1st brew! and some questions to get better at this beer thing :)

[ezimmerm]

First off I want to say thanks, had been thinking about doing a homebrew for a while and read up on a lot on this forum before pulling the trigger.

I've bought a kit from northern brewer along with the irish red kit as my first brew. As of tomorrow afternoon it has one week in the primary and tonight the grav reading is at 1.012 so it looks like everything is going great. I figure I'll take a second reading on saturday and if steady, gonna to rack it to a secondary (to make room for a batch of mead or hard cider next!)

After the grav reading I took a smell and a swig of the brew, smells great but my taste buds have no clue what their tasting, the beer is slightly watered down tasting which I'm guess is due to warm temp and no CO2.

Long story short, my question is this, what exactly constitutes a malty taste, yeasty taste, etc. Can anyone recommend different beers to sample where the different flavors are pronouced...if that makes sense.

It may be a long and dreary task, but I'm willing to sample any number of brews to learn how to taste a beer

Thanks again!

 

[Warped04]

Welcome to the forums. Yes...Taste beers...There are malty beers, hoppy beers, it's hard for us to tell you what's available in your area...Check out the bjcp website, and there should be a list...if not...well...shoot...I don't want to be an ass, but it's just about drinking it and tasting it...hops taste like hops, malt tastes like malt. I know it's not that simple, but I'll try to make it that simple.

http://www.bjcp.org/index.php

 

[Golddiggie]

What was the OG of the brew? I would give it at least another week in the primary (on the yeast cake)... I would let even a lower OG ale go 2-3 weeks in primary, with a month being desired.

Give the yeast enough time to clean up after themselves. Even two weeks is pushing it (on the too soon side)...

I would suggest picking up more carboy's/buckets to use for fermenting, rather than pushing to secondary.

Don't go just by the hydrometer readings, especially after just a week. That only tells you the sugars are all used up, not that the yeast has stopped working.

I know, you're itching to get another batch started, I was too when I started. Hell, I'm itching to brew right now, but all my primaries are occupied, so I have to wait.

For what to sample, if there are any brew pubs in your area, start going to them regularly. Most will have sample trays, where you get a few ounces of several of their brews to try out. You might even be able to get some info as to what they actually use in the brews. Granted, they're going to tell you grains, and maybe percentage (if that) of what's in it.

Once you figure out what you really like to drink, look up recipe's and start trying them out... There are plenty of clone recipes out there to try out too.

 

[ezimmerm]

Thanks for the replys. The OG of the brew was supposed to be 1.040 according to the directions but in my newbness I didnt top off after the boil and I measured the wort to be 1.052 after it was cooled to approx 65 degrees (did a full five gallon boil...I estimate about 4.6gal made it into the fermenter).

The fermentation started rather quickly from what I gather, approx 5 hours after pitching I started to see activity. It kept going till Wednesday night and over the last day I don't see more then 1 bubble per 3-4 minutes which is why I took the grav reading tonight.

One thing I thought getting two or three stable gravity readings means the fermentation is done, wait longer even if the readings come out steady over a couple of days?

Your right though, it can't hurt to have more equipment

 

[wilserbrewer]

The finished brew will be far different than what you sampled IMO...you will be amazed at the progress. Really no need for all this gravity checking at this stage, let it sit another week. If you are looking to get batch 2 going, Mead or a cider could go directly to your carboy and single stage the beer.

Cider or mead will need a loong time in the fermenter, many months FYI FWIW.

 

[Golddiggie]

I would still let it stay on the yeast for 3-4 weeks... I have one brew that I started on 1/10 and even though I'm not seeing much (if any) airlock activity, I'm not even taking a hydrometer reading until the 23rd/24th... Even then, I intend to let it go until (at least) the 30th/31st...

I have a pale ale also still in primary, that was started on 1/2 that is going at least until the end of this weekend, if not next. I did take a reading after two weeks on that one. After tasting it, I made an adjustment, which means more time.

You'll need to taste the brew before doing anything to it. Either racking to secondary (really not advised anymore) or letting it sit on the yeast cake for another few days/week(s)... If anything, letting it sit on the yeast cake will do the beer good, not harm. Especially with how short the brew has been on it so far.

 

[Frodo]

I found the book Brewing Classic Styles by Zainasheff and Palmer to really open my eyes up to what each style is supposed to be composed of, and helped me figure out what malt and what hops taste like... So when I go buy some beer of any particular style or a few different styles to compare I refer to the book while I'm drinking them. Doing it that way has really helped me. Granted examples of styles really differ, but it's a starting point. Another helpful thing that goes along with that is finding a clone recipe for the commercial example you're drinking, and looking at that while you're sampling too.

 

[MalFet]

One thing that has really helped me (and especially the missus) -- Anytime I buy beer now I'll buy two different kinds so I can do a side-by-side. Early on, keep the contrasts obvious by buying very different beers, like a brown ale and an IPA. Gradually, you can start comparing different beers of the same style, so a get a Stone IPA and a Dogfishhead 60 minute. You can read some reviews on beer advocate, if you're looking for vocabulary to describe certain things you're tasting check out the BJCP like Warped mentioned, and possibly also beeradvocate(though I think those guys are just making it up half the time). If you want a specific trait to be highlighted, let us know and we can probably recommend two different beers.

 

[bschoenb]

Biggest advice I got on my first brew from an old timer.... "relax; let it sit and walk away" Apparently it's a common thing the first time, we all want it "NOW".... let it sit for three weeks in the primary... bottle it up and let that sit for three weeks...

Then taste it.. big changes occur in the taste from the beggining to the end.

 

[birvine]

I would agree with the above about timing. That being said, it can be interesting to sample a beer as it matures and softens in taste. Your experience in tasting will develop over time and you'll know the answers to your questions. When you brew a certain type or buy a certain type, research it first so you'll see how they describe it and when you taste it you'll think, "Ahhh, that is malty and this is hoppy."

B