I have finished my first home brew and would like to thank everyone on this site as every time I had a question and googled it, I was always directed to theses threads. I avoided posting before it was done because I see how newbies get initiated lol. My first one was ,not an american light like I see most newbies wanting to do, but rather an Oktoberfest. It turned out pretty good. Here are the mistakes that I know I made.
1) I poured the syrup in too fast while the brewpot was still on the heat
-This resulted in me spending the entire hour collecting the black flaky
burned syrup out of the pot that was floating all around.
2) I broke my hydrometer and never got a starting SG. I then broke my
replacement and by the time I got an SG it was an ending one as
fermentation pretty much was wrapped up after 5 days.
3) Like every new brewer I was impatient. 5 days in primary, 7 days in
secondary, and a week of bottle conditioning and I was opening bottles for
me and friends to enjoy.
4) Lots of yeast in the bottles. The first few I just drank it. Then I would
throw the bottom 1/4 of the bottle out. I learned from someone here to
just pour it in a glass and it is delicious.
So while it turned out awesome, I do see how a longer fermentation would have cleaned the beer up a lot more. I hope another new brewer catches a tip or two from me and other newbies and makes great beer themselves. I have a blonde ale fermenting now and will probably just leave it in primary for 3 weeks and be done.
Any suggestions on a great beer to do next?
1) I poured the syrup in too fast while the brewpot was still on the heat
-This resulted in me spending the entire hour collecting the black flaky
burned syrup out of the pot that was floating all around.
2) I broke my hydrometer and never got a starting SG. I then broke my
replacement and by the time I got an SG it was an ending one as
fermentation pretty much was wrapped up after 5 days.
3) Like every new brewer I was impatient. 5 days in primary, 7 days in
secondary, and a week of bottle conditioning and I was opening bottles for
me and friends to enjoy.
4) Lots of yeast in the bottles. The first few I just drank it. Then I would
throw the bottom 1/4 of the bottle out. I learned from someone here to
just pour it in a glass and it is delicious.
So while it turned out awesome, I do see how a longer fermentation would have cleaned the beer up a lot more. I hope another new brewer catches a tip or two from me and other newbies and makes great beer themselves. I have a blonde ale fermenting now and will probably just leave it in primary for 3 weeks and be done.
Any suggestions on a great beer to do next?
