First Brew: Snuck a premature taste

It has been 5 days since I bottle my first brew, a Portland Pale Ale recipe, and I just had to sneak a 12 oz bottle to see how it was coming along. Popped the cap off, and heard that familiar carbonation pop. Began to pour into a pint glass, and what do we have here, a nice healthy head. I was very happy to see that.

I noticed a few distinct things as I tasted my beer. The first was as I brought the glass to my lips, I could smell a suttle sweetness. It was much duller than when I tasted my beer at bottling (post priming sugar being added-oops). Once the beer was in my mouth I noticed a hint of sweetness, which seems to really be decreasing, and then immediately after the bitterness and flavor of hops hit me. It tasted like a pale ale! Amazing! I can't wait to sneak my next taste in a few days. A week or two from now I can't wait to share with a friend and say, "I made that!"

What a great hobby this is

Good deal!

Pale Ales seem to come into their own in about 5 to 7 weeks...so hang in there!

Nice! That is a great feeling to realize that your efforts resulted in actual beer. Chances are at 5 days you're still tasting a lot of the yeast that's still in suspension (lingering bitterness)....give it some time and it should really smooth itself out.

Being patient is hard though. A lager I brewed on 3/1 is just now starting to taste the way it should....too bad I only have 6 22oz bottles left!

zoebisch01 said:

Pale Ales seem to come into their own in about 5 to 7 weeks...so hang in there!

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Yea, I've heard that enough to know that I needed to start brewing immediately again to I have other beers to drink soon. Or else I won't have anything to taste in 5 - 7 weeks haha.

BrewDey said:

Nice! That is a great feeling to realize that your efforts resulted in actual beer. Chances are at 5 days you're still tasting a lot of the yeast that's still in suspension (lingering bitterness)....give it some time and it should really smooth itself out.

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Hmmm, there may have been some bitterness I was tasting, but for the most part it was really a sweetness that struck me the most. Had it not been drastically less sweet than at bottling time, and only 5 days later, I might have been a little more worried.

BrewDey said:

Being patient is hard though. A lager I brewed on 3/1 is just now starting to taste the way it should....too bad I only have 6 22oz bottles left!

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Is there anything worse than having to be patient. Ugg. I am just hoping I will have 6 22's left when I decide to bottle my stout in 3 weeks.

It seems that patience in this case is directly proportional to the amount of homebrew in cases (well for me at least it is hehe).

hiya jzal 8 , hiya zoebisch. Im a complete newbie ive just strated my own brew kit from youngs called harvest mild. Ive had it in the fermentation bin since last sunday and am waiting for the bubbles to stop (they are very infrequent now and the taste is not as sweet). Please explain , ive got 2 pressure kegs a friend is giving me. Is it better to bottle or keg it or put it in the keg then pour it out into bottles. Im following the instructions from the label and it says do either. According to the ket it takes very little time ! just 5-10 days in the fermentation bin then a further week in bottles ,however it clearly states it improves with maturity. So i will statsh a certain percentage of my brews ! I think this is a great hobby and cant wait to make a recipe not a kit ! Is that what you mean by an old portland recipe ??? Are you making youres from scratch ? all the best peeps .