First AG...

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

tastes like pi$$....That's all. Just wanted to share. Have a great night all!

 

[jdoiv]

Wow. So you succeeded in cloning BMC. Great job.

 

[beerbuddy]

When did you taste it?

My first AG tasted like $hit when it went into primary 10 days later when I transferred to secondary it already tasted like my best brew to date. I have not started drinking it yet planning on taping it for the Super Bowl.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

When did you taste it?

Brewed on 12/13...I've been tasting it every few days since about 1/07. It's already in the keg. My temps were off on the mash (too high), I didn't vorlauf very well and had grain in my primary/secondary, added an extra ounce of 4 year old cascades at 60min, boiled off a lot more than I thought I would...Just a bad brew day all over.

 

[Yooper]

Well, that just sucks.

Sorry to hear your first AG brew isn't very good. I bet the second will be excellent!

 

[Schlenkerla]

I had a low extraction on number #1. (Brown Ale) Luckly the style allows for brown sugar. I'm estimating I raised the OG from 1.030 to 1.038. I did so in the 2ndary.

Next batch have one or two lbs of DME at the ready!!!

 

[Seabee John]

Don't feel bad... my first AG went to **** as well....part of getting to know your system I guess. I'll be kegging #'s 2&3 this weekend. I'll report back in a week.

 

[slnies]

Yup, so did mine. I didn't even let it go to bottling. If one is all that ends up bad you are in good shape. S.

 

[abracadabra]

MY first attempt was a fiasco too. But the beer turned out OK. Hang in there it get easier and better.

Just curious: How do you know what piss tastes like?

 

[abracadabra]

My first AG tasted like $hit when it went into primary .

Really? Never tasted $hit before myself. Is it bad? The smell's enough to keep me from tasting it.

Sorry couldn't stop myself

 

[brewnman]

At least its all up hill from here

 

[njnear76]

I'll be bottling my first AG tomorrow. Since it was fermenting at my brother-in-law's... I haven't tried it yet. Hopefully it will be ok.

I hope you have better luck next time.

Mike

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Just curious: How do you know what piss tastes like?

Sadly, as a wee lad I had a few BMC's! This is worse!

 

[finchlake]

I'm drinking my first AG, I'm not very impressed. It's a blonde and has a smell and a taste that goes along with that smell. I'm not sure if it's esters, (I've read about them, but not sure if that 's it) Maybe it will inprove with age. It's about 6 weeks old. I'm kind of like like you, If this is AG I think I will go back to extract.

 

[beergears]

I am going to try my first AG soon... you all got me nervous now, damn.


Can I just follow Palmer's howtobrew AG?

Would you suggest a better guide, or maybe parts of Palmer's you did not agree with?

 

[njnear76]

I am going to try my first AG soon... you all got me nervous now, damn.


Can I just follow Palmer's howtobrew AG?

Would you suggest a better guide, or maybe parts of Palmer's you did not agree with?

Yes and get a good waterproof digital thermometer and buy some dry malt extract. You can use my directions if you like. I based them off Palmer's guide and other people's advice.

 

[beergears]

njnear76,

Cool, I did not realize the web calculator could be working as local standalone (sans net connection).

 

[njnear76]

njnear76,

Cool, I did not realize the web calculator could be working as local standalone (sans net connection).

Hmmm... I guess it could still work as long you don't clear out your web history.

I think some day I might make a standalone brewing software. We'll see.

 

[finchlake]

I've been trying to diagnose the off flavor in my first AG. One thought is this is the first time I used my home water. I use RO water for all of my extract and PM brews. I was reading that RO water didn't have the necessary minerals and such for a full AG brew, so I used tap water instead. This may? have contributed to the off flavor?

 

[jeff967]

Finchlake,
dont give up, Swartz tap water is working ok on this side of the river. hows your mash temps?

 

[finchlake]

I actually hit it higher than I wanted too, 158*. This was my first time in the new mash tern. It held temp better than I expected.

I guess I should claify, the beer taste OK and has good mouthfeel when you take a big drink, but it has this odd smell when poured into the glass.

Also, substituted a different yeast than the recipe called for, used California Ale V yeast. Could be a yeast smell I'm not use too.

Being a newbee it's hard to identify the different taste and smells, you can read about esters, Phenolic characteristics, Yeast types, etc. from reading about them. Words just don't relate to taste and smell, It would be nice to have smell-a-web or a mentor to say this is what a Phenolic smells like.

 

[njnear76]

Heh. I think that's what I hit too. I was trying for 154F and after I closed the mash tun, the dairy thermometer went up to 158F. Shrug.

Anyways, I got really lucky. I packaged the beer the other day, and it tasted very good. Next time I will try to hit my mash temperature. Hopefully this will be easier with a digital thermometer.

Mike