Another Batch #1 Update

American Blonde Pale Export

After following the suggested 2-2-2 breakdown for Mr. Beer brewing, which dictates two weeks of fermentation, followed by two weeks of carbonating, followed by two weeks of cold-conditioning, I finally cracked open my first bottle of te American Blonde Pale Export beer to share with Erik.  The beer poured a ruddy caramel color with an incredibly thick (but diminishing) head.  It smelled very sweet, with a tiny amount of citrus in the nose.

The first sip was overwhelmingly sweet and cidery, which was not what I expected.  It tasted unfinished, and although the carbonation was ready to go, I began realizing that all my waiting was ending up in disappointment.  Luckily, the power of Internet forums is on my side.  I asked around in the Mr. Beer forae, and received a very quick suggestion on how to alleviate this mess.

So again my American Blonde Pale Export sits on top of the (unlit) woodburning stove.  Tomorrow I'll go out to purchase a thermometer to keep a closer eye on the temperature.  Two more weeks of bottle fermentation followed by another two weeks of cold conditioning is my first batch's fate.  Four weeks from now I will once again rip open a bottle of ABPE and try again.

The cause of this taste is most likely the two-week fermentation period I utilized.  The ingredients I used in my first beer (a can of American Blonde hopped malt extract, a can of Pale Export unhopped malt extract and two cups of corn syrup) yielded entirely too much consumable sugar for the amount of yeast I pitched.  For this reason, I'll need to reactivate the yeast and allow it to continue chomping away at the sugars.  This will reduce the sweet and cidery taste of the beer and finish the body more completely.

Or so I hope.