First brew tonight

[Odysseus]

Homebrewing notes from my first beer (both for personal record and general critique):

I made my first beer tonight (excluding a very bad attempt when I was 13 and bought a homebrew kit at Wal-Mart around Christmas time and pitched the yeast into boiling hot wort). It was a 1 gallon grain plus DME pale ale kit I got for $15.

General notes:

As I expected, I found the whole process very fun and therapeutic, especially stirring in the hops. a lot like making bread, very fun just to get in the kitchen and mess around in a low and slow kind of way and just chill.

I was surprised by the smell of the wort. It made my whole house smell like iced tea, not what I was expecting. After I transfered it to the primary fermenter, I could smell the hops, but I was surprised by how much the whole process smelled like iced tea instead of beer.

As for the kit itself:

The directions said it should have contained 1 satchel each of el dorado hops, lemondrop hops and chinook hops. It contained 2 satchels of lemondrop and 1 chinook. No worries though - just going with the flow. Overall, it smelled very piney (I prefer grapefruit over pine). The wort tasted more like a piney low IBU IPA than what I was expecting/hoping for (I wanted more of a Bass type/British flavor). But, I suppose that's always the dilemma of brewing from a kit - you're making what someone else wants.

Next time, if I go with the kit again (likely since I'm just starting), I'll probably get my own hops and use them instead of the ones that the kit comes with.

Overall:

An excellent experience, and certainly a quality beer, even if it's not exactly my preferred flavor profile. I'm going to skip secondary/bottling and transfer it to a pitcher and drink it when it's ready. I'm certainly looking forward to having a fun night of boozing with my own brew. I didn't have any homebrew to drink during the process and since I'm on a tight budget this month (I'm a substitute teacher so I don't get paid during Christmas break) I went with Natty Light for my drinking pleasure tonight.

Note to self: less trub next time.

The wheels are already spinning for my next batch of brew...

 

[Nate R]

Homebrewing notes from my first beer (both for personal record and general critique):

I made my first beer tonight (excluding a very bad attempt when I was 13 and bought a homebrew kit at Wal-Mart around Christmas time and pitched the yeast into boiling hot wort). It was a 1 gallon grain plus DME pale ale kit I got for $15.

General notes:

As I expected, I found the whole process very fun and therapeutic, especially stirring in the hops. a lot like making bread, very fun just to get in the kitchen and mess around in a low and slow kind of way and just chill.

I was surprised by the smell of the wort. It made my whole house smell like iced tea, not what I was expecting. After I transfered it to the primary fermenter, I could smell the hops, but I was surprised by how much the whole process smelled like iced tea instead of beer.

As for the kit itself:

The directions said it should have contained 1 satchel each of el dorado hops, lemondrop hops and chinook hops. It contained 2 satchels of lemondrop and 1 chinook. No worries though - just going with the flow. Overall, it smelled very piney (I prefer grapefruit over pine). The wort tasted more like a piney low IBU IPA than what I was expecting/hoping for (I wanted more of a Bass type/British flavor). But, I suppose that's always the dilemma of brewing from a kit - you're making what someone else wants.

Next time, if I go with the kit again (likely since I'm just starting), I'll probably get my own hops and use them instead of the ones that the kit comes with.

Overall:

An excellent experience, and certainly a quality beer, even if it's not exactly my preferred flavor profile. I'm going to skip secondary/bottling and transfer it to a pitcher and drink it when it's ready. I'm certainly looking forward to having a fun night of boozing with my own brew. I didn't have any homebrew to drink during the process and since I'm on a tight budget this month (I'm a substitute teacher so I don't get paid during Christmas break) I went with Natty Light for my drinking pleasure tonight.

Note to self: less trub next time.

The wheels are already spinning for my next batch of brew...

Welcome!! I admire your attempt at 13... probably a good thing it did not work out! Life may have gone differently if you could make your own beer at 13!!

No comments on your current brew other than great job tasting it along the way. Take notes of as much as you can.
I still refer to my notes...

I am sure some more experienced brewers will point out some other thoughts.

 

[AkTom]

Welcome.
A few more details on your process will help us to let you know of any improvements you can make. I’m sure it’s going to be great.

 

[bracconiere]

it to a pitcher and drink it when it's ready. I'm certainly looking forward to having a fun night of boozing with my own brew

you do know it will be flat right?

(and damn man, i'm drink milwaukee's best right now, i feel your pain)

 

[davidabcd]

I wish you good luck with your brewing. The hobby can be strangely satisfying.
I've found that a good recipe magazine (Brew Your Own) or book to be the way to go. Even though most kits are spot on, some are not (as you've noticed).
A good kit delivers what is promised.I've had many examples of this and it's too bad that you didn't have that in your initial experience. I've dealt mostly with Brewer's Best, in the past, and I have nothing but praise for their product and description of their product.
I would urge you to use this forum for every question you may have; the knowledge available here is impressive, to say the least.

 

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the well wishes and advice.

The process itself was more of less steep the grains, add in DME, low boil for 1 hour (adding various hops along the way per directions) and cool/transfer to primary and pitch the yeast.

As far as the flatness of drinking it fresh - any recommendations about making it bubbly (even slightly so) while recognizing that I won't be bottling it? I don't have any bottling equipment and it's a small batch that I want to drink fresh. Maybe a short secondary the day of/day before drinking? The kit did come with priming sugar for secondary and I've got extra gallon jugs and airlocks.

Worst case scenario I either end up with flat beer or drink it before it's completely done fermenting (maybe around 3% ABV or so)? Still wouldn't mind learning some more about secondary and natural carbonation. Up until now, I've only made flat pomegranate wines (9-11% ABV) for my homebrewing. Similar, but a lot less steps.

 

[bracconiere]

As far as the flatness of drinking it fresh - any recommendations about making it bubbly (even slightly so) while recognizing that I won't be bottling it?

2 2liter bottles?

 

[Odysseus]

2 2liter bottles?

But would I do a proper secondary in the 2 liter bottles or just transfer it to preserve carbonation/minimize oxygen exposure from the fresh brew?

 

[bracconiere]

But would I do a proper secondary in the 2 liter bottles or just transfer it to preserve carbonation/minimize oxygen exposure from the fresh brew?

i personaly don't worry about oxygen that much, but 2 2 liters would only last me a day also...just thought i'd throw an idea out there, when i travel with homebrew i fill a few 1 liter soda bottle from my keg, and put them in a bag...

edit: when people bottle they add a bit of sugar to kick back up co2 production....

 

[Odysseus]

Makes sense now - thanks!

 

[bracconiere]

Makes sense now - thanks!

that i talk stupid here because 2 2 liter bottles is a days ration for me, or the 'priming sugar' for bottling? lol

edit: here's a calc for priming sugar, i think from our land lords: https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[Odysseus]

I have no idea. I'm drunk as a skunk, but somehow metaphysically it makes sense to me. One of those scientific "I can do it but not explain it" type things.

I'll figure it out one way or another! Either way, I'll be drunk, so all's good!

 

[bracconiere]

that i talk stupid here because 2 2 liter bottles is a days ration for me, or the 'priming sugar' for bottling?

I have no idea

LOL, you just got me cracking up!

 

[mashpaddled]

You won't get carbonation--I mean anything you would recognize as carbonation--without CO2 production under seal because the CO2 will just escape without an airtight lid (like a bottle cap) and won't work back into solution to become carbonation.

Are there maybe homebrewers in your area who would let you borrow bottling equipment? Lots of people have bottling equipment in storage after moving on to kegging they would probably just let you have.

Be careful choosing vessels for carbonation because not all vessels are designed to withstand internal pressure. Beer bottles are usually fine. Carboys, glass jugs, wine bottles, etc. are not.

 

[McKnuckle]

Brand new beer straight out of the fermenter is not "fresh." It's "green," which means it's raw tasting and not too pleasant to drink. Beer benefits greatly from a couple of weeks minimum sitting quietly in the cold in its finished form, be that in kegs or bottles - and always carbonated, please.

You can get drunk more easily and cheaply if that's your only objective. If you want to make your own beer, at least set a standard whereby the final product approximates what you can buy.

 

[Odysseus]

Hydrometer showed 4-6% ABV, so I decided to try a glass for new year's. I filtered it with paper towels and a collander since the yeast was very active.

Taste is good, the hops seemed to have mellowed and it's better than I expected - as far as what I could taste under its rawness. Still tasted overwhelmingly raw and green.

In a day or two or when the yeast settle down, I'm going to filter and transfer it to a smaller jug and hopefully reduce some of the sediment. and refrigerate for a few weeks before drinking - maybe prime it a day before or so drinking.

 

[6Tap]

Hydrometer showed 4-6% ABV, so I decided to try a glass for new year's. I filtered it with paper towels and a collander since the yeast was very active.

Taste is good, the hops seemed to have mellowed and it's better than I expected - as far as what I could taste under its rawness. Still tasted overwhelmingly raw and green.

In a day or two or when the yeast settle down, I'm going to filter and transfer it to a smaller jug and hopefully reduce some of the sediment. and refrigerate for a few weeks before drinking - maybe prime it a day before or so drinking.

How did you get a 4-6% ABV reading?
I have never had that happen before.

Congrats on your first batch! [emoji482]