If you're new to my blog, I recommend you start at the beginning to have the opportunity to truly learn from my mistakes and laugh at my failures.
My intro post can be found here:
Intro & My First Home Beer Brewing Kit
From there you can navigate forward using the Archive on the right side of the page.
January 16, 2013
My First Taste!
I've been reading a lot about when I can expect my first brew to be ready for drinking. In my reading I've seen a number of people suggest that newbies to the beer brewing hobby (like me) should take samples along the way to get a feel for how a beer ages.
As you know, my beer went into bottles about a week and a half ago. I let them age for 1 week in a dark, cool closet in the basement. After that week was up, they were moved into a mini fridge.
Today I finally gave in and took a sample. Upon opening it, I was greeted with a friendly hiss and bubbles climbing up the neck. Yay! Carbonation!
I poured the bottle into a glass to see what my beer looks like. You could literally float a cap on this head and the color was a gorgeous, cloudy, golden-brown.
Or is that caramel-copper-brown??
The beer had a pleasant smell. Not overly hoppy and a bit yeasty and sweet to the nose.
The taste was bitter and earthy, though not much upfront hop flavor. The finish (that would be a fancy word for aftertaste) was very yeasty. Probably not a beer I would buy at the liquor store more than once, but again - it's still very premature.
I think it's safe to assume that over the next couple weeks my brew will continue to mature. Some of the yeastiness will give way to other more subtle flavors and I may end up with a really tasty drink!
Edit - It didn't last long enough to find out. It was all imbibed within 3 weeks. Hopefully you have more willpower than I did!
Up Next:
In my next adventure I begin my first 2-stage fermentation and create my own custom recipe for an Irish Mocha Stout!!
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Wow, that looks awesome, time will defiantly be the maturer of all things beer - lol
ReplyDeleteYou and I have started our brewing journey almost at the same time.This coming Monday my beer would have been conditioning in bottles for two weeks. I have managed to resist the urge to try it, but after reading your wonderful post tonight and seeing the image you posted I am so ready to crack open a bottle - lol.
Love your writing, and reading and we explore this journey together.
P.S My next beer will be a spicy lemon Wheat beer
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you're enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteMy Mocha Stout is in the primary already. I haven't posted the details on that one yet.
Funny story, I sell merchant services for a living and I use an appointment setting company. Coincidentally I had an appointment set with my home brew supply shop this morning.
You know I couldn't get out of there without planning my next adventure. I think I'm going to do a small (2-3G) batch of raspberry framboise... looks like we'll both be doing our first wheats around the same time too!
WOW! The beer seems yummy I must say. I usually prepare beer at my home as fresh ingredients make better homebrew. I use Home Brew West Beer Making Kit as it gives me rich and dark blooded beer. In each kit there is a detailed process mentioned so that you can easily prepare wine by following step-by-step process.
ReplyDelete