I Think I Made Beer!

[Sand_Pirate]

Hello folks. New to the forum, first post here, and brand new to home brewing. Decided to try a new hobby, so I found the local home brewing store and bought a Brewer's Best kit.

Came here and lurked for a few weeks, trying to learn as much as I could. I jumped in yesterday and brewed a 5-gallon batch of Brewer's Best Irish Stout. Everything seemed to go according to plan, with no real surprises or disasters. OG was 1.049 with 5 gallons, so I think I nailed that, at least. It looked like beer, it smelled like beer, maybe I made beer.

Woke up this morning and checked my fermentation bucket...I have bubbles! I guess I really did make beer. Now the wait to see if I made drinkable beer. Thanks to everyone on this board...I learned a lot of good information from the threads here. Probably prevented a disaster or two.

Anyway, I look forward to learning more, and brewing more, in the years to come.

 

[bucfan1234]

Congrats on a successful first brew day!

I learn something every time I brew, and this site is a great resource.

 

[lowtones84]

Congrats! If you can keep it somewhere with a cool ambient temp that will be best, but if not just let it ride. I'm sure it will be great!

 

[Sand_Pirate]

Congrats! If you can keep it somewhere with a cool ambient temp that will be best, but if not just let it ride. I'm sure it will be great!

Thank you, gents. My basement stays between 63-68 degrees this time of year. I will drink no beer before its time.

 

[Pantherjon]

Congrats on joining the obses...um, hobby of home brewing! You got some good equipment in that Brewers Best kit, I have one that is still a virgin, but will be broken into in a couple of weeks! In fact the Irish Stout is one of the kits I got when I got the brew starter kit!

 

[Sand_Pirate]

Congrats on joining the obses...um, hobby of home brewing! You got some good equipment in that Brewers Best kit, I have one that is still a virgin, but will be broken into in a couple of weeks! In fact the Irish Stout is one of the kits I got when I got the brew starter kit!

Thank you, sir. How was the Stout?

 

[Pantherjon]

Thank you, sir. How was the Stout?

Haven't brewed it yet...Looking about a couple weeks from now..

 

[Elkobrewer]

Congrats sounds like your well on your way one small tip just leave it alone for a few weeks don't mess with it and in the end you will have a good beer. Then as soon as the fermenter is empty brew again. Get a pipe line going that makes the wait for our next beer easier. Welcome to the obsession.

 

[dwhite60]

Congrats! First beer is the hook. Others will follow.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[RM-MN]

Thank you, gents. My basement stays between 63-68 degrees this time of year. I will drink no beer before its time.

Why not? Part of the brewing is learning about your beer and how it progresses. Sample it when you bottle. Sample one bottle at one week. Sample again at 2 weeks. Does it taste different? Sample at 3 weeks. Any changes?

Each time you make a new recipe you need to do the sampling because not all beer matures at the same time. My wheat beers can be ready to drink by the time they are carbonated. The imperial stout that I made last year still isn't ready. How do I know that? Because I sampled.:rockin:

I brewed a robust porter kit and at 3 weeks in the bottle it seemed so watery I was disgusted with it and the kit maker. Why would you call it a robust porter when it was not robust at all. Well, it was in my bottles so I kept sampling it and viola, at about 3 months in it changed and became robust. I'd never have known how long to leave my dark beers before drinking them had I not kept sampling.

 

[Sand_Pirate]

Why not? Part of the brewing is learning about your beer and how it progresses. Sample it when you bottle. Sample one bottle at one week. Sample again at 2 weeks. Does it taste different? Sample at 3 weeks. Any changes?

Each time you make a new recipe you need to do the sampling because not all beer matures at the same time. My wheat beers can be ready to drink by the time they are carbonated. The imperial stout that I made last year still isn't ready. How do I know that? Because I sampled.:rockin:

I brewed a robust porter kit and at 3 weeks in the bottle it seemed so watery I was disgusted with it and the kit maker. Why would you call it a robust porter when it was not robust at all. Well, it was in my bottles so I kept sampling it and viola, at about 3 months in it changed and became robust. I'd never have known how long to leave my dark beers before drinking them had I not kept sampling.

Thanks very much for this advice, sir. I do plan on sampling at various times. While I was doing my research on this forum, trying to educate myself about the brewing process, I read many threads where the general consensus from long-time brewers was "You're trying to drink your beer too soon! Let it mellow." It seemed like a common rookie error, so I took it to heart.

I'm very much looking forward to a taste when I bottle. Keep the advice coming, it is much needed and appreciated.

 

[Redlantern]

Sniff.. They grow up so fast.....



Congrats!!!!!

 

[GHBWNY]

Why not? Part of the brewing is learning about your beer and how it progresses. Sample it when you bottle. Sample one bottle at one week. Sample again at 2 weeks. Does it taste different? Sample at 3 weeks. Any changes?

Good advice. In fact, I sample mine long before bottling. When I take a sample for OG and FG, it fills the hydro case to the top. And since it can't go back into the fermenter.... At FG there is enough taste, balance, carbonation, etc. to get a good sense of how the beer came out prior to bottling. I figure if it tastes good at FG, then it's all uphill from there.

 

[Sand_Pirate]

Good advice. In fact, I sample mine long before bottling. When I take a sample for OG and FG, it fills the hydro case to the top. And since it can't go back into the fermenter.... At FG there is enough taste, balance, carbonation, etc. to get a good sense of how the beer came out prior to bottling. I figure if it tastes good at FG, then it's all uphill from there.

Excellent. Thank you, sir.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you and yours have a great holiday.

 

[slym2none]

 

[Sand_Pirate]

Took a reading and sample today, 7 days after brewing. It looked like beer, and it smelled like beer. FG was 1.020...kit says it should be 1.012 to 1.015, so I guess it has some more fermentation to do.

The sample was interesting...completely flat of course, kinda bland, but not off or sour in any way. So far, so good!

 

[Devon]

Congratulations on the first of many successful brews!

 

[lowtones84]

Sometimes samples are a little bland, especially if it's not done fermenting or is still green. You may only get down to 1.020, but it may keep going. Good luck with the rest of the process!

 

[signpost]

Every beer you sample before it is ready is one less finished beer you'll have in the end.

Just let it sit and plan out your next brew.

 

[ace0005]

congratulations on your first batch. Say goodbye to your spare time!! In my own experience, I have found this brew forum to be a wealth of knowledge, and the members are great about getting back to you in a timely fashion. Never once has anyone ever made me feel like asked a stupid question. Enjoy!:fro:

 

[Sand_Pirate]

I'd like to follow up on my first thread on this excellent site. Well, gentlemen, I did in fact make beer.

Bottling went off without a hitch. My lovely bride helped me move bottles...to be efficient, bottling is definitely a two-man job.

I let the bottles condition for a couple of weeks, then refrigerated and sampled. Not bad! Promptly invited a couple of buds over, both seasoned beer drinkers, and gave them a pint. Their consensus was 'Not bad!'.

It finished out at 4.5% ABV. Nice head when poured aggressively. I don't know what it's called, but it has a nice waterfall of bubbles moving down from the head to the bottom of the glass....like what Guinness does in a pint glass! This made me very happy...I know, stupid, amirite? Whatever, it made me happy!

My second brew, the Brewer's Best Holiday Ale, will be ready to bottle in 7 days. I put what I learned into the second brew effort, and I think it will be better than this one. Thanks all. I've learned so much from you folks, and look forward to learning much more.

 

[lowtones84]

Congrats! It's always nice when the first batch comes across well, and you can build on success. And yes, bottling is always much better with another set of hands. Good luck with the holiday ale

 

[RM-MN]

I'd like to follow up on my first thread on this excellent site. Well, gentlemen, I did in fact make beer.

Bottling went off without a hitch. My lovely bride helped me move bottles...to be efficient, bottling is definitely a two-man job.

I let the bottles condition for a couple of weeks, then refrigerated and sampled. Not bad! Promptly invited a couple of buds over, both seasoned beer drinkers, and gave them a pint. Their consensus was 'Not bad!'.

It finished out at 4.5% ABV. Nice head when poured aggressively. I don't know what it's called, but it has a nice waterfall of bubbles moving down from the head to the bottom of the glass....like what Guinness does in a pint glass! This made me very happy...I know, stupid, amirite? Whatever, it made me happy!

My second brew, the Brewer's Best Holiday Ale, will be ready to bottle in 7 days. I put what I learned into the second brew effort, and I think it will be better than this one. Thanks all. I've learned so much from you folks, and look forward to learning much more.

I've made that kit in the past and my advice would be to let it sit in bottles a bit longer than you did on the first batch. It's a higher alcohol brew and it will take a while for it to settle down. I'd suggest you leave it a month before you start drinking it but then you need to finish up the batch relatively soon as the spice flavors will dissipate with time. It will probably be fine for a few months but not a year. JMHO

 

[Mirilis]

Belgian Lace is the term your looking for in regards to the foam bubbles stuck to the side of the glass when you get done drinking.