ConnorPPrice
Active Member
Hey everyone, I'm on my first brew, so quite the newbie but felt like everything went pretty well until just a bit ago. I think I know what your all going to tell me, but cant help but ask anyway. Please forgive my lengthy post but I figure the more detail I give now the easier it will be to diagnose my issue.
I brewed an IPA for my first go at this, a kit from my LHBS, extract with specialty grains for steeping. I fermented in my carboy, 9 days in I threw in the dry hop addition, and at 17 days I bottled. I know that's a bit on the short side generally but the kit called for one week in primary then one in secondary for dry hopping and being my first brew I was a bit impatient. I didn't actually rack to a secondary because the guy at the LHBS and I got to talking and he forgot to give me the top to the bucket fermenter and I forgot to ask. That shouldn't be a big deal though, the two and a half weeks in the carboy should have been fine.
Last night I put one of my bottles into the fridge after 6 days of conditioning, again I know that's early but I just wanted to try it and figured it'd still be a bit green. I left it in there for 3 hours or so and popped the top with dinner. Upon hearing that perfect "pfft" that I'm used to and seeing some bubbles form at the top of the brew I was pretty excited, thinking that it was more carbonated than I thought it would be so I poured my glass and took a sip. BEAUTIFUL! Great hop aroma, wonderful taste, crisp finish, everything I could ask for. It wasn't the greatest IPA ever or anything, but its not something I'd be even remotely disappointed in buying. So even though I knew they still needed more time I tossed 6 more in the fridge since that one had been so good.
Fast forward to this evening... I crack open another when I got home. It sounds right, looks right, head forms nicely on the pour and has great head retention. But then of course there had to be problems; the aroma is lacking with just a bit of hops, the flavor tastes right but incredibly subdued and bland. Overall it wasn't bad or unpleasant, it didn't taste off like I hear about infections but it was just "meh".
What is with the inconsistency? Is it just because I didn't condition like I should? That's my hunch, but I'm a bit thrown off because the carbonation still seemed just right in the second beer that was pretty boring.
I brewed an IPA for my first go at this, a kit from my LHBS, extract with specialty grains for steeping. I fermented in my carboy, 9 days in I threw in the dry hop addition, and at 17 days I bottled. I know that's a bit on the short side generally but the kit called for one week in primary then one in secondary for dry hopping and being my first brew I was a bit impatient. I didn't actually rack to a secondary because the guy at the LHBS and I got to talking and he forgot to give me the top to the bucket fermenter and I forgot to ask. That shouldn't be a big deal though, the two and a half weeks in the carboy should have been fine.
Last night I put one of my bottles into the fridge after 6 days of conditioning, again I know that's early but I just wanted to try it and figured it'd still be a bit green. I left it in there for 3 hours or so and popped the top with dinner. Upon hearing that perfect "pfft" that I'm used to and seeing some bubbles form at the top of the brew I was pretty excited, thinking that it was more carbonated than I thought it would be so I poured my glass and took a sip. BEAUTIFUL! Great hop aroma, wonderful taste, crisp finish, everything I could ask for. It wasn't the greatest IPA ever or anything, but its not something I'd be even remotely disappointed in buying. So even though I knew they still needed more time I tossed 6 more in the fridge since that one had been so good.
Fast forward to this evening... I crack open another when I got home. It sounds right, looks right, head forms nicely on the pour and has great head retention. But then of course there had to be problems; the aroma is lacking with just a bit of hops, the flavor tastes right but incredibly subdued and bland. Overall it wasn't bad or unpleasant, it didn't taste off like I hear about infections but it was just "meh".
What is with the inconsistency? Is it just because I didn't condition like I should? That's my hunch, but I'm a bit thrown off because the carbonation still seemed just right in the second beer that was pretty boring.