First DIY brew recipe (pull it apart!)

[Dutto]

View attachment 17838 View attachment 17837 ............ The smell is nice, but cloudy. Don’t mind that but too much **** in it from syphoning the sludge up me thinks. Decent taste to start but a few seconds later it tastes really metallic and not too appealing. I’m gonna try messing with my water parameters. Just bought most of the stuff I need. Next brew this weekend!

Okay, "smell is nice, but cloudy." with "... **** in it from syphoning the sludge up ..." and "Decent taste to start ..." all make me wonder how long it has had Conditioning?

If it is less than six weeks since you started the brew OR less than four weeks since you bottled it and added the carbonation sugar OR less than two weeks since you put it in a cool dark place after carbonating to let it Condition then it just looks as if another month of Conditioning may make a vast improvement.

I highlighted the "Next brew this weekend!" because it will help to get your stocks up to Critical Mass so that you can condition brews for a longer time.

It's a terrible feeling when you pour the last pint out of a 40 pint brew and discover that it has improved in leaps and bounds since the first taste. This is one reason why many of us follow the 2 + 2 + 2 system as a minimum before drinking; and on many occasions a brew will keep improving for up to a year after it was bottled.

 

[Heagney]

I just followed the instructions so 2 weeks in the fermenter and 2 weeks in the bottle. It was a Brewdog IPA clone

 

[Gulpitdarn]

It's a terrible feeling when you pour the last pint out of a 40 pint brew and discover that it has improved in leaps and bounds since the first taste. This is one reason why many of us follow the 2 + 2 + 2 system as a minimum before drinking; and on many occasions a brew will keep improving for up to a year after it was bottled.

This is so very true! the answer is as always.... 'having patience'!

 

[Dutto]

I just followed the instructions so 2 weeks in the fermenter and 2 weeks in the bottle. It was a Brewdog IPA clone

That's the problem! The "2 weeks in the fermenter" is fine and also the "2 weeks in the bottle" is fine for carbonation, but after that it needs time to "condition" and the absolute minimum for that in many cases (but not all) is another 2 weeks somewhere cool and dark.

For me, I would definitely try to not touch an IPA before the full two weeks of conditioning and it's normal for me to leave a brew for much longer.

Remember, the reason an Indian Pale Ale got its name was because it was exported from the UK to India in times when the only method of transport was by sailing ship! Also, it's not to everyone's taste because of the high ABV and bitterness; which was essential to ensure that the IPA was still palatable after being transported to India.

I'm sure that it will come good given enough time.

 

[Nicks90]

Totally agree with the above. My first IPA all grain was soooo bitter it was rediculous when i cracked open my first taster bottle.
2 weeks later I had another and it's really starting to get sensible and tasty.
Going to give it another 2 weeks and try it again.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

... In the meantime Nick, get another brew on the go!

 

[Heagney]

So brew No.2 in the fermenter. Used some gypsum, CRS and Campden powder. Made a last min adjustment to the grain bill and wish I left it, you live and learn! I’ll leave this one longer to condition. Went for 1kg pale and 200g light crystal (far too much!) but it seems almost as dark as my medium crystal..30g of citra hops mainly towards the end of the boil and flame out. OG was 1.070 but not sure if I can trust this as a lot of sludge in my trial sample