Brand New Brewer

[SwampLand]

Hey everyone,
I'm glad to be getting into this new hobby and getting involved in this community. I got into brewing because my best friend who knows my love for beer got me a standard starter kit from Northern Brewer. I am a college senior studying Chemistry, so I'm very excited to learn the science of what makes beer flavors tick.
So enough about me. Time for my concern. I tried my first brew, an amber ale, with a co-worker who brews as well. I popped my first top today and it was HORRIBLE. Don't worry, I'm not throwing in the towel or anything I'm just kind of bummed and want to learn. So here were two of my big mistakes. Primarily, from reading some more I've come to realize the importance of your fermenting temperature. I kept my fermenting bucket in a cabinet next to the dishwasher. I don't think heated dry did my fermentation too well. DOH! Secondly I maaaaay have skipped the priming process. The package was not very explicit about this process. So basically I'm sipping flat beer. The only other thing was I stored my beer in the fridge sideways after bottling, while this didn't matter too much because they didn't carbonate at all, I read the sediment would have mixed in.
My question to you guys is my "beer" tasted very bitter and not too much like beer at all. Would these problems I spilled to you guys be the sole cause of this poor tasting beer? Or am I missing something else? Some common problem that would cause this?

Thanks guys!

 

[BrewinHooligan]

My brewery is my chemistry set so I think you have a good background for brewing. My first batch fermented too hot and was my only bad batch as a result, but they keep getting better. If you stored the beer in the fridge right after bottling, there is no chance it would carb up. 3 weeks at 70f after priming and capping is a good baseline, but I have had some carb much faster. You definitely want to store the bottles upright and avoid pouring the sediment or yeast into the glass as it can lead to unpleasant flavors and intestinal distress. Carbonation is a main component to the flavor of beer, so if these aren't carbonated it is unlikely they will taste right. If you have a homebrew store close by, I would suggest getting some carb drops and pop the caps, add the right amount of drops, and re-cap so they can carb up after a few weeks. After a few months the off flavors of my first batch had faded quite a bit so some more time in the bottles will probably heal some of your beer wounds.

 

[JLem]

Welcome to the hobby and to HBT.

Fermentation temp is huge, so it is hard to say what else may be wrong if you didn't keep the temps down. You'll want your temps to be in the 65-70F range. But since fermentation is an exothermic process, this means you need to keep your fermenter between 60-65F ambient. Tough to do sometimes, especially in the summer, but there are ways (look up 'swamp cooler')

If you did prime your bottles and then throw them in the fridge you'll also have flat beer. Once you bottle, you need to keep them at room temp for a few weeks to vgt proper carbonation.

If you don't have a hard copy of How to Brew, check out the first edition online for free - www.howtobrew.com

Good luck with your next batch!