Just wanted to say hello.

[breweymccatnip]

So the long and short of it is: My buddy said he wanted to start a hobby of brewing beer, and would I like to join him? I said why not it's free beer(kind of).

So last week we buy a brewing kit with some plastic buckets and all the other stuff as well as an IPA kit. We spent the afternoon boiling the ingredients and adding the yeast and what not. We took the 5 gallon "Ale Pale" and stored it in my cool and dark basement until this afternoon, when we bottled. Now i didn't know what to expect. I was worried that despite all the sterilization measures we took, we might still have effed up our beer somehow. Maybe we missed a step or added something out of order or didn't aerate or some other BS.

A quick note: I intentionally went the entire week without consuming a single beer so I could fully appreciate or despise my own concoction.


Just a few hours ago we lifted the lid on the bucket that has been sitting patiently in my basement for a whole week. It smelled beautiful. It smelled like a good beer, it smelled like an IPA! It tasted pretty good though it had a chalky aftertaste to it, not sure what would be the cause of that. We bottled it up and tucked it away for at least a few weeks. If it tastes this good now, i can't imagine how great it will be in a few weeks.

 

[Limited Visibility]

Welcome to the boards!

How long did you ferment this for?

 

[breweymccatnip]

From last Saturday @ 5 pm to today at 11am.

 

[Limited Visibility]

was it done fermenting?

 

[travestyofnature]

Welcome to HBT!

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome

 

[QueenCityALER]

Welcome! And again... how long did you ferment?

 

[breweymccatnip]

We fermented for 7 days. All the activity in the valve had ceased by the 4th day. It seemed alright to me.

 

[jezter6]

Welcome to the boards! Read up lots, as you'll pick up a bunch of great pointers from the members here.

First - it aint done til the hydrometer says it's done. It "could" be done in 4-7 days, but many of us go by the 1-2-3 method (or 2-3 method for those who don't use secondary). Those numbers are weeks in primary/secondary/bottle.

Your beer is very very young and will only improve with age. Stick a few bottles away for like 2 months and you'll see the difference from the ones you'll probably open next week.

Get another brew in that bucket ASAP!! You'll be out of the first brew quickly (all of us have been there) and you'll be waiting again for the next batch to be done. Go start your next brew now so that it will be ready when you're finishing up the first batch.

 

[breweymccatnip]

Welcome to the boards! Read up lots, as you'll pick up a bunch of great pointers from the members here.

First - it aint done til the hydrometer says it's done. It "could" be done in 4-7 days, but many of us go by the 1-2-3 method (or 2-3 method for those who don't use secondary). Those numbers are weeks in primary/secondary/bottle.

Your beer is very very young and will only improve with age. Stick a few bottles away for like 2 months and you'll see the difference from the ones you'll probably open next week.

Get another brew in that bucket ASAP!! You'll be out of the first brew quickly (all of us have been there) and you'll be waiting again for the next batch to be done. Go start your next brew now so that it will be ready when you're finishing up the first batch.

I love the enthusiasm! And yes I've already learned a ton from browsing this forum. The hydrometer said it was done, it looked done, smelled done and even tasted kind of done. The chalkyness was subtle so it didn't seem like a deal breaker. I have patience, the first batch is tucked away in various locations throughout the house and we're making at least one more batch this week.
Thanks to everyone.

 

[DrSanta]

Just wanted to say a hello as well. I'm breweymccatnip's partner and crime, and all things willing, we should have 2 more beers starting to ferment come Wednesday evening. Can't wait... I'm already addicted to brewing beer and I haven't even drank any of the rewards yet.