My first brew. Expectations vs. results.

[HomelessWook]

I just chilled and opened a bottle after spending 12 days in conditioning at approximately 73 degrees - it spent 21 days in primary

anyhow, this may sound dumb but it doesnt taste like i imagined - it taste more hoppy/bitter and im not sure if it is because of a sanitation **** up, not being conditioned long enough, or if its how it is supposed to taste...

i know a home brewer who is a lot older then i am and has a ton of experience so i am going to pass him one in about a week and see what he says.

idk, it seems sort of off....

 

[R2-D2]

HomelessWook, as hard as it may be to resist try letting it sit untouched for another month or even longer if possible. After a year of homebrewing, I've done 10 now. My first brew was an Irish Stout and I swear I used to check in on that every week for 2-3 months before it shed that extreme bitter finish.

Being in Chicago, I'll let my bottles carb up for 2-3 weeks inside the house at 69 degrees and then move them to the garage where it's probably 40-50 degrees. Two beers I brewed in early October, an Irish Red and an XMas Ale, have definitely improved just sitting there in the garage. The Xmas Ale has gone from a "near dump" to very interesting and pleasant.

The one thing I have noticed with homebrewing and bottle conditioning is that some bottles really do taste better than others. 22oz's taste different at different times than 12oz's. Some weeks the 22oz pours taste better, the next week it's the 12oz. It's just weird.

As I mentioned earlier I've done 10 brews:

BEST
Belgian Blonde - very comparable to Leffe.

GOOD
Surly Furios IPA - I ran out of priming sugar and bottled with raw cane sugar. Gushers, but damn good. Nothing like Furious to be honest, just a good IPA.
Oatmeal Stout - just coming into it's own. big oat nose on it.
Hefeweissen - just bottled a week ago and it may move up into that top category.

OK
Xmas Ale - it's been constantly improving over the last 2 months.
Irish Stout - My first brew

Ehhh
Irish Red - it's ok but not what I expected
Belgian Wit - my 2nd brew and last extract. Terribly unbalanced. But I discovered that a lemon slice really helped it out.

Jury's Out
Dunkel - Actually, this is still in primary so I can't evaluate
Scottish Ale - not bad for a 4% ABV beer. Missing that roasted malty profile i expected.