I think it tastes sweet and bitter at the same time (since you can taste the harsh bitterness from the hops, and also the sweet wort) but I've never thought of it as "grainy". Of course, it makes sense that it would taste grainy, because of how it's made. Maybe I just never thought of it that way!
Some grains also taste more grainy than others, if that makes sense. What was your recipe? How did it go for you? My first one went pretty smoothly, after all the reading I did here on HBT, but I was very nervous about how it would come out!
It was BlindLemonLars squeeze My Lemon Summer Blonde:
Amount Item
5.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
2.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min)
1.00 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min)
2.00 oz Fresh Lemon Zest (Boil 5.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04)
It went pretty smooth except for when I ordered the grain bill, I left off the crystal, because I have some on hand...of course that only works when you remember to add it on brew day. Oh well...perhaps the wife will like it more this way...
This is going to be a long 6 weeks.