First brew, does this seem right?

[dooperu]

just brewed my first IPA and first beer. The beer looks great and had a great smell. i could smell the aroma in my room and everything seemed great. I just took my 3rd SG reading and the beer smelled a lot like cider. is anything going wrong???

hydrometer readings
initial SG: 1.057 (6/13)
2nd SG: 1.020 (6/20)
3rd SG: 1.018 (6/24)

if things seem to be going right...holler, if things seem off?...? holler
thanks

-Eric

 

[SavageSteve]

Your beer is fine. It's very young at this point, and will change in odor and flavor as it ages. After its bottled, carbonated and conditioned for several weeks, I bet it will taste great.

Congrats on the first brew!

-Steve

 

[Yooper]

It sounds pretty good so far! As far as the "cider" smell, sometimes young beer has the taste and smell of "green apple". That is described by John Palmer, in howtobrew.com here:

Acetaldehyde
A flavor of green apples or freshly cut pumpkin; it is an intermediate compound in the formation of alcohol. Some yeast strains produce more than others, but generally it's presence indicates that the beer is too young and needs more time to condition.

How does your beer taste? If it tastes like warm, flat, slighty yeasty beer, then it's perfectly fine!

 

[cvstrat]

You are good to go Now the hard part, waiting for it to get all delicous and stuff.

If this is your first beer I have some recommendations. Take a gravity reading every other day and drink the sample. You're going to notice several things. First of all you get really good at taking gravity readings, you see that no bubbles doesn't indicate the end of fermentation, you can calculate your ABV, yeast attenuation, and other fun stuff if you like.

The main thing IMO is that you get to taste beer at all of its stages. It pretty mind blowing some of the flavors that come and go. It's a pretty sweet journey. When It's time to bottle put a six pack aside. Chill one and drink it every 3-4 days. This gives you the opportunity to analyze the carbonation process, and see again how green flavors dissapear over time. You're gonna have the urge to do it anyway, might as well be structured and learn some stuff. That way when your next beer comes you will be confident that it tastes how it should, won't have to worry, and won't be tempted to open a bottle after 5 days.

Good luck!

 

[dooperu]

you guys are all swell!!! thanks again!!!!