Drinking my first brew: Three Week Hoppy Pale Ale

My first Mr. Beer brew is actually pretty damn good! And I'm not just saying that because I made it.



I used the standard Mr. Beer Pale Ale recipe that came with the kit I bought. I followed the instructions with the exception that I added 1oz. of Cascade Hops to the wort water, basically making a hop tea before adding the hopped malt extract. I dumped the whole shebang into the fermenter, complete with hops.

After two weeks I gave it a taste, and was pleasantly surprised with a nice hop aroma and taste. I gave it another week in the fermenter before bottling it. I thought I had maybe screwed up, because when I tasted it at week 3, it seemed as if much of the hop aroma and taste had gone away. So I wasn't anticipating a great result.

I bottled this first batch last weekend, using a mix of 12oz, 22oz, and the larger plastic bottles that came with the kit. I basically wanted to spread out the love, in hopes that if I screwed up the bottling process, maybe I would get one of the sizes correct.

So this first bottle is fairly young at one week old, but it has great carbonation with a decent head. Aroma is a bit sweet, which reminds me of how it tasted at the 3 week mark before bottling. But luckily, the fresh hop taste kicks in quite strongly in the body and remains through the finish. It never gets bitter, and in fact the hop taste I love sticks with it.

I'm pleasantly surprised!

C'