My first HB

[neohistory]

Okay...so I've been quiet on the forums because I was waiting on my first beer to finish. The record shows that I had high starting temps because, being a newb, I rushed to get started. I didn't incorporate the swamp cooler until the 2nd batch (which bottling day is tomorrow) and I've been so crazy busy with 18 hours of classes, it's been sitting.

The recipe I was confused about what to choose, and not to mention I scaled down to 1 gallon recipes. After further opinion searching on this, the 5 gallon is cheaper to do and I realize that now.

The recipe I did was random...
Safale US-05 yeast
about 1 lb and 10 oz of Coopers LME Light
Probably half a pound or so of the Crystal 40 (I screwed up in boiling and did it in the middle of the boil instead of at the start, newb ******* again)
I did 1oz Chinook 11% at 60, .25oz 30 then did the specialty grain. After that I did at 15, .50 oz Northern (8%) acidity then I think 8 mins .25

There is a faint chill haze, glasstop sucks

The smell is almost fruity, the taste is a hint of fruity ester, but chinook has all that acid so it's almost Pale ale like. Northern Brewer...uhh not sure what it's doing, i guess for aroma? This bottle was at 3 weeks (a day shy of 3 weeks) and the head sucked. There is carbonation but lacking, there is some lacing on the glass.

After 6 sips, man that chinook is strong, but it's a different kind of bite compared to the store bought PA, but it's not like an IPA.

All in all...I would rate this a newb attempt of course, as I have no advance beer palette to compare the taste. The color is light amber, which is just fine.

Soooo...another week? 2 weeks to store?

Thank you for reading, comments, criticisms welcome.

 

[lowtones84]

Yeah, I'd wait another week or two before passing judgement too much. I'm no expert but that sure seems like a lot of hops for a one gallon batch, if I'm reading your post correctly. There's not too much point in doing another addition at 30 minutes either, but probably wouldn't hurt anything. If you like hop aroma, an addition at 5 minutes or at flameout (when you take it off the heat) is pretty standard for IPA's etc.

Other than that, sounds like you know where your mistakes are. Steep the grain first, -do not- boil it. Steep around 150-165 degrees for 20-30 minutes, take the grains out (either have them in a muslin bag or get them out with a strainer...kind of a pain) and then bring your water to a boil and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Keep doing research on this forum, look into buying a 5 gallon extract recipe kit and a fermenting vessel/airlock etc. capable of holding the volume, and keep trying! I'm sure some other, more experienced home brewers will chime in as well.

Have fun!

 

[marubozo]

At least you're on the right track and have identified missteps. Give it a little more time and it will probably improve. Now just take what you've learned and make that next batch even better.

 

[RM-MN]

Let me see if I have this right. You did a 1 gallon batch consisting of 1 pound plus 10 ounces of liquid malt extract and half a pound of Crystal 40. That seems like enough Crystal 40 for a 5 gallon batch and it would be steeped and then removed before boiling so it added color and flavor.

At the start of your boil you added 1 oz of Chinook at 11% alpha acid, which I would expect for a 5 gallon batch, not 1 gallon and that would be plenty bitter for me. Then you added more hops yet during the boil at 30, 15 and 8. Those would have contributed some flavor and a bit of aroma, but also some bitterness. It looks to me like you made a real hop bomb. The bitterness will fade a bit with time but that batch is always going to be very bitter.

For your next brew, assuming you have the equipment needed for a 5 gallon batch, start with a kit and follow the directions except leave it in the fermenter longer than the instructions say. The kit maker wants to sell you another kit so they minimize the time in the fermenter. You want good beer so you leave it ferment until the yeast have had time to complete their job. I'd suggest a minimum of 2 weeks in the fermenter and I think 3 or 4 would be better. Then it needs time in the bottle to carbonate and for the flavors to meld. One week usually will get you carbonation but the beer won't have the best flavor. 2 to 3 weeks in the bottle will improve it. Darker beers and beers with more alcohol take even longer to mature.

 

[neohistory]

I just thought I would update on this thread referring to this batch. The beer was not that great starting out after about 1 month or so of sitting in the bottle. My capper went bad halfway through bottling, and some were not capped correctly, leaving CO2 to leak out and give it the oxidated taste.

I left about 4 bottles in the closet for about 2 more months (forgot really) and tried the beer again. Holy cow it was so much better! It was almost like a pale ale, or even an IPA but not as bitter. The alcohol content was amazingly strong, probably didn't measure something right. But yea, if your beer taste green, put it back and let it mean!!!!