It's Beer Thread # 4080

[batches_brew]

So I just had my own "It's beer!" moment. I'm planning on racking to secondary tonight so I popped off the airlock for a second to see if the krausen fell. I took a whiff and if that didn't smell like some good beer, I don't know what does.

What a tease. Now I have to wait for another 5 weeks. At least it smells good at this point. Still a lot of ways to screw up from here, but I'm gonna keep on keeping on, trying to be as conscientious about doing my steps right.

 

[Orfy]

Props on the waiting 5 weeks.
I presume that is 2 to clear and condition and 3 to bottle carb.


It's good practice to sample at every stage, going in to the secondary and when bottling.

Never waste a Hydro sample.

Well done on the first beer. What is it?

 

[batches_brew]

Props on the waiting 5 weeks.
I presume that is 2 to clear and condition and 3 to bottle carb.

Exactly. It's hard to wait, but I'd rather get in the habit of doing things the right way.

I'm a little nervous now but whatever. I'm optimistic and mistakes are to learn from.

It's a Southern English Brown Ale. My OG was 1.041 and my secondary is 1.016. Seems a little high but I don't know what to shoot for. I was hoping for a FG of 1.010 but now I don't know.

It tasted OK but there seemed to be a heavy fruitiness to it. Hopefully that will mellow out during conditioning. I'm not sure how well I kept the temp. It could have been a little high in the seventies for a minute but I kept it at 65-75 most of the time. Hopefully I didn't get too much fluctuation.

Only time will tell.

I'm thinking about doing a hefeweizen next because it's still hot and I hear they do a little better in higher temps.

 

[batches_brew]

Ah yeah!

 

[EvilTOJ]

Actually it's thread number 74857, but who's counting?

 

[Orfy]

The high temps can cause esters that have a fruity taste .
It will mellow with age.

You'll probably find the last bottle you drink is the best.

Only one solution.

Brew more!

 

[elkdog]

Congrats on making beer! There's nothing quite like realizing that you've actually done it, except perhaps for taking the first sip of your cold, carbonated brew. A few more weeks and a good chill will do wonders for it.

 

[HOOTER]

Ah yeah!

Looks purdy! Nice job.

 

[batches_brew]

Looks purdy! Nice job.

thank you, sir. Thanks everyone on for your comments. Now to decide what to brew next since I have quite a wait ahead of me.