My First Ever HomeBrew

[Oilyrags]

Evening Brewers, As I mentioned in my 'Introduce Yourself' post last week, I have an IPA kit on the go in the FV. Yesterday (day 10) the airlock was still burping every 5 seconds, today nothing, so I took a reading & got better than expected results of 1.004. With initial SG reading of 1.052 (lower than expected) this would now equate to an ABV of 6.3, yahoo! I dry hopped after this discovery with the intent to transfer to secondary on Friday. I did taste the contents of the trial jar & although obviously cloudy it certainly had a taste, pre-hops.
My only concern is how 'watery' or 'thin' the liquid seemed to be, if that makes sense. Being new to this malarkey I've no idea if IPA is normally 'thin', I only drink Stout (my next project) & can't compare. This isn't an issue, just wondered if it was normal? Thin or Thick it will go to good use. Any advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Brew On.

 

[Graz]

IPA (i.e. a pale ale) is generally considered to be a lighter beer style so it may be 'thin' to your tastes. The dry hop should bring it alive though. What kit is it?

Sounds like it's all going to plan anyway so good luck.

 

[Sadfield]

A lower the final gravity, should result in a dry, refreshing beer. The appearance at this stage might be deceptive, and the beer may well drink differently, as a number of things contribute to overall feel of a beer when drunk. Such as carbonation, alcohol content and the types of sugars that remain after fermentation.

You are about to discover one of the joys of homebrewing. The ability to tailor your brews to match your personal taste. If this IPA is too thin for your palate, there are ways to tweak your next brew to give it more body.

Happy brewing.

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[GerritT]

1004 is low, sometimes that's good, sometimes it's a bit low. It's your first kit so it's you're hopping from one milestone to another, successes along the way!
Now, my experience: too low FG can and will have impact on mouthfeel. But more milestones to come, like carbonation and dryhopping.
So you will have beer in the end, and maybe just as you want it. Or you still think it's thin and you will look for causes and solutions, like mashing temperatures, adding a bit of caramalts, lower attenuating yeasts, other base malts (less pale malt, more Maris Otter or Golden Promise, or some Vienna in the mix).

The Stout that's coming up: from kit, or recipe?

 

[Oneiroi]

Congrats on getting your first brew under your belt!

Carbonation might add a bit more feel to it as people have said.

1.004 is pretty low, even from a 1.052 start. Did the kit include a portion of plain sugar as well as malt?


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[Oilyrags]

Hi, thanks for all your replies. The kit is Youngs American IPA, I'm not disappointed with it's appearance, in fact I'm overjoyed with the current outcome (hope it continues), it smells & tastes better than expected (better than the Speckled Hen I'm having at the moment), the cloudiness was expected at this stage, it was just the viscosity that surprised me. As Graz mentioned it being a light beer then the thin viscosity makes sense.
GerritT, the Stout is a recipe I intend to make from extract, looking forward to that one, the IPA was a test run to see if I could hack it.
Oneiroi, yes, sugar supplied with kit was the basic Youngs white.
On the whole it's all looking good, am well pleased.
Thanks again for your replies.
Brew on.

 

[Clint]

That's a great kit to do. Make sure you leave it until it's completely finished..your reading is slightly lower than the guide if my memory is working...1006? It's not a session beer though....I've got a couple left must be getting on for a year old and they still taste good.

 

[Lawrence22]

Check your hydrometer in water at 20ºC, make sure it reads 1. My first few brews were lower on both initial and final readings. Turned out the hydro was reading 0.005 low.

 

[Oneiroi]

The kit is Youngs American IPA, I'm not disappointed with it's appearance, in fact I'm overjoyed with the current outcome (hope it continues), it smells & tastes better than expected (better than the Speckled Hen I'm having at the moment), the cloudiness was expected at this stage, it was just the viscosity that surprised me. As Graz mentioned it being a light beer then the thin viscosity makes sense.

Sounds like a successful first brew, here's to the next one! (an the ones after that....)

 

[-Bezza-]

Personally, I find fermented but uncarbonated beer can feel especially thin when it's warm, which is when I tend to do the first test. Once it's carbed up and chilled down ready for drinking, there are plenty more areas for self-criticism to set in!

 

[Oilyrags]

Clint & Lawrence22, thanks, thumbs up.
Bezza, that sounds logical captain, i like your style!
Oneiroi, fingers crossed.
Thanks again.
Brew on.

 

[Alex.mc]

This was my first kit. Although I'm still very new to home-brewing.
I did my secondary fermentation in a pressure barrel, which was too big and heavy to refrigerate, and Like yourself I considered it a bit thin. However, when I carbonated with the pressure cap, and managed some chilling, it came to life!
It was very nice! Really drinkable, and I was ultimately very pleased.
I wouldn't hesitate to do another, but would perhaps bottle it all now that I've built up a stock of bottles.
I've since done a few more brews, an am just beginning to drink them now.
I'm a bit blown away with how good they are! I didn't realise how good homebrew could be to be honest. It's quite a revelation!
Stick with it! :-)

 

[Oilyrags]

Hi Alex.mc, yes, it's coming on a treat. Transferred to secondary Friday, all went to plan. Had a taste test, got a second opinion & like me came to conclusion it's come out like a Punk. Pulled half a pint yesterday, carbonating well, good head retention & is clearing nicely. FG of 6.3 so I'm happy with that.
Gearing up & looking forward to the Stout Extract project next (Stout being my language). As I mentioned, the IPA was like a test run & was expecting the worse but as it stands couldn't be more pleased, good job.
Thanks for the response.
Brew on.