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Super64

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Hi Guys,

I just racked my first batch in 15 years or so and did a little test tasting.

It's an American Ale using John Palmer's recipe pretty much as is.

The wort going into the primary was sweet at the beginning and middle of the taste, then it was followed up by a blast of bitter hops.

After a week in the primary I racked it and my taste sample was taken afterward from the primary.

This leads me to believe I might have picked up some of the trub. But it now tastes pretty awful, I expected some off flavors since it's green and just coming off fermentation, and it still has the hop bitterness at the end.

It looks like beer, it smells like beer, the numbers appear to be correct right now (SRM in the mid-20s, ABV at 5.4%)

So, my questions are:

Do you taste the wort as you go through the process and can you draw any conclusions about what the end product will taste like?

Also, will the hop punch mellow out after 2 weeks in the secondary and 2 more weeks in the bottle?

Thanks. :cool:
 
I taste every sample I take and yeah sometimes I can definitely tell the differenct taste layers since they haven't combined yet. In fact, I was tasting a cream ale the other day that I transferred to the secondary and it was mellow at first. Then a hoppy aftertaste came flying in. That one only had an IBU of like 10-15 I believe. Think of it in terms of homemade beef stew. Day one......looks like beef stew and tastes like it. Day two or three.......Wow! Amazing. The more a beer ages, the better it will taste.
 
Thanks for the feedback WBC,

I've seen the term Cream Ale around here, can you give me an idea of what makes a Cream Ale a "Cream Ale"?
 
Yes and yes.

After a bunch of brew sessions now, I can say with a straight face that I can taste a fermentor-ready IPA wort and tell if it's close to what I want. I always taste every sample (well, beer samples anyway) I take.

Of course, there have been many IPA's through my system to help me develop that taste.
 
+1 to aging.

My first brew I was checking the SG every couple of days and drinking the sample. Then I'd try a beer every day starting from 4 days in the bottle. Yes, I could follow how the flavor changed, but I was also drinking some rather foul beers. My second batch I left in primary 4 weeks without taking a gravity sample. Bottled and left it alone for two weeks. Tasted much better, and was even better after 3 weeks in the bottle.

My point is yes, you will learn by tasting as you go but it's not necessary. Just leave it, and be surprised when you pop that first bottle and find out that yes, you've made beer!
 
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