Don't give up on home brewing

[EPS]

I just took a hydrometer sample of my second batch of home brew. Been in primary for almost a week. And i tasted the sample and its great taste better then my bottled first batch. The first batch i didn't get a great beer maby a bud light quality beer. So i was like this isn't worth it for the taste i'm getting. But reading the fourms i made a couple changes to my second batch. Such as no corn sugar to ferment just straight LME and DME. Also pitched yeast at a lower temp vs 1st batch high temp pitch. Also fermented at a much lower temp 19c vs 1st batch 28c. The difference is amazing when i tasted hydrometer sample of 1st batch it was horrible. Only through bottle conditioning did 1st batch become drinkable. But the hydometer sample i just took of 2nd batch is great tasting and is not even done fermenting yet. So just wanted to thank everyone here for all there great advice. And helping me through my 1st brewing experience. And giving me the tips to make my second batch so much better. Plan on trying partial mash kits soon and now can't wait to brew my own great tasting beer. THANKS ALL CHEERS!!!!

 

[david_42]

Good to hear! My first batch was so bad that the garbage disposal puked! It was a thing called Brewsack. Plastic bag + hot water, then yeast when it cooled. Very, very bad.

 

[BoxofRain]

Thumbs up! Keep on trucking brother. Don't get discouraged. Just read and brew, read and brew. I'm so happy I stuck with everything.

 

[Wiezer]

Sounds good. Try not to drink it all before it's done fermenting.

 

[EPS]

I just took a hydrometer sample of my second batch of home brew. Been in primary for almost a week. And i tasted the sample and its great taste better then my bottled first batch. The first batch i didn't get a great beer maby a bud light quality beer. So i was like this isn't worth it for the taste i'm getting. But reading the fourms i made a couple changes to my second batch. Such as no corn sugar to ferment just straight LME and DME. Also pitched yeast at a lower temp vs 1st batch high temp pitch. Also fermented at a much lower temp 19c vs 1st batch 28c. The difference is amazing when i tasted hydrometer sample of 1st batch it was horrible. Only through bottle conditioning did 1st batch become drinkable. But the hydometer sample i just took of 2nd batch is great tasting and is not even done fermenting yet. So just wanted to thank everyone here for all there great advice. And helping me through my 1st brewing experience. And giving me the tips to make my second batch so much better. Plan on trying partial mash kits soon and now can't wait to brew my own great tasting beer. THANKS ALL CHEERS!!!!

Without beer, life would be a mistake.

 

[donjr721]

that's great, don't be like me. i think i'm only gonna end up with 4 gallons instead of 5. i keep getting samples (daily) for gravity reading (to drink). the stuff is goooooood. gonna bottle this weekend Irish Stout. hoorah

 

[EPS]

Yeah it feels so great when you get a great tasting hydrometer sample. I'm gonna try an oatmeal stout partial mash next. Love stouts

 

[Golddiggie]

Seems like every batch is better than the one before... Learning the processes takes a few batches, so usually the first two, while they can be good, are not what you'll end up making on a regular basis.

 

[RM-MN]

that's great, don't be like me. i think i'm only gonna end up with 4 gallons instead of 5. i keep getting samples (daily) for gravity reading (to drink). the stuff is goooooood. gonna bottle this weekend Irish Stout. hoorah

Try to save some for a couple months. if you think it tastes good now, in a couple months it will knock your socks off.

 

[petey_c]

I'm glad your beers are starting to work out. It sucks to start this quest with crappy results. BTW, when did NC go to Celsius? (Joking)

 

[EPS]

Alot of people use celsius and my my thermometer on my fermenter is in Celsius. Never even knew how to read celsius untill i started home brewing. Its funny what you'll learn when your interested in something.

 

[Golddiggie]

When it comes to air temp, or liquid temps, I still think in F... Just can't wrap my head around converting over to C... Takes more thinking to convert it over, where it would be easier to just get the reading in F from the start.

I will say that I look at computer temps in C... I know where the tolerances are there, so it's easier on that end. But, I don't think of them as actual temperatures that I'll feel, just what it is inside the case. Like I know I want my servers processor temps to be in the 20-30C range. If they go over ~30C I get concerned. Video cards, are good until they start getting over 70C. What those temperatures actually feel like, I have almost NO idea.. I think our pool was about 85F when the thermometer read in the 30C range... IF I remember correctly...

So, my brewing temps are still in F, even on the fermenters. All the stick-on thermometers I have read both scales. The thermometers I use while brewing (inside the wort and such) can read either, but I always look at the F scales. Just too old to convert over at this point... Or I'm saving brain resources for learning new things to help my brewing, and/or career forward. :rockin: Now if only they could be the exact same thing...

 

[jonmohno]

Its pretty cool also when you drink one of your brews and know what you can do to make it better next time, always make notes, I recommend writing everything down you did times water type wether you strained your wort times temps amout of yeast.... and so on it really helps with what hops you like more or yeast grains... each time you can make it better the next this way.

 

[Golddiggie]

Its pretty cool also when you drink one of your brews and know what you can do to make it better next time, always make notes, I recommend writing everything down you did times water type wether you strained your wort times temps amout of yeast.... and so on it really helps with what hops you like more or yeast grains... each time you can make it better the next this way.

+2 on that.

Keeping a good brew log is important... I have all my brews entered into Beer Smith, plus in my physical brew log book. I also have my meads and other fermentations in my brew log (Beer Smith isn't really setup for those yet, or I've not done it there)... Knowing what you did at each step helps you to repeat the brew later. Or improve it for the next time you make it. Things like temp of the mash when you started the rest, as well as what it was at the end helps. Sparge time and temp also helps. Anything you put into the wort during the boil should also be listed with when it was added and how much. I don't list how much yeast was pitched in, since it's usually either a package with X size starter, or a harvested slurry...