First Beer - Would Like Opinion

[s4l]

First off, I want to say thank you to everybody who contributes so much to this forum to make it is what it is.

So, last Tuesday (19Mar13), I brewed up my first batch which is the Irish Red kit from NB using my tap water, since it's not too bad, but no, I don't have the water report. Everything went very well, minus a small boilover. I steeped the spec grains for 20 mins at 150F, brought the pot to a boil, removed from heat and added all of the LME. I then added the hops on schedule. Cooled the wort as quickly as I could (about 30 mins from boiling to 65F), took an OG and pitched the yeasties (Danstar Notty).

Fast forward to today, and the wort has been in primary for 8 days at 62-66F. For the next 6-8 days I'm going to let it run at 68-72F to let the yeasties warm up some and finish the job. I cracked the lid, took my sample and closed it back up. I found out the hydrometer was broken when I put it in my test jar and it sank to the bottom. The beer smells like beer, looks like muddy water which I assume is just everything in suspension, and tastes like flat beer with a very slight cheese (wine-like) aftertaste. I assume the beer will clear with time, and am hoping either the aftertaste is just esters/byproducts waiting for the yeasties to clean up.

Here's a few pics:

The shiny "film" is groups of small bubbles. I assume it's just CO2? Everything else looks like yeasties and krausen leftovers.



Muddy water.. should clear up?




Thanks in advance y'all!

 

[IL1kebeer]

Did you take a sample from the bottom of the bucket or the top? Looks like trub

 

[s4l]

Took it from the middle, or so I thought!

Edit: You were absolutely right. It was indeed taken from too far down. It still has a slightly cheesey aftertaste.

 

[wherestheyeast]

I like to let it sit in primary for about a week or so after krausen settles before taking my first reading. I use a carboy for primary which makes it easy to see krausen. I'm guessing your gravity reading may be off due to the "thickness" of the sample.

 

[unionrdr]

I wait till the two week mark to take a first FG reading. It's usually pretty close by then. Seems to me that cheesy thing is from the hops. How old were they? It could also be the yeast you're smelling.