Wait until I've tasted my first batch before starting another?

[gannawdm]

I bottled my first batch of canned Coopers IPA 5 days ago (Christmas Day). Just to get an idea of how the taste changes as it conditions in the bottle, I plan to try one this weekend and then one every weekend after that.

I enjoyed the brewing process and was considering brewing up another batch this weekend. I wanted to try a partial mash just because brewing with a can o' syrup seemed a little bit like cheating (like eating a TV dinner).

Am I moving too fast? Would it be wise to wait until my first batch is finished so that I have the opportunity to learn from any mistakes I may have made?

 

[bob1852]

I bottled my first batch of canned Coopers IPA 5 days ago (Christmas Day). Just to get an idea of how the taste changes as it conditions in the bottle, I plan to try one this weekend and then one every weekend after that.

I enjoyed the brewing process and was considering brewing up another batch this weekend. I wanted to try a partial mash just because brewing with a can o' syrup seemed a little bit like cheating (like eating a TV dinner).

Am I moving too fast? Would it be wise to wait until my first batch is finished so that I have the opportunity to learn from any mistakes I may have made?

get to brewing man! you've got the bug! feed it, and keep brewing!

Keep reading this forum and if you have any issues, you'll be able to figure them out - but keep brewing! Get that pipeline going!

 

[ChshreCat]

If you wait to taste your first batch, you'll wish you hadn't.

You might find things from the first one you want to change in later brews, but you can change them on brew #3 then.

 

[JoeMama]

Seriously though if you MUST be a beer pedo, at least wait 2 solid weeks before cracking one. We all know the 'rule' is 3 weeks and of course more is better, but save yourself at least one bottle and shoot for 2 weeks. And yes, get to a crackin on that second (and third) batch(es) I have a feeling once you taste your first brew, it will be gone before you know it.

 

[Fingers]

Here's another vote for making more. You have to make a pipeline because things disappear quickly when you get a good one. You may have to drink some beer that isn't up to snuff for a little while, but it's better than having nothing at all and wishing you did! Unless you're collecting beer cans in the ditch to pay tuition, brew away!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I vote you make at LEAST 1 more while you wait...I made 4 batches right away and THOUGHT I had plenty for a while....well I NEED to make more already as my friends really seem to like it.

 

[Want2Brew]

+ 1 more, brew on

 

[kinnasst]

+1 on having beers in the pipeline.

 

[eagle61]

I brewed my 1st batch almost 3 weeks ago. This weekend I will bottle that batch and brew another. Then I may go buy another fermenting bucket so I can brew a 3rd batch before sampling the 1st!

 

[EvilGnome6]

Another vote to get the next batch going. It's all about the pipeline.

And don't feel bad about crack one open at week 1 and week 2. I do that on all my batches to see how they're doing.

 

[ruggierm1]

Don't make the mistake I made. Make more now!!!

 

[BrewRI]

Keep brewing when you can, make a notebook full of...notes.... on the batches you made.

 

[atromic]

Brew as much as you can! Even with 3 fermenters going I'm still having a hard time keeping my pipeline filled. 48 beers seems like a lot, but once you break that first one the floodgates open. I tried my first batch after 6 days in the bottle, within 2 weeks it was half gone, and by 3 weeks I had 5 left. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now, but I still can't seem to make a batch last longer than 4 weeks.

I've started taking my beers to my parents house to carb, just so I'm not tempted to try them for a couple weeks.

 

[chortly]

Go Go Gadget Pipline!

 

[BioBeing]

+1 on getting a new batch going. I was fermenting my third before I tasted my first.

Go ahead and try the PM if you feel up to it. Read Deathbrewer's thread, and you'll be set. It really is not much harder, but does get you into the process. At this rate though, you'll be all grain in no time!

 

[RyanPDX]

I have my 3rd batch going into bottles today, batch 4 is sitting there bubbling away in the primary, batch 5 and 6 will prolly be brewed this weekend.

I waited too long to do batch 3 because I didn't have any bottles, but I now have about 6 cases of empties sitting there waiting to get filled. But I only have a few bottles of the first 2 left. Keep on brewing man.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

And don't feel bad about crack one open at week 1 and week 2. I do that on all my batches to see how they're doing.

yup!! When I started brewing I did this for "educational" purposes. I imagined that when I had more experience under my belt that I would not feel the need to do this any longer. After two years of brewing I am finding the reverse is true. I still sample religiously on every brew at weekly intervals, especially if it's a new recipe.

 

[veeellgee]

Just to be repetitive...+1 on the brewing another!
I so wish I had done that....we are now brewing about 2 batches a week in our house to get a good back log going!!

 

[jlanier01]

Definitely ramp up the pipeline. I make a habit of brewing the same day I bottle.. that way I'll never go longer than 3 weeks without a new batch of beer!

 

[FxdGrMind]

Your first beer was "Beer in a Can".... PM is a next step. Take it NOW!!!

You will not regret taking the step forward in your beer brewing edjucation!

Brew several varieties, not the same thing over and over, learn as much as you can from each batch (what it tastes like at every stage). That kind of learning just can't be had from a book or watching others, its hands on learning at it's best!

I try to have 5-10 gal "Drinkable" at all times and that means keeping the pipeline going! As it takes time to age each beer type, some only 2-3 weeks others 5-6 months!

So start a list of beers you want to brew and start at it! The sooner the better!
Heff's are quick and easy first beers and can be very tasty!
Alt's are great winter beers and relativiely easy and quick.

I'd add one more thing. Partial Mash is your next step, and then Almost AG like a Belgian I brewed this fall, almost no LME or DME. Then you can plan out your trip to AG if that is your desire as you should have many beers to taste by then and have an idea what you like to brew and how yeasts and hops work/tast/react etc.

So get out there and brew it up!

 

[Mountainbeers]

Yea I'm a college student and I sometimes have trouble keeping the pipeline going. There's nothing worse than when a good night for drinking rolls around and you have no homebrew. Once you have a good stockpile, THAT is the time to maybe take some time away from brewing to do other things. You'll find that weekends seem to be more busy than you used to think when you don't have time to brew. If you have the time and the money...BREW AWAY! You will not regret this decision.

 

[jdc2]

Am I moving too fast? Would it be wise to wait until my first batch is finished so that I have the opportunity to learn from any mistakes I may have made?

I could never understand the need to wait for the beer to age when it's
bottled. To me the beer tasted best as soon as it was sufficiently
carbonated (usually 5-7 days) and then went downhill (drier, loses aroma
if you dry hop) pretty fast after that. Probably not true for kegged beer
that has positive CO2 pressure on it all the time so no oxygen is in it.
So in my opinion, you HAVE to try it soon, because you may find you
actually like green beer better than aged beer.
Jim

 

[Willy Boner]

If you want to be "Alcoholicly Independant", you need to brew at least once a week. Just do the math, I brew 7.5 gal batches ( 5 gal. would not keep up). I get about 40-22oz. bottles, 10 days in fermenter,or more, 14 or more in bottles. Even if you only drink 2 a day, that's only 20 days of supply.I still have to buy beer to supplement my intake. I call that research and development.

 

[CiscoKid]

If you haven't gotten the hint yet from everyone - brew NOW and get that pipeline going and you'll be glad that you did.

 

[gannawdm]

Thanks everybody for the input. I will definitely start a new batch today if my brew shop is open. I tried my first Coopers IPA after a week in the bottle. It wasn't as carbonated as I would like. There was no head at all, but it was carbonated a little. I stored them in an unheated room (50-60 degrees), so I'm guessing the yeast will just take longer to work. I'll try another next week and see how things have progressed. The extract was labeled as pre-hopped, but it doesn't taste very hoppy to me. It's not bitter at all.

So now I will search for a good partial mash IPA recipe. I want to try other varieties, but I'd like to try another IPA just to see how it compares to my first attempt.

 

[ChshreCat]

I stored them in an unheated room (50-60 degrees), so I'm guessing the yeast will just take longer to work.

In the 50's, it'll probably take a LOT longer to carbonate. If you can move those to somewhere in the 70's for a couple weeks, it'll go much better.

 

[DanWadeOKC]

For sure go with it. I just bottled a week ago an right when I got the fermenter clean I was off putting another batch in. Too bad I waited two weeks to do it. Should have bought another bucket so I could keep a new batch going every week!

 

[Willy Boner]

For sure go with it. I just bottled a week ago an right when I got the fermenter clean I was off putting another batch in. Too bad I waited two weeks to do it. Should have bought another bucket so I could keep a new batch going every week!

If you are that ready you should try putting your new brew on top of the yeastcake, be sure to have a blowoff tube