Drop Some Knowledge on Me!

[patsoxbru6]

My buddy and I are brand new brewers. Like really brand new. Like we started 3 weeks ago. Recently we racked our beer from the primary fermentor to the carboy. While we were doing this we decided to try some of our unfinished product. To our dismay it tasted incredibly watered down. Is this a normal thing? Should we be worried? There were no off tastes so that comforted me a little. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Jokes?

 

[BierMuncher]

Tasting wort out of the primary is like tasting dry cake mix out of the box and wondering why it doesn't taste like cake.

Full fermentation, clearing, chilling and carbonation all add depth and complexity to your beer.

From a learning process, it's not a bad idea to taste your new product along the way...but don't have high expectations. Just do it to learn.

 

[patsoxbru6]

Whew! Thats a load off. Thanks man. I am really looking forward to this finished product.

 

[mrtrav]

Tasting wort out of the primary is like tasting dry cake mix out of the box and wondering why it doesn't taste like cake.

Haha, that's the best analogy I have heard.

 

[Palefire]

You guys brewed your first batch 3 weeks ago and it's not all gone yet?! Well done! Most people tend to bottle their first brew after 1.5 weeks, then drink it in another week. Even though it tastes kinda nasty.

And you'll see, once its carbed up and chilled, etc (all that stuff BierMucher mentioned) it'll taste like real beer.

 

[sea2summit3]

My buddy and I are brand new brewers. Like really brand new. Like we started 3 weeks ago. Recently we racked our beer from the primary fermentor to the carboy. While we were doing this we decided to try some of our unfinished product. To our dismay it tasted incredibly watered down. Is this a normal thing? Should we be worried? There were no off tastes so that comforted me a little. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Jokes?

You beer will be fine! Consider a good hydrometer ($7?) as your next investment, though. Its a great tool to help you learn and will give you the ability to tell whether your beer doesn't have enough sugars (tastes "watered down") for the stronger tasting beer your looking for. Until then, enjoy!

 

[Homercidal]

What was the recipe? Watered down is not a rare thing for green beer to taste like, but to give you an idea if it will improve, we'll need to see what you did. Some "kits" have you use a good amount of sugar, which will certainly cause some watering down to occur, and sadly, it won't get better. Other kits recommend all malt and they are often much better, but they can vary by style.

At this point the best thing to do is to keep reading and learning and get anther batch going quickly as possible and prep to drink that first batch soon.

 

[patsoxbru6]

I really appreciate everyones feedback. We are going to bottle this weekend. Then after we let it sit for a few weeks I'll let you know how it tastes.