question from first time brewer

First post,longtime lurker..anywho I brewed up my first batch monday(1/16/12) everything went fine,og was 1.055 checked my hydrometer today and it was around 1.015. I took a sniff and it didn't smell like anything I was hoping for..am I freaking out for nothing and is it too soon to gauge how it smells?

by the way, im brewing a pale ale..recipe as follows

7lbs liquid malt extract light
.5lb caramel crystal 40l
.5lb caramel crystal 60l

2oz falconers flight hops
2oz cascade
2oz columbus

safale us-05 yeast..

again hopefully im just freaking out..thanks in advance

Relax let it sit a couple more weeks and take a reading, take another the next day if the readings are stable then its ready to be bottled/kegged. And don't be afraid to take a taste from the test jar after you've taken your reading.

What doesn't smell right to you? Those hop varieties should give you a nice aroma. That being said, I find that the aroma really shines once the beer is carbed up.

I honestly cant describe the scent,but hopefully there is no contamination. I will take your advice on letting it sit some more..just kind of freaked me out

you're smelling the sulfites from a fermenting beer. you ARE freaking for no reason. chill for a couple weeks on this 1; it'll work out for you

took a hydrometer reading just now was at 1.010 going to check it on monday. also it smelled AMAZING! thanks alot for assuring me nothing was wrong guys!

your right union..could be considered an IPA but being from california and not too far from san diego,this isn't as hoppy as I like my IPA's. I maybe should have said it's an extra pale ale? either way im excited to taste this!

Relax, Don't worry....in your case.. plan on a homebrew !

you have new brewer's worry....! seriously.. Follow the 1,2,3..... rule. one week to ferment, two weeks to condition (all in primary for me; three weeks and I don't open the lid or touch it) and 3 weeks in Bottle at 70 degrees to carb. If it's fermenting, then you will make beer...

And, if it goes horribly wrong (which it won't) you are not making a lifetime commitment... you can make more!

should it have got this dark close to the 3 week mark?

Did you boil the LME for the full 60 minutes? That can cause it to darken quite a bit. A lot of people will add just a bit of the DME at the beginning of the boil to help with the isomerization of the hop alpha acids. Then the rest is added with 5 or 10 minutes before flame out just to be sure of it's "cleanliness" and to get it dissolved. Also, you are looking through the carboy instead of just a few inches of liquid in a glass. It will always look a little darker.
In the end ... unless you plan on taking your first batch to a competition, the color really doesn't matter. If it tastes good to you .... it's GOOD BEER!

Yea I boiled for the full 60. I'm sure it will be fine,just was curious about the color change and if it was normal.

rcbrew3 said:

Yea I boiled for the full 60. I'm sure it will be fine,just was curious about the color change and if it was normal.

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It's fine. I hate acronyms, but RDWHAHB. Everything will be fine.

Your beer looks darker now in the fermenter because the yeast has quit stirring everything up and begun to settle out. While the yeast is active it looks lighter because the particles that are stirred up reflect light. Once you get it in the glass it will look much lighter too as you won't have the big quantity to absorb the light coming from the back side.

haha that makes sense..thanks for responding guys,next batch I won't ask so many questions..or at least I hope not haha

rcbrew3 said:

haha that makes sense..thanks for responding guys,next batch I won't ask so many questions..or at least I hope not haha

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it's OK to ask questions next time if it helps you learn. The time after that you be the one that has to answer the newbie questions. :rockin:

I guess I should update,I bottled my batch exactly a week ago..going to pop one open this weekend to see how close they are to being finished.

I take tastes after I bottle periodically, usually at 7 days, 10 days, 14 days, etc. I think its cool to see smell and taste how your beer is aging and the different complexities that start to pop up as it conditions, go ahead and pop ONE (only one) tonight and take notes (and pictures, we love beer)!!

at one week bottled,it's hoppy really really aromatic(I dry hopped with an oz of falconers for three weeks)although it is not done yet..I can tell when this gets better with age it will be a hit. thanks everyone for the help!

That looks like a fine brew to me.

dcarter said:

That looks like a fine brew to me.

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thanks it was really good considering it wasn't fully carbed yet,I can only imagine how good it will taste/smell once it is done bottle conditioning.

IME, by the 3 week mark you might not even recognize it.

Yesterday was three weeks exactly..and although since I made it I have a biased opinion I will say it doesn't taste as good as good as last week nor does it smell as good...normal?

Forgive the as good..as good my phone jacked up.

I just finished a falconers flight ipa extract and week one in the bottles was better then week 3. Week one it had a kind of sweet tea taste then a strong hop kick at the ends. Week 3 the hops seemed to mellow out over the whole thing.