First taste of my first brew a month later ...finally DONE!!

Well, after being in the bottles for about two weeks (i had to bring half out, the other half still carbonating) and int he fridge for 2 days, i cracked one open poured it into a frosty glass....pretty tastey, but has a slight "alcohol" after taste. its a pilsner but has a heavy alcohol aftertaste to it, like its a 12% abv or something. like dogfish head 120 minute. but its around 4% abv.

i didnt take any short cuts but i did do the bare minimum though. 5 days in primary 5 days in secondary and 14 days in bottles.

to be honest i didnt think my first beer would have come out good enough to drink a whole bottle, but it did. i had some doubts but it turned out ok.



anyhooser, thank you to those who helped throughout my first beer process. stay tuned for tomorrow, i have another one being force carbonated as we speak. a strong ale, 7-8% abv. OG is about 1.068

5 days primary & 5 days secondary sounds way less than the minimum for a pilsner.

the directions said a week. i think i may have been confused though, a work week or a 7 day week?

it was an American Light beer from brewers best. now i know that 4 days total time would probably make a huge difference.

A week is always 7 days, which is still not long enough, especially for a lager (if it is a lager).

Also, I think pretty much everyone on here would agree that for this kind of time frame, secondary fermentation is definitely not required. These are just things to keep in mind though, the important thing is you brewed drinkable beer! No one is an expert on their first attempt, and it's learning from mistakes that make us better.

Don’t worry too much about the length of primary and secondary for your first brew, you made beer and are enjoying drinking it so that’s the main. Patience comes with time and once you are able to follow techniques through properly your beer will improve exponentially. You say that you thought that you might struggle to drink a full bottle of your first batch, I guarantee that within a year if you follow the advice of the brewers on here your favorite brew will be one of your own

Another thing, I wouldn't follow the kit instructions too closely. Get a book or read something like www.howtobrew.com and you'll find your beers will greatly improve.

it was a lager. lightly bodied with pilsner malt. Brewers Best American Light.

appreciate the advice el capitano and pommy!

Ah, one more thing, I'm not sure if I read this correctly, but did you say you put half in the fridge? If you did, I would take it back out and only put in there what you will drink a day at a time. The beer can only condition at room temperature (which will help mellow it out). As a rule, even if everything else was done perfect, most beers won't be at their full potential until about 3 weeks of bottle conditioning/carbing.

brewd00d said:

it was a lager. lightly bodied with pilsner malt. Brewers Best American Light.

appreciate the advice el capitano and pommy!

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If it truly was a lager and it came with lager yeast, you likely fermented too warm, hence the harsh alcohols. A true lager needs to to primary ferment around 50 degrees, and the be 'lagered' (stored near freezing) for an extended period ( typically at least a month).

definitely would be a good idea to keep one at the back of the fridge for a full month. The beer will always improve the longer it takes for you to drink it and cold storage will improve a carbed lager ten fold

i dont know why the directions always seem to give minimal brewing time. but people said they liked the taste of and that what counts.

thanks again people. as soon as i finish off my beer in the half keg, im gonna brew my raspberry wheat and put that in the kegerator.

Water acidity plays a larger factor in pilsner chemistry and flavors then it does in other beers, maybe that could be your source. Just a hunch.

brewd00d said:

i dont know why the directions always seem to give minimal brewing time. but people said they liked the taste of and that what counts.

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This is why you should experiment with different brewing times as you go. Most people will say that it will be much better if you give it an extra week or two, but if you just follow others' suggestions, you'll never find out what you prefer. Experiment until you really know how you like to brew!