Just how awful was your first batch?

So I just bottled my first batch. And by bottling, I mean I filled two with beer just for laughs. It tasted pretty bad uncarbonated. I was not expecting a GABF gold medalist, but I was expecting something drinkable. I think part of my problem was the Mr. Beer kit. I plan on buying a more conventional setup for my second try.

So anyhow, seeing as my first batch was so unappealing, I'd like to know if I'm alone, or if most first timers don't do very well or have horror stories?

First off, you can't really tell how it will taste untill after it is carbed and aged a few weeks. The difference can be amazing. How long was it aged before bottling? Was it clear?

But yeah, move up to a proper kit or buy bulk extract and hops and floow a recipe or inovate your own.

BTW what was the mr. beer kit supposed to make. Which beer?

Good luck!

DennyBrew is right. Take a Bud and put it in a glass for a few days to lose all carbonation and it will taste like crap. Mr Beer will make a pretty good brew, but you need to follow it out to completion. You should bottle the rest and make your decision in a couple weeks. You can't make a good brew only taking things half way.

Yeah, I've had several times, especially when I was first getting started, that I thought my beer was crap at bottling time, but it turned out pretty good after a couple weeks.

Patience, Grasshopper. Let the brew come to you.

The flavor and texture of the beer will change every day until it's ready. Let it bottle condition and "age" a couple of weeks.

Genghis77 said:

...Take a Bud and put it in a glass for a few days to lose all carbonation and it will taste like crap...

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Tastes like that carbonated as well

Give it time man, give it time.

I appreciate everyone's encouragement. Maybe the beer will taste better in a week or two. But I tasted it and it tasted a little sour, which I understand to mean that it's contaminated. It was also very, very cloudy. However, it'd been in the fermenter for two weeks. Well, I guess we'll see. I will be more patient with my next batch though, you can count on that.

I'm guilty (like most here I'm sure) of tucking into my ale a little early after I've kegged it. The taste profile goes through the whole spectrum from young / green, too bitter, mellowing...to absolutely great. Unfortunately by the time I get to "absolutely great" I'm down to my last few pints...D'Oh! I too must learn patience...

Or brew more than you can drink!

I try to, I really do, but the wife just keeps badgering me about the DIY, and well, you know how it is...

My advice: get yourself a real homebrewing setup. If you can follow directions you can expect your first batch to be some of the best beer you have ever tasted. Honest. I didn't believe it myself, but it's true.

BlightyBrewer said:

I try to, I really do, but the wife just keeps badgering me about the DIY, and well, you know how it is...

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You must try harder. You must be true to your faith.

Seriously, yep I know. Life gets in the way of beer.

My first batch was a Brew Sack. A plastic bag that you added boiling water to "sanitize", then cold water & yeast. Never carbonated much, good thing there was only 6L of it. My buddy and I decided to add a pound of malt extract to the second bag (his GF had gotten us each a sack). A little better, didn't carbonate either.

Even the best ales need to age a few weeks.

I'm not bragging or anything like that. In fact I think most people here would agree with me. Your first batch should not only not taste awful, but should actually be surprisingly good. I know I was surprised. I asked around before and during making my first batch and a typical response was that it should be the best beer you have ever tasted.

I didn't believe them. Of course I tried mine before it was ready and it tasted like, well, sort of like beer. But after a few weeks in the bottles? Wow. I can do this?

I think the first thing you need to do is get a proper setup to make your beer. Then, simply be diligent about sanitizing, follow directions, and you should be making excellent beer right from jump street.

Thanks, everyone. I'll exercise more patience next time. I plan on making a Dunkelweiss. Anyone have any good recipies?

BlightyBrewer said:

... by the time I get to "absolutely great" I'm down to my last few pints...D'Oh! I too must learn patience...

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The only way I have found to correct that problem is brewing in 10 and 15 gallon batches. If I ever turn out a bad one, there will be a lot to waste..... so far, so good

My first batch had a bit of a sour character to it, but I attributed that to a single primary fermentation, mispitching the first yeast packet and killing the buggers, then adding another yeast packet (too much yeast replication in the fermenter). My second batch is still in the secondary, waiting until I get my equipment shipments in before I bottle it. This one looks a LOT better.

My first batch turned out great- I had some experienced beer drinkers (my older brothers) try some, and they now want me to brew for them. When I tried my first batch out of the primary when bottling (didn't use a secondary on the first), I thought, like you, that it tasted like crap, and was discouraged. But after trying it done, and then sampling my other brews at various stages, I am starting to learn what tastes translate into what. Simply put, when I try my brew out of the primary or secondary now, though the taste ist the same as my first batch, it tastes good to me, because I know that it is on track.

And like others, I am always sampling at all stages!