First beer....too new to judge?

I'm guessing this question is stemming from impatience on my part but here it goes. I've had my first brew, an amber ale in the bottle for 2 weeks and had a bottle after 1 week in the bottle (flat, but a nice pssst when opened) and again this week (2 weeks in the bottle), actually formed a little head and bubbled, but didn't last long. Right now the beer tastes, a bit sweeter than I was hoping and a bit thin. Also, the carbonation isn't where it needs to be yet, so maybe that has something to do with it tasting a bit different than I was hoping (eg:-unfermented priming sugar, needing to mellow more, need to carbonate more).

Is the sweetness likely from priming sugar that hasn't fermented yet or not enough hop to balance the malty sweetness? And I'm not sure why it would taste rather thin. So would you guys think it will 1) Become less sweet tasting with time? 2) Taste less thin, maybe as it carbonates more?
Here's the receipe:

6.0 LME (Northwestern Amber)
1oz. 4.0% Fuggles Pellets 60 min
1/2 oz 5.0% Kent Goldings 20 min
1/2 oz 5.0% Kent Golding 5 min

Nottingham Dry Yeast

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.010

3/4 cup corn sugar 2 cups of water as priming solution

Primary: 5 days, started mid 70sF, finished upper 60sF
Secondary: 10 days, 64-66F
Bottle conditioning: 70-75F.

Hopefully that's enough info.

Thanks,
Justin

Wait for at least 4 weeks before tasting. I have found the 6 weeks is when it starts tasting good. Funny I just posted about my discovery in the general section. I think this is common knowledge to everybody but us newbies who can't wait to drink our first home brew.

vanman250

Go ahead and start drinking it now if it tastes OK to you (homebrewing dirty secret: we all do it), but as we were just saying over at another thread, it usually really tastes good at about 6 weeks.

In my experience even the batches that I was tempted to dump down the drain tasted darnright good after a few more weeks in the bottles.

Really, though, it's a win-win situation any way you look at it: you can drink your beer now if you want, or if you don't you have a really good excuse to go out an buy a whole bunch of beer in brown bottles with no twist-tops to tide you over until yours is really ready!

When you're talking about 4-6 weeks for best taste, is that just for amber ale or is it a general rule of thumb for all homebrews? The reason I ask is my Lager kit talks about just 2-3 weeks, which sounds like it'd be on the short end in that case.

I just bottled my first batch today, and drank two already. Maybe I will have one bottle that lasts 6 weeks...
I put it in a closet I never open, so maybe that will help.

MrBulldogg said:

When you're talking about 4-6 weeks for best taste, is that just for amber ale or is it a general rule of thumb for all homebrews? The reason I ask is my Lager kit talks about just 2-3 weeks, which sounds like it'd be on the short end in that case.

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I think most beers are perfectly good to go after 3 weeks in the bottle if you primed with corn sugar. DME is a little slower.

Any I've tasted before 2 weeks have been a little sweet and lightly carbonated--i.e. there was still some sugar yet to be fermented.

What people are saying is that most beers seem to peak around 6 weeks in the bottle (which I agree with). But unless you planning on drinking the whole batch at once, there's no need to wait six weeks.

One of the nice things about accumulating a decent amount of beer in the "cellar" is that you feel less need to rush drinking the new batches if you've already got a few great homebrews to choose from that are at their peak.

I just want to put my 2 cents in to this thread. Regarding carbonation I must admit that I am surprised that after 2 weeks you are not getting some nice carbination on your beer unless you are contioning under 68 or so. My one comment would be Temperature!! What temp are you conditioning at? It really makes all the difference. I condition my bottles in the kitchen at the bakery where I work and after only 4 days I'm getting the big C. I would say the kitchen temp is around 70 - 72, maybe higher but not too much but it is always at least that warm which I think it is important. My point is - if you are looking for quick carbonation, if you are under 70 you won't get it. Bottle conditioning temp in my opinion really is everything when it comes to carbonation.

I am a newbie and have my first kegged session in at 6 weeks and I have had about 3 glasses per week and every week the pale ale just gets better and better. I placed my second session in a secondary fermenter for two weeks and now have it under co2 in a keg, and will try it this weekend after it has set in the keg for a full week, without disturbing it. This stuff is pure science and alot of dumb luck to go along with it. God has got to love ya he gave us a way to make brewski. It's like drinkin yer dinner.

Oscar,

Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who helped me along my first batch...

After 3 weeks in the bottle my Amber Ale is quite tasty. It's amazing how much more rounded, carbonated and all around better tasting the beer is from just a week ago. Next weekend is batch number 2.....as a few have said, I'm hooked!

For some beers, stouts, porters, scotch ales, it is very important to let the beer age. I've got some beers that are a year old that have achieved a balance and flavor that I never imagined they would when I popped open the first one.

On the other hand, I don't taste any benefit to letting my Hefeweizen age too long. Not to say that I can't let it age, just that I don't taste too much difference.

Regardless, all of my beers have tasted better at 6-8 weeks than they did at 2-4. Just brew 3-4 batches in rapid sucession, and build up your supply so some of your beer can age a bit.

Enjoy!

andre the giant said:

Regardless, all of my beers have tasted better at 6-8 weeks than they did at 2-4. Just brew 3-4 batches in rapid sucession, and build up your supply so some of your beer can age a bit.

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Much agreed. Get that next batch going ASAP

If your brew is tasting a little thin you may consider steeping some speciality grains to add to your extract boil or you can add Malto-Dextrin to the boil.
Steeping the grains adds a freshness to your brew along with the added body.