I'm Impressed

So I had the first bottle of my first homebrew last night. It was the Hop Head Double IPA from Midwest. I had no intention of enjoying this one as it was only bottled ten days prior. I just wanted to sample it to see how the conditioning process was going.

I had put the bottle in the fridge for 24 hours. Cracked her open when I got home from work. The carbonation process is coming along nicely, considering the bottles are sitting in a room that barely tops 63-64 degrees. I poured it into the pint glass and was surprised to see that it had about a half inch head on it, and it stayed for a good 10 minutes.

The flavors will need to meld a little more. The initial taste is good and the final aftertaste is good as well. However, the middle bite is still a bit much. I expect it from a hoppy double IPA, but I think that it will need to mellow a little more.

SWMBO tasted it and liked it as well. This was great considering she rarely enjoys beer.

Thank you to everyone who helped with advice and encouragement...

Congrats on the excellent brew! Hop Head IIPA was my 7th brew and I have to admit that it is probably the one that has lasted the least amount of time for me. I think the keg was kicked in just about two weeks!

I hope you already have a second brew fermenting, or else the gap between them might not be much fun!

Hahaha, unfortunately, life circumstances have put a hitch in my brewing schedule. We were supposed to be closing on a house tomorrow. Planning for a move made me delay any further brewing. More unfortunately is that the deal on the house has stalled/fallen through, further delaying my brewing.

Nothing in Primary FTL.

I'm brewing a batch of hop head and it tasted pretty good after a week in primary

Damn, that is a shame. Good luck with the housing situation. I (kind of) understand the situation in that I found a great apt for next year and no one is willing to get back to me on it. Ahhhhh well, its just as easy to move full primaries!! Just need to be a little more careful!

Enjoy your IIPA, hop head

One thought (and I'm not trying to rain on your parade...).

If your bottle is well carb'd after only 10 days at 64 degrees, I think that is well ahead of schedule.

Good in terms of getting them ready to drink sooner, but bad if they still have 40% more carbonation potential.

Usually 70 degrees at 21 days is the sweet spot for hitting carb levels.

Get a few of those bottles chilled to suspend the carbonation process and keep a close eye on those others.

Oh...and congratulations on brewing a tasty one.

BierMuncher said:

Good in terms of getting them ready to drink sooner, but bad if they still have 40% more carbonation potential.

Usually 70 degrees at 21 days is the sweet spot for hitting carb levels.

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+1 on this advice...escpecially for this kit of beer.

It was my first brew, and I "molestered" it quite often in the name of science after it was bottled. Day 7 was drastically different from Day 10. Furthermore...day 21 was radically different than day 18....who would figure eh?

As more batches have come on line, I've managed to save some the original Hop Head. Of course, I save it all in "the name of science", and it is definitely worth it. This is a great beer, and the flavors definitely get better and better as more time goes on.

Thanks folks! I'm putting a six of it in the fridge as we speak. The rest will sit, conditioning in their rubbermaid bin with a towel over the top..
:fro: