I shouldn't have tasted my hydrometer sample

I started brewing my first 5 gallon batch after 2 Mr. Beer batches about a week ago. I tasted the sample after taking my OG reading, but at that time it had a bunch of yeast and hops in suspension, so it was nothing to write home about.

Yesterday I took an SG reading and then drank the sample and it was delicious. It's a porter, so obviously I'd like to get a little bit of age on it before I go crazy, but leaving it in primary for the next 2 weeks is going to be tough now that I've seen what a decent home brew can taste like.

I've got another fermenting bucket on the way so I can keep the pipeline going and hopefully keep my mind off of my porter, I just hope I can hold out until it gets here. I know if it's that good after a week in primary, it is going to be amazing after a few months in the bottle.

patience my young jedi.

LOL! Yeah, doubled edged sword isn't it! Now the 2 - 6 weeks you'll have to wait are going to feel more like 6 - 8... months.

What you tasted was nothing. It's still green. Give it the time it needs and you'll wonder why you thought THAT was so good! Barring infection, it should only get better from where it is now.

Haha, that's funny. I'm actually going to test my Fat Tire Ale tonight and taste it. I think it's finally done fermenting.
Then to wait 2 - 3 more weeks will be painful. I have a Guiness clone that I'll start on next. So I'll just have to go buy some beer at BevMo to quench my thirst until the piepline is moving along

When I first started it was tough to keep from tasting my beers until they were ready but think of it this way - if you keep buying/drinking craft beers until yours are fully ready you will have done plenty of research on what you'd like to brew next, plus you'll have a nice stockpile of bottles to bottle into.

Buy plenty of beer until you get ahead of the game... the waiting is tough! Get more fermenters so you can have at least two going at the same time and you'll eventually have homebrew ready and the temptation will subside somewhat.

I always taste my hydrometer samples. It's important to understand how a beer evolves throughout its life cycle and that's a great test. After you have a few more batches under your belt and you see what your beer will be in the end, you'll be much less tempted to put a giant straw into the fermenter and drink the whole thing, I assure you.

Yeah I need a couple more fermenters.
And of course I'm stockpiling my bottles from my beer purchases at BevMo

Well I bottled my Fat Tire clone last night.
I can't wait to try it :rockin:
I need to get another batch going..

I've tasted my OG samples on the couple I've done and never cared for them, but the finished product was awesome. Not sure why that everyone else likes it uncarbed.

I always taste my samples. I also make my wife taste them all. But the trick is to get to the point where you always have beer around. So the waiting part is resolved by just having a different brew until the one you're tasting a sample of is ready.

whatsleftofyou said:

I always taste my hydrometer samples. It's important to understand how a beer evolves throughout its life cycle and that's a great test. After you have a few more batches under your belt and you see what your beer will be in the end, you'll be much less tempted to put a giant straw into the fermenter and drink the whole thing, I assure you.

Click to expand...

+1 on tasting samples. I think that wort tastes like crap, but it is interesting to taste the process.

Like jgourd, I always make my wife taste it too. hahaha, she always gives me the "yeah, whatever" look, but I don't care.

Tasting your samples is always a good idea, but you're not tasting them to see how good the beer tastes yet, you're tasting them to see if there are any off flavors or other issues that you might be able to address if you catch them early.

Waiting 2 or 3 months to taste the fruits of your labor is painful. But I also make wine, and with my reds, I have to wait 2 to 3 years - now that's hard!

ChshreCat said:

Tasting your samples is always a good idea, but you're not tasting them to see how good the beer tastes yet, you're tasting them to see if there are any off flavors or other issues that you might be able to address if you catch them early.

Click to expand...

+1000000 on tasting to make sure everything is OK. Or at least it's a part of making sure everything is OK. I used to never taste my beer until I popped the cap off the bottle. Now I don't make a batch without tasting it at numerous times (first and second runnings, post-boil, what I put in the primary, before racking to secondary, before bottling, etc). And sometimes I taste during lagering or a long conditioning process to see the progress.

jgourd said:

+1000000 on tasting to make sure everything is OK. Or at least it's a part of making sure everything is OK. I used to never taste my beer until I popped the cap off the bottle. Now I don't make a batch without tasting it at numerous times (first and second runnings, post-boil, what I put in the primary, before racking to secondary, before bottling, etc). And sometimes I taste during lagering or a long conditioning process to see the progress.

Click to expand...

I made a small batch of dandelion wine a couple of years ago. So far all I've had was the glass or so worth that was left over after I bottled the rest. At least one of those bottles is set aside for my oldest nephew's 21st birthday. He was born the year that I made the wine.... Everything I've read says that it aint really good until it hits the 20 year mark.

Chuck_Swillery said:

LOL! Yeah, doubled edged sword isn't it! Now the 2 - 6 weeks you'll have to wait are going to feel more like 6 - 8... months.

Click to expand...

Haha, it's so true! Last week I put the first bottle of my IIPA in the fridge so I could see how well it was carbonating. I told myself I'd leave it in for 4 days so any CO2 in the headspace could absorb into solution. "Ok, how long has it been now? 2 hours!? DAMNIT!"

Man, i have tasted my beer at all yet, but today I got some of it on my hand and it smelled like beer! that was good enough for me haha

I am pretty pumped tho, cant wait to bottle.