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budrockdiesel · Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 304 Location: Lafayette, La.

I finally made my first brew. It is an IPA True Brew malt extract kit. I found that I fumbled through this one but I think it will be fine. My OG : 1.048, FG : 1.018. I was hopping for it to be a little lower but I guess it is fine.

left in primary for 1st 72 hours

1st test at 65 hours

racked into secondary for final 5 days

second to last and last and final test done 3 days apart : 1.018

finished and bottled, 48-12oz and 12-500ml
now it can condition for a couple of weeks

triple-oh_six · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Lafayette,La.

Good work Brotha, make sure to save one to bring to the October meeting.

Prost

budrockdiesel · Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 304 Location: Lafayette, La.

Alright, I think I am gona try one. They have only been bottled for a week but I am curious as to how they are carbonating and how it taste.

budrockdiesel · Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 304 Location: Lafayette, La.

I am not a connoisseur but I like it. It is not as bitter having the bite that I was hoping for but it is good. I bet in a full grain batch when I am picking out the hops, and perhaps a hob back, then I will get what I am looking for.

triple-oh_six · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Lafayette,La.

Awesome, I know it's hard but let it sit for a few weeks, it'll get better.

Welcome to your new obsession.

Imakewort · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 361 Location: Iraq

let it sit and all your hard work will be worth it. Tonight I am drinking a dark Belgian ale aged for about 1 year and happy that I let it sit. Last year Yeaastmeister and I drank some of my ale aged for 2 years at the Dixie cup and it was great. Show patience grasshopper and enlightenment will come.

aleguy · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 1435

You can get your hop bite in two ways. Add some gypsum to your brewing water, the sulfur increases the apparent bitterness of hops. Also you can bump up your early hop addition. You can calculate the IBUs fairly reliably and compensate for wort density to get the overall bitterness where you want.
Personally I like to drink my ales fresh. Most ales are meant to be consumed fairly quickly. Lagers tend to age better than ales. If you really want to age an ale for a long time you should either brew to high alcohol content (9+ %)
or add a lot of hops, or both. Just remember that your late hops (flavor and aroma) will tend to decrease significantly with prolonged aging, so either skip them or double or even treble them.

GuitarLord5000 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 196 Location: Carencro, La

Like IGOR said, when you start making strong belgian or scotch ales (8-12% and beyond), letting it age will definitely net you a better beer in most cases.

However, I'm with aleguy on this one. If you've got a fairly normal gravity ale (4-7% ABV), I'd definitely drink it young. If you'd like to experiment with aging, then take 3 or 4 bottles and let them sit in your closet for a couple months. Every month or so, take a bottle out, and taste it. This should give you a good understanding of what happens to beer during aging. But as long as you aren't brewing a 'big' beer, drink it early....and often!

Cheers
Dave

triple-oh_six · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Lafayette,La.

I think everyone is missing the point, Igor & myself are not saying he should "age" his beer.

It is bottle conditioned, therefore a few weeks will do it some good, to "condition"
Unless it's force carbed it's still gonna be green and will mellow some with time.

It all comes down to what you want to do, take the advice that you want.
Here's to homebrew,
Prost