Yet Another first brew tasting.

[Bubba_Mustafa]

Well I finally tried my first brew, a BB Red Ale.
Made mistakes on it. (got drunk brewing. My rule now is no drinking until the 15min hops go in )
Didn't aerate the wort (even siphoned it into the fermenter. Though I did use an IC wort cooler, one plus)
Broke my hydrometer while cleaning up before I got the OG (but being an extract kit, figured I was pretty close)
Fermented too warm ~75 ambient
Racked after 6 days or so.

4 Weeks later I bottled, sat for 3 weeks @70ish
Tossed a few bottles in the fridge for a couple weeks and tried it today.
It carbed.
Not too bad. Not sure if I'd buy a second 6 packer, but drinkable.
Has the off flavors I'd expect. A bit dry, and little nose. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, and could use more hops on both ends. And feel color is a bit off (but what does a color taste like? )
No real head retention (but I don't care much about that. Whats the attraction? More nose?)

But I'm happy the first round was OK. Kinda gives the initiative to keep going.

 

[Chudz]

I agree. My first batch was nothing to write home about. I believe it was mostly due to the fact that I scarfed it down way too early. But I was happy about having made my first beer, and I was excited to keep going as well.

 

[BmillaTheBrewzilla]

Congrats on the first brew. Sounds like you already have lots of good ideas for making your next batch better. I'd say of everything you mentioned, fermenting at a slightly lower temperature would, by far, make the biggest improvement. Keep going!

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

Yeah, just getting the spare fridge online. (well more the temp cotroller)
Other batches are already in the works (been doing 1 gallon batches until I find my groove)

Biggest b*tch I have about brewing/testing/playing is the 2 months between making and trying/testing.