15 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

I am not good at determining how good a beer has come out until it's cold, carbed and ready to drink. I will taste a batch at various points along the way, but I really can't get a good feel for young, warm, flat beer. As a result, that first pull can be an anxious moment. I start thinking about how much time, effort and work has gone into the batch and I'm usually pleasantly rewarded with excellent beer... sometimes not. Are you guys actually NERVOUS when you pull that first pint out of a keg?

[Given2fly]

Not nervous. Like you, I check my beer through all stages and sometimes when I pull the first pint, I am disappointed. But usually the beer that I'm disappointed with just needs a little more time. Then a week or so later the transformation has occurred and I'm left with a great beer.

[Mashman]

I'm always excited to pull that first pint, maybe a little nervous with anticipation.Mashman

[Big Nake]

I'll add that this certainly applies to corn sugar-primed bottles too. More variables there with inconsistent carb, bottles stored too cool, opening the bottles too soon, etc. But the anticipation is the same, I think. Mashman, anticipation is a better term than nervous... good call. Cheers.

[Given2fly]

Good point about bottles, anticipation is greater. If a kegged beer is undercarbed, then you can make adjustments....harder to do with bottles that are overcarbed for example.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Good point about bottles, anticipation is greater. If a kegged beer is undercarbed, then you can make adjustments....harder to do with bottles that are overcarbed for example.

one more step to screw up :PI can usually tell that the beer won't be bad - it's always just a matter of how GREAT it's going to be!

[jammer]

I'll add that this certainly applies to corn sugar-primed bottles too. More variables there with inconsistent carb, bottles stored too cool, opening the bottles too soon, etc. But the anticipation is the same, I think. Mashman, anticipation is a better term than nervous... good call. Cheers.

+1000. Its really a crap shoot with me. I mostly keg, but like to bottle a few bombers too. Lately its been getting better tho. Someday ill just have to splurge and get a beergun.

[MolBasser]

I'm always excited to pull that first pint, maybe a little nervous with anticipation.Mashman

This.For the most part the recipes I brew nowadays are tried and true so I pretty much know what I'm gonna get.I'm gonna start getting weird again this year and the first pull will be a bit more interesting.One bonus of getting out of the brewhouse and into R&D is going to be my increased motivation to brew at home. After brewing thousands of barrels of beer at work all week, it is tough to motivate to brew at home.....BrewBasser

[ncbeerbrewer]

I'm always excited to pull that first pint, maybe a little nervous with anticipation.Mashman

I am normally anxious in trying to wait and see how that first pint tastes. I normally will draw one taste then of course draw a second and confirm the first. I have had good outcomes with most all of my beers. Its fun and drawing that first pint is defintely the most exciting part. Carbonation can really change a beer flavor of course for the good as well. Prost.

[Thirsty]

But usually the beer that I'm disappointed with just needs a little more time. Then a week or so later the transformation has occurred and I'm left with a great beer.

Exactly.

[MtnBrewer]

I'll add that this certainly applies to corn sugar-primed bottles too. More variables there with inconsistent carb, bottles stored too cool, opening the bottles too soon, etc. But the anticipation is the same, I think. Mashman, anticipation is a better term than nervous... good call. Cheers.

Most beers I'm not anxious about but there was this one...I made a very special tripel for a friend as a wedding present. I bottled it in Belgian bottles with corks and cages and made a big production out of it. They never carbed. I was mortified, just absolutely embarrassed right down to the core. I don't know what I did wrong but they never did carbonate even after months of waiting. So I took the bottles back and made him another batch. This time I made two batches back-to-back, one for me and one for him, reusing the same yeast. I bottled my batch the same way as his. So I waited for a couple of weeks for my batch to carbonate and then I opened a bottle. Flat. Now I'm not embarrassed, I'm mad. WTF is going on here? I racked my brain trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Sugar? Check. Good seal? Check. I even added extra yeast at bottling time. Couldn't figure it out. I waited one more week and tried another bottle. The cork was a little too far into the bottle and I couldn't pull it out by hand. I enlisted a pair of channel lock pliers to twist the cork and when I got it about half-way out, I could feel the pressure inside pushing it along. Then the cork came out with a resounding POP. I was never so relieved in all my life to hear that sound.

[Big Nake]

Most beers I'm not anxious about but there was this one...I made a very special tripel for a friend as a wedding present. I bottled it in Belgian bottles with corks and cages and made a big production out of it. They never carbed. I was mortified, just absolutely embarrassed right down to the core. I don't know what I did wrong but they never did carbonate even after months of waiting. So I took the bottles back and made him another batch. This time I made two batches back-to-back, one for me and one for him, reusing the same yeast. I bottled my batch the same way as his. So I waited for a couple of weeks for my batch to carbonate and then I opened a bottle. Flat. Now I'm not embarrassed, I'm mad. WTF is going on here? I racked my brain trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Sugar? Check. Good seal? Check. I even added extra yeast at bottling time. Couldn't figure it out. I waited one more week and tried another bottle. The cork was a little too far into the bottle and I couldn't pull it out by hand. I enlisted a pair of channel lock pliers to twist the cork and when I got it about half-way out, I could feel the pressure inside pushing it along. Then the cork came out with a resounding POP. I was never so relieved in all my life to hear that sound.

So what was it? You just didn't wait long enough? You didn't add enough yeast that first time around and the ABV was high enough to kill the original yeast?

[MtnBrewer]

So what was it? You just didn't wait long enough? You didn't add enough yeast that first time around and the ABV was high enough to kill the original yeast?

I never did figure out why the first batch didn't carb.

[MAZ]

I am not good at determining how good a beer has come out until it's cold, carbed and ready to drink. I will taste a batch at various points along the way, but I really can't get a good feel for young, warm, flat beer. As a result, that first pull can be an anxious moment. I start thinking about how much time, effort and work has gone into the batch and I'm usually pleasantly rewarded with excellent beer... sometimes not. Are you guys actually NERVOUS when you pull that first pint out of a keg?

Would you say that you feel that way between both your ales and lagers (I know you do a lot of lagers). Since a lager, well, lagers at that cold temp for an extended period of time, maybe that has something to do with it.I can usually tell when my beers are good ones, both at racking to the secondary and into the keg (but mostly at kegging time). The only time I get nervous is when I've detected something that wasn't quite right... did I pick up a minor infection? did I ferment too high?

[Stout_fan]

I generally taste the hydro sample going into the keg.So I've an idea what the final result will be.My kegs are all stored dry than sanitized.So... no worries.At least most of the time

[Big Nake]

Would you say that you feel that way between both your ales and lagers (I know you do a lot of lagers). Since a lager, well, lagers at that cold temp for an extended period of time, maybe that has something to do with it.I can usually tell when my beers are good ones, both at racking to the secondary and into the keg (but mostly at kegging time). The only time I get nervous is when I've detected something that wasn't quite right... did I pick up a minor infection? did I ferment too high?

Let's put it this way... I can tell if a batch is bad right away. But if there is a slight issue with the flavor, I can't pick that up in a hydro sample, etc. Sometimes I will take a big whiff of a beer and think "uh-oh" but then taste a hydro sample and realize that the beer is okay. But it's only when the beer is ready to drink that I can really get a good indication of it... and this is for ales and lagers. Cheers.