Five days and I drank one....

[Luther]

I know, I know. But it's my first ever kit. And it's been in bottles since last Sunday, for goodness sake, so it's had aaaaaaaaages, hasn't it?

Anyway, I know it's stupid, but I just had to check. And you know what? It's alright. Smells a bit iffy, but tastes pretty reasonable. And it's lovely and clear already. It's just a Coopers bitter, brewed as per instructions with ordinary sugar... but I think it might be quite decent in a few weeks time. If I can just leave it alone. Leave it alone. LEAVE IT ALONE, YOU MUPPET.

I think I could get hooked on this beer business, you know...

[delboy]

I do that all the time, in fact i was supping on a four day old beer straight from the fermenter tonight, just call it quality control

[stevezx7r]

Yup, it's hard not to try a pint, especially if your beers sat right next to you, like mine is

[Stonechat]

Patience grasshoppers

[CyberPaddy66]

I can't talk, I've never managed to get anything to maturity before 1/2 the keg's empty

[subsub]

Tut tut. Pot Kettle and Black spring to mind

[booldawg]

Its a little tradition of mine to drink a pint from the bottom of the FV when I've bottled it all up.

[Stonechat]

Hi Booldawg, would that be a regular tradition?

[Madbrewer]

Actually you can learn a lot that way. You get to appreciate what 'green' beer tastes like and get ideas for future brews that may need maturing to come into their best.

The best way I found to avoid that is to make sure you have enough brewed already that you can appreciate a properly conditioned pint instead of going straight for the new one!

[fivetide]

The only way I can combat drinking my beer before it's ready is to make another one and another one to take my mind of the conditioning with new fermentations!

[booldawg]

Hi Booldawg, would that be a regular tradition?

Yup, every time! But as MB says it is a good learning tool to taste your beer at various intervals throughout the brewing process.

[Luther]

Excellent, you've convinced me that I'm justified in drinking me beer early!

Maybe what I should have done is made up half a dozen of those little kids pop bottles, specifically so I can check a bit every few days without wasting a whole pint each time...

[Chris The Fish]

Maybe what I should have done is made up half a dozen of those little kids pop bottles, specifically so I can check a bit every few days without wasting a whole pint each time...

when i bottle i always do at least 2 clear bottles (1 from the middle, one from the very end) and a handful of 300ml bottles (duval sized, or the Christofel Blonde bottles - they have swing tops), that way you have a window on your brew, and small amounts for sampling. I even do this when i putting it in my keg.