WCrane
Well-Known Member
Well I tasted my first two batches (both AG) again tonight a Bittier and a Dry Stout. Now I did taste/test them after 10 days in the bottle and then again tonight after 16 days. [relax Revvy I know 3 weeks at 70F] But I wanted to do some R&D as part of my growth as a brewer and to me sacrificing a few for the good of the many is fine by me. Now I jumped right into AG and well balls to the walls and did a back to back brews. So here are the results brewdudes and brewdudettes as given by the biggest critic I have..ME
The good news is the Stout came out pretty darn good. Nice chocolate and touch of coffee with a semi dry finished. It still will benefit a few more weeks of conditioning, as I detected a very light yeast bite as the beer is still a good bit green. But it did taste pretty good and I can tell it's potential in it.
Now beer #2 was a Bitter and it is a prime example of why controlling fermentation temps are so important. It has a good deal of those banana esters most of us have come to bumpo into from time to time. It all most tasted like a Blue Moon. Now its did taste good, but not what it is supposed to be. So they will remain in their boxes, and be gone until December.
What happened you may ask? So I has built a SOFC well before I frist wet my feet, because the sage wisdom of HBT had penetrated deep into my great matter. Well believe it or not SWMBO intervenes (one brew day) and threw out all the frozen bottles I had saved for my SOFC, So it took a day or two to restock the rotation, and those few days were those key early days. Not to mention I had trouble dialing the temps in. Live and Learn.
Good News is that I have learned a great deal since from HBT, books, and podcasts. My latest batch, a version of JZ's 60 Schilling is my SOFC. Took a sample today, almost done fermin' and has great clarity after 9 days. That US-05 is a beast of a yeast. No worries It's going to sit a good bit more.
So from one rookie to another - before you brew make sure you can control temps. It may delay when you begin but you'll be glad you did.
I want to thank those here at HBT for their trials, tribulation, and advice to others.
The good news is the Stout came out pretty darn good. Nice chocolate and touch of coffee with a semi dry finished. It still will benefit a few more weeks of conditioning, as I detected a very light yeast bite as the beer is still a good bit green. But it did taste pretty good and I can tell it's potential in it.
Now beer #2 was a Bitter and it is a prime example of why controlling fermentation temps are so important. It has a good deal of those banana esters most of us have come to bumpo into from time to time. It all most tasted like a Blue Moon. Now its did taste good, but not what it is supposed to be. So they will remain in their boxes, and be gone until December.
What happened you may ask? So I has built a SOFC well before I frist wet my feet, because the sage wisdom of HBT had penetrated deep into my great matter. Well believe it or not SWMBO intervenes (one brew day) and threw out all the frozen bottles I had saved for my SOFC, So it took a day or two to restock the rotation, and those few days were those key early days. Not to mention I had trouble dialing the temps in. Live and Learn.
Good News is that I have learned a great deal since from HBT, books, and podcasts. My latest batch, a version of JZ's 60 Schilling is my SOFC. Took a sample today, almost done fermin' and has great clarity after 9 days. That US-05 is a beast of a yeast. No worries It's going to sit a good bit more.
So from one rookie to another - before you brew make sure you can control temps. It may delay when you begin but you'll be glad you did.
I want to thank those here at HBT for their trials, tribulation, and advice to others.
