Relaxing, and having my own FIRST homebrew

I'm sure many of you can relate to difficulty of waiting until your very first beer is completely conditioned and carbed and really ready to drink. I bottled my first batch on Monday, and it has been taunting me since. So when I went downstairs this morning to check the temps on the stuff I have fermenting now, I decided to put one in the fridge for tonight. Just one, just so I could check it, just so it would quit yelling at me every time I walked by.

So, knowing that it needs more time in the bottle to condition and carb properly, knowing that it needs to be chilled for longer than 8 hours before drinking, knowing that I've got some Lagunita Uncensored and Lakefront Wisconsite chilled and waiting to be consumed, I just opened my first ever homebrew that went grain to glass (well, extract to glass, but still) at my hands...

And it's absolutely amazing Patience is now back, sanity has returned, and I can now survive the next week or two while I let it finish conditioning. I definitely picked the right hobby

 

Congrats & enjoy.

 

Congrats! I still sample one of each of my beers at a week in the bottle and leave the rest to carb fully. As long as you understand that it's just less beer you'll have when it's fully carbed, conditioned, and ready to go, I see no harm in it.

 

Congrats. It sounds like you already have your head on straight. Cheers.

 

I do the same thing - I have one at 1 week, then 2 weeks, then 3... As a new brewer, Its good experience for me to see how beers change with time. Some change a lot! And I dont mind that I have a few less "fully ready" beers at the end. I enjoy them all!

Good work on your first brew!

 

Now you can get another batch fermenting.

 

Welcome to the obsession..! I always give in and have a bottle at the one-week mark so... you're good to go for batch #2..!

 

I have an NB Shining Star Pale Ale in my 6gal BB that was brewed the day after I bottled this batch (Bavarian Hefeweizen, btw), as well as 2 2.5gal batches of a couple of APA recipes I found for experimenting with BIAB. Oh, and a batch of EdWort's Apfelwein in my 5gal BB.

You know what they say...fermenter space is a terrible thing to waste.

 

One way to not 'give in' to trying one early is to buy a lot of beer and/or brew a lot beer. You'll have so much beer that you won't remember this or that beer. A great way to justify getting a lot of beer. Works for me.

 

Oh yea! A little is good, more is better! I live and have almost died by that saying!

 

Well, the way I KNOW I won't be tempted to try more than one before they're ready is my beer shelf in the basement fridge - Lakefront Wisconsinite, Lagunitas Censored, and a couple of Bell's Pale Ales all waiting to be consumed. That'll get me through the workweek.

 

Right on. :rockin:

 

Yes congrats for sure. I still remember my first over a year ago and boy did I enjoy it, until I brewed my next then next then... they just keep getting better. And yes, I sample early as well

Toy4Rick

 

Congrats, the sense of accomplishment can be amazing.

 

Congrats! Nice job!

 

Sweet dude, what was the brew? I only started in January but I decided right away to prevent too much early opening by setting aside 1 six-pack of every batch and drinking a bottle every year on the bottling anniversary; you should do the same. I've got 6 months to go before I reach my first one, and it was kind of a crappy batch, but we'll see what happens.

 

It was NB's Bavarian Hefeweizen extract kit. The most nerve-wracking part was holding the bottle opener there, worried that I wouldn't get the telltale hiss of CO2 escaping when I opened it. All went well though, and in another week or two I'll be chilling a few more. I'll definitely set a few from each batch in an out-of-the-way spot.

Next week I should have my 2nd brew ready to bottle, NB's Shining Star Pale Ale, and I also have a 2.5gal AG Centennial Blonde that should be ready soon. I've got NB's Phat Tyre kit in the fridge ready to go as soon as the 6gal BB is free, and I have another 2.5gal AG batch that I just brewed Sunday (a simple APA). Not sure what my next small batches will be, but I figured getting a few in the pipeline early would be a good move.

 

I'll drink to that!

 

That hiss is the most uplifting sound, to me anyways, when you first crack open a new brew. Then to see that perfect layer of head on top of a perfectly colored home brew is downright poetic. Anyways, glad your first one came out nicely!