The first taste
On Saturday, I tried the raspberry wheat, and on Monday I tried the porter. It had only been a week, and I knew that they wouldn’t be done for at least another two weeks; I was trying them so that I could get an idea of how beer changes while bottle conditioning, so that I can recognize “green beer” in the future.
God, I hope they’re green.
The wheat, which had no specialty grains steeped, started as what I can only (inaccurately) describe as “flavorless”: not medicinal, but not really like beer I’d say. It finished with a strong raspberry flavoring (rather than raspberry) flavor. I’m hoping/expecting — with good reason, I think — that the two will blend together, in which case I think it will be a fine beer. Not great, but I was never expecting it to be; just very good. On the plus side, it was well carbonated (gotta love wheat yeast) and had a great color.
The porter, on the other hand, was flat. It was also too sweet, which I’m assuming is the unfermented corn sugar’s doing. I’m hoping the yeast is just taking a little bit to start up again, and that it’s not caused by me forgetting to stir the bucket as I bottled. As long as it carbonates, and takes the sweetness down a few notches, it will be delicious. Again, not award winning, but this is my first damn brew so I’m cutting myself a lot of slack. It’ll age better than the wheat, so I have no problem storing it until it tastes better.
All in all, I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t want bad beer, as I’ve promised it to quite a few people. But I don’t think it will be: it may be par, or slightly sub par, but even then its recipients (myself included) aren’t well-traveled connoisseurs and I’m sure it will turn out just fine.