DirtyJersey
Well-Known Member
I'm in the middle of drinking my first batch now. It was an extract kit from Midwest Supplies (Irish Red Ale), which I allowed to ferment in the primary for 3 weeks and in the secondary for 1 week. I bottled after 4 weeks.
I received two cases of brand new bottles with my brew kit, but I rinsed and sanitized each bottle on my bottling day. I followed the bottling instructions that came with the kit and took much of the advice found on this website.
Now that I've gone through the first case of my first brew, I've noticed that there is an inconsistency among the beers. My very first beer was very good....looking back, I probably thought it was better than it actually was because I was just excited that I made beer. It had a slight bubblegum taste, but that was after 10 days of conditioning. I allowed the rest of the bottles to condition for 3 weeks. Now that all of the bottles have conditioned for 3-4 weeks, I've noticed that each bottle tastes slightly different. Some are very good. Some have a hint of bubblegum. Some have a hint of a metallic taste. Some are a bit more bitter than others.
I suppose inconsistency is part of homebrewing, but also due to my lack of experience. But what would cause such a drastic difference from bottle to bottle if all of the bottles were treated exactly the same?
I received two cases of brand new bottles with my brew kit, but I rinsed and sanitized each bottle on my bottling day. I followed the bottling instructions that came with the kit and took much of the advice found on this website.
Now that I've gone through the first case of my first brew, I've noticed that there is an inconsistency among the beers. My very first beer was very good....looking back, I probably thought it was better than it actually was because I was just excited that I made beer. It had a slight bubblegum taste, but that was after 10 days of conditioning. I allowed the rest of the bottles to condition for 3 weeks. Now that all of the bottles have conditioned for 3-4 weeks, I've noticed that each bottle tastes slightly different. Some are very good. Some have a hint of bubblegum. Some have a hint of a metallic taste. Some are a bit more bitter than others.
I suppose inconsistency is part of homebrewing, but also due to my lack of experience. But what would cause such a drastic difference from bottle to bottle if all of the bottles were treated exactly the same?