Beer will never taste the same again...

[venquessa]

After drinking my own brews for about 3 weeks, I opened a can of Stella lager last night.

It tastes totally different to me now. Before I never tasted hops, didn't really know what they tasted of, but now I could clearly smell and taste at least one, probably several different hops. I suspect this is as a result of having now handled fresh (vacuum packed) hops, measured out and boiled hops for an hour, then tasted wort with hops fresh, and after 2 weeks. Suppose I know what they taste and smell like now on their own my sense of taste can pick them out much easier.

Obviously the Stella was much more mature, clean, sharp and carbonated than any of my drunk-too-young brews, but still I like my brews.

Can't wait till the 2 brews where I actually added the hops are ready to drink. One is bottling this Saturday, so... 2-3 weeks to wait...

My first made up on my own (with lots of help and inspiration) Irish Red recipe is actually starting to look red even in the FV. Can't wait, but it's got at least another 2 weeks to go in the FV.

 

[EdMerican]

You actually get it! Awesome. I cannot recount how many posts I have read where someone has been extract brewing for a couple years, but doesn't have the salt to formulate their own recipes. I think i made 2 kits, then started creating my own. After not more than 4 extract "on my own" brews, I moved to stove top all grain and there has been no turning back since. There have been a couple less than satisfactory results, but all very drinkable. The key is to research what other people are doing for a particular style and see if you can improve on a recipe. Research in this field is particularly enjoyable, as you get to taste the results every step of the way. You, my friend are on the right track!

Be not afraid! The worst that I have come across so far is brewing a beer that I wasn't terribly fond of due to less than expected results, but was still pretty damn good. And the folks that didn't know what I was REALLY going for gave it rave reviews.

Experience is key. I, personally, learn better from mistakes than from successes. The hardest thing to learn in brewing, IMO, is patience. If a brew isnt terribly good when bottle carbing "should" be done, give it a month. Or even a week, really. It is super cool to have a greater insight into the way a beer matures. Case in point, I made a chocolate coffee oatmeal stout that was good on the first run. But it needed a little something more, I thought. So I reformulated it with a lot more of this, a little less of that. After 2 weeks in the bottle it was awful. Liquor hot and ZERO coffee or chocolate presence. A few weeks later, it was a respectable Export Strength Stout but still no coffee or chocolate. Two weeks after that (yesterday, actually) coffee and chocolate are becoming very present. The rowdy liquor hotness has gone away completely, and I think I may have very close to a winning final recipe. If after a couple more weeks it gets amazing, I will post results and the recipe.

I personally think the key is to brew and brew often. Make (or emulate) some kits or proven recipes to have beer to drink while you patiently wait experiments to come into their own. Worst case scenario you wind up with a batch that is pretty good, but not what you were going for. Best case scenario is you get lucky and hit it dead on, and have something to brew regularly.

Good luck, and get brewing!

 

[BruBrus]

[what Ed said]