First taste after 1 week and I am scared

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clayroc

clayroc

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Well it took me all day to get the courage to go and open the bucket, get a sample, test the gravity and taste it.

the gravity is at 1.010 (note I have yet to calibrate the hydrometer, however because I checked the SG with it I will continue)

SG of 1.030

smells like beer, a little yeasty yet, with hints of spices. and as expected its a little cloudy, but not as much as I expected.

I don't yet know how to properly describe is colour but it is somewhere between a golden yellow like bud and a amber

and the taste.......

well its ok

I understand now what is meant by "green" and it tastes a little yeasty to, and a little watery.

In all I am not to suprised with most of it, with all I have learned now.

The spices where good though, they where just enough, not overpowering and in all I like it :)

On a plus note my wife tried a little sip and said its quite good ( after pressing her more I have concluded thats she's not just trying to make me feel good)

I think I may have a some beer when this is all done :D

In the mean time I am chilling the rest of the sample before I finish is and having a Grolsch.

oh and I didn't taste the mead or braggot, as I just did 2L tests and just droped the hydro in there to test, but man they smelled good, I can't wait for them to be finished.
 
Also - 1.030 is rather low as an original gravity. Beers that start this low tend to lack body, which could explain your watery description. What kind of beer is this?
 
A corn sugar and tea beer is going to taste a little "special" no matter how old it is.

Just a suggestion, for your next brew, get a recipe from an actual homebrewing website. Either way, I hope you had fun making it, and have even more fun drinking it.
 
Well It took longer then I had planed to make it to my LHBS, and after talking to them about what I had made I figured out what the recipe (not including the tea) was to make.

Commercial style lite beer!!!!!!!! :eek:

so he suggested I turn it into a honey ale by doing a second fermentation with honey. Note he gave me much more detail then that, but that's the short of it.

So I am going to give it a go, I am sure I can't make it worse, besides I can still get some hops into it then :D
 
clayroc said:
Well It took longer then I had planed to make it to my LHBS, and after talking to them about what I had made I figured out what the recipe (not including the tea) was to make.

Commercial style lite beer!!!!!!!! :eek:

so he suggested I turn it into a honey ale by doing a second fermentation with honey. Note he gave me much more detail then that, but that's the short of it.

So I am going to give it a go, I am sure I can't make it worse, besides I can still get some hops into it then :D
Click to expand...

huh, sounds interesting... keep us posted. :)
 
I just read the recipe and was like WTF???



Any site that considers hops optional is not a good source for brewing recipes lol.
 
My wife got the link in a natural living e-mag she gets.

After reading most of "how to brew" and many threads here, I really wonder how that "recipe" is supposed to get anyone into brewing beer. It seems to me that its a recipe for failure.

Unless you like a watery low alcohol beer with little flavor.

But I am going to try and turn it around. I am not giving up yet :)

I did some calculations and I should be able to put this into a second primary with a little honey and some more LME, adding .03 to the gravity, along with hops (haven't figured out how to calculate the IBU yet, but I am following the owner of the LHBS advise on the amount and type of hops)

We shall see how it turns out, the only bothersome thing is I will have to wait two more weeks before I can bottle :(

I think this is a ploy from SWMBO to make me patient. .. .. twitch.. .. ..
 
If you don't boil the hops, you won't get any bitterness out of them. Fortunately honey doesn't really need hops to offset it... it ferments out almost 100%. (The lighter color it is, the less flavor it leaves behind.)

Knowing what I know, if I had made that batch, I'd be tempted to just trash it. You can still learn from it, though, so do whatever seems good to you. I just wouldn't want to throw good ingredients after bad.

If you want a super-simple recipe that makes a good beer, check out the Simple Wheat in my signature. I'm not pimping my own wares -- it was really good beer and the easiest batch I've ever made.

Watch out, you've caught the obsession now! ;)
 
That was the most generic recipe i have ever read. i hope the LHBS helped and you make a much better beer. good luck and prost!!
 
"Put whole hops (dried) or hop flakes into a cheesecloth bag and add to the cooking malt. A handful is plenty. This will give a distinctive hop flavor to the beer."

I read that and I was simply floored, I hope your next brews are waaaay better!
 
I think that recipe proves that throwing a bunch of crap together will still make beer. I don't get why hops was an "enhancement", instead of an actual ingredient. Maybe it should have been a recipe for malt liquor instead of beer.
 
clayroc said:
After reading most of "how to brew" and many threads here, I really wonder how that "recipe" is supposed to get anyone into brewing beer. It seems to me that its a recipe for failure.

...I am not giving up yet :)
Click to expand...

It got you into brewing, ;) so its not a total failure.

best part is, youve learned not to give up... from someone who is only slightly more experienced.. it seems like thats the most important lesson.

Also, I dont know that many "first batches" turn out extremely well.. but Im pretty confident in saying that even fewer end up with such a great story. Save that recipe, the laughter will last for years and years (Im thinkin thats worth the price of admission).

brew on clayroc, brew on.
 
azscoob said:
"Put whole hops (dried) or hop flakes into a cheesecloth bag and add to the cooking malt. A handful is plenty. This will give a distinctive hop flavor to the beer."

I read that and I was simply floored, I hope your next brews are waaaay better!
Click to expand...

I know.. a handfull?, REALLY?

I think its pretty much a guarantee that anything he makes next will be better... another upshot.:D
 
The "ready to bottle" reading should be about 1.008 for dark beers and 1.010-1.015 for light beers.
Click to expand...
Another gem from that website's instructions.

edit:
If your beer is a little short on "fizz" or falls a little short of your expectations, try mixing it 50/50 with commercial beer or your favorite choice from Beer of the Month Club.
Click to expand...
...and another.
 
Isn't hind sight wonderful.

Well I added some pre hopped extract and honey, that I boiled with aprox. 1.75 oz of Saaz hops for 50 min, forgot to put in the .25 oz I saved for the last ten min for aroma, so I just added it dry. I think its still going to be a little lite but with any luck drinkable. We shall see

On a plus note the tow test batches of mead and braggot I made a very nice, the mead especialy :)

so I made more :D
 

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