Success, Beer!

Here is a poor shot of my first beer. I will make sure to get a better one once it comes out of the bottles! It is still not finished yet but it is getting there. It tastes somewhat like beer, though it is still a little bitter for my taste. It is now sitting in the bottles conditioning. It needs to sit in the bottles to develop carbonation naturally and to settle out fully. It was still a little cloudy going into the bottles and I probably should have held off another week efore doing it. I think that would have helped a lot of the yeast to settle out. I guess we shall see what the result is and I will know for future brews what exactly to do!

Patience is one of the most difficult skills to learn when brewing I think. I started the whole process around the fifth of January. The beer then sat until the start of this week fermenting and maturing. Now it is in the bottles conditioning. I have set the 15th of this month as the first taste test. I am meeting up with the local Hamburg Hobbybrau group on the 16th and I want to know what to expect before I serve out my beer. The bitterness may have mellowed a little which would be good. I am not a fan of sweet beers at all, I love bitter bers. I did however accidently double the amount of bittering hops I was supposed to put into this brew. I am today setting up the next batch, a slightly more ambitious India Pale Ale. Fingers crosed all goes well!