In my last post, I talked about my introduction to homebrewing by way of Mr. Beer. After such a (seemingly) successful first venture into the world of homebrew, I bought another Mr. Beer kit. This time, since I already had the starter kit, I just needed a refill, so it wasn't nearly as expensive. I believe I bought a Brown Ale this time as what I felt was missing from the last kit (Pale Ale) was that malty sweetness and depth of flavor.
This time, I opened the kit with the confidence of an experienced brewer. I no longer looked at the cans and packets with complete ignorance, and I started the brew day with no hesitations. I mean, I had done this once before, and it was so easy...
Just like last time, I brought my water to a boil, removed it from the heat, poured in my magic syrup, and added it to the keg. Then I just threw in my yeast and sealed it up. Done and done. No issues here, nothing went wrong...I mean, how could it? Brewing was easy!
Fast forward 6 weeks, after letting it ferment, transferring it to my gigantic plastic bottles with some sugar, and letting it carbonate, and I was ready to drink the spoils of my work.
Psshhhhhh!
Ahh, another successful carbonation. I have got this brewing thing down!
I went ahead and poured my beer into a glass. It was slightly darker than my last brew, which made sense since it was supposed to be a darker beer, but it wasn't nearly as dark as I expected. Oh well. I took a sip.
...Wait a second...
Where's my malty goodness? Where's the body? Where's the depth of flavor?? This beer tasted exactly like the last one I made. This time, since I was approaching it with an expectation and a more discerning palate, I realized: it was not good.
Yes, I made beer, but it wasn't good beer. The beer was way too carbonated (which, at the time, I didn't understand how to control), way too cloyingly sweet, had no depth of flavor, no malt flavor, no hops flavor; it almost tasted like overly carbonated apple juice. I honestly don't remember if I finished all of it, because it just wasn't good.
So now that the initial excitement of creating beer had worn off, I was starting to realize that maybe I didn't know what I was doing as much as I thought, but before I conceded that, I figured I would try another brand of brew kit. One that was a bit more "involved"...
YIELD: 1 gallon
COST: \$20 (\$2.50 per pint)
REVIEW: Not good...just not good at all...
TOTAL BREWS: 2
CUMULATIVE YIELD: 2 gallons
CUMULATIVE COST: \$65 ($4.06 per pint)
This time, I opened the kit with the confidence of an experienced brewer. I no longer looked at the cans and packets with complete ignorance, and I started the brew day with no hesitations. I mean, I had done this once before, and it was so easy...
Just like last time, I brought my water to a boil, removed it from the heat, poured in my magic syrup, and added it to the keg. Then I just threw in my yeast and sealed it up. Done and done. No issues here, nothing went wrong...I mean, how could it? Brewing was easy!
Fast forward 6 weeks, after letting it ferment, transferring it to my gigantic plastic bottles with some sugar, and letting it carbonate, and I was ready to drink the spoils of my work.
Psshhhhhh!
Ahh, another successful carbonation. I have got this brewing thing down!
I went ahead and poured my beer into a glass. It was slightly darker than my last brew, which made sense since it was supposed to be a darker beer, but it wasn't nearly as dark as I expected. Oh well. I took a sip.
...Wait a second...
Where's my malty goodness? Where's the body? Where's the depth of flavor?? This beer tasted exactly like the last one I made. This time, since I was approaching it with an expectation and a more discerning palate, I realized: it was not good.
Yes, I made beer, but it wasn't good beer. The beer was way too carbonated (which, at the time, I didn't understand how to control), way too cloyingly sweet, had no depth of flavor, no malt flavor, no hops flavor; it almost tasted like overly carbonated apple juice. I honestly don't remember if I finished all of it, because it just wasn't good.
So now that the initial excitement of creating beer had worn off, I was starting to realize that maybe I didn't know what I was doing as much as I thought, but before I conceded that, I figured I would try another brand of brew kit. One that was a bit more "involved"...
YIELD: 1 gallon
COST: \$20 (\$2.50 per pint)
REVIEW: Not good...just not good at all...
TOTAL BREWS: 2
CUMULATIVE YIELD: 2 gallons
CUMULATIVE COST: \$65 ($4.06 per pint)
