its just what young beer tastes like.

It did have a nice caramel head and some decent lacing. What can I expect with this beer as the weeks go by?

Note: Because I didn't have a hydrometer, I don't have OG or FG readings.

Expect it to get better! It may be carbed after one week, but it isn't conditioned. The flavors will mature, blend and transform your "hey, it's beer" into "huh, I made this delicious beer? I should make more!" And the obsession/hobby grows...
Congrats!

I cracked one of mine after bottle conditioning for only two weeks and two days in the fridge, just to see. It was beer, but it seemed thin. I wouldn't say watery, because it had plenty of flavor, but it just didn't fill my mouth.

But after three weeks bottle conditioning and another week in the fridge, the beer had more head, more body and fills my mouth. The same beer, the only difference being more carbonation time, but we don't choose to drink flat beer for a reason.

If you only brewed a gallon, do yourself a favor and give that beer a couple of more weeks or you'll have it all gone before it gets really good.

Also, only keep a sixer in the fridge at a time, leaving the rest of your batch to continue conditioning at room temperature.

After 2 months, mine is a spot-on clone. I opted to use Wyeast 1968, which is really close to what Big Sky uses, instead of NB's recommended yeast. Fermented at 64 for the first 2 days, then room temp for cleanup and conditioning. Bottled after 4 weeks on the cake.

Thanks for the tips! I look forward to trying another after several more weeks of conditioning.