First Brew - Too Soon?

[Evets]

Ok, I bottled my first brew last Sat., an English Pale Ale. Should I pop a couple in the fridge tomorrow morning and try it after work, or is it too soon?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Depends...what's the temp of the bottles? If they've been above 70F then I'd give one a try to test the carbonation level.

 

[david_42]

After a week, I'd just try one. They aren't likely to be fully carbonated yet. Give the rest two more weeks.

 

[Evets]

They've been in my bedroom all week at just about 70 degrees, along with an IPA in the primary which I brewed Sunday. The IPA took off like a rocket and is now looking near done. OG was 1.058 and is now 1.019 and tastes absolutely fantastic! I'll let that go the rest of the week before racking, but I believe I'll have to try one of the first batch tomorrow, just too see the progress.

 

[davidkrau]

I usually try one after1 week. I'm not that fussy and they usually taste pretty good.

 

[RichBrewer]

I would highly recommend trying one tomorrow and every week until it is conditioned. You can note how your beer changes as it carbonates.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I would highly recommend trying one tomorrow and every week until it is conditioned. You can note how your beer changes as it carbonates.

Just don't try it every day until it's ready, because it will be gone when it's really good.

Er, so I've heard...

 

[Sasquatch]

Yes. We can't all use Cheyco-labs' stringent "Try one every hour till their gone" quality control scheme.

I would wait as long as you possibly can before you try it. Because you will try another, and then another in a day or so, and like Cheyco says, you'll run outta beer just as it starts to be undeniably really good. The only solution is to brew way more beer than you think you can drink, and hold off on all of it as long as you can. That way the batch you like least will be left to age until it's actually your fave.

 

[rod]

i drank most of my first brews well before they were ready as i only brewed just before i ran out.
i had thought home brew wouldn't keep over a couple of months in the bottle since no preservatives.
from here i learned not to worry and now have a few varieties bottled so they can age properly

 

[ahoym8e]

I would highly recommend trying one tomorrow and every week until it is conditioned. You can note how your beer changes as it carbonates.

I actually feel that every bottle is a little different.

I consumed 2 bottles (grolsh bottles ) of the last beer I brewed (a Kolsh) about 1 week and 1 week and 2 days after bottling. the first actually was a lot more carbonated than the second. I really made an effort to stir up the primed beer before bottling...

Even my first batch, of which I still have a few bottles (about 2 months old now, and AWESOME), tastes a little different from bottle to bottle...

can't really say why...

 

[Desert_Sky]

Well I am finishing up my first batch. They have been in the bottles only about 2 weeks. I must say they get better each day, but I think they are absolutely great now. If you start drinking now, just make sure you at least have another batch in a secondary close to bottling, cause you'll go through them quick once you start.

 

[Evets]

OK, so I went ahead and tried one tonite. As I expected, it had good flavor, but not much carb. Some, but not much. At first I thought it tasted a little weak, but seemed better after the first few sips, and finished up quite nicely. Not as hoppy as I'd like but maybe that's the way an English pale should be ? I'll try another next weekend and see what's what. In the mean time I've got half a case of Sierra N. and a few Stoudts APAs and even a few cans of Yingy Lager to tide me over. I'll be racking my IPA to secondary tomorrow, think, and planning #3 for next weekend, I hope.