Brewed my first anything on the 26th of Jan. OG on the India Pale Ale was a little lower than the kit zone, mine was 1.053. Put the yeast in and it sat at 66* for a good 36 hrs. before it started bubbling. Only bubbled for about 30 hours and got to about a pop a second for a good few hours. It's been all stop with the bubbling the last day or two so I took another reading today before putting it into a second ferment and it's right on the mark where it should be at 1.014, gives me an approximate abv of 5.8%

Didn't aerate it with a pump or anything like that Scotty but it got good and stirred up after the boiling stage while I tried to cool it down in a tub of ice water. I followed the directions on the yeast packet and dissolved it in the right temp water for the 15 mins. it suggested. The yeast slurry was nice and bubbly when it got put in the mix. The temp reading on the mix stayed a constant between 66-68*.

"NS. skunky and hoppy are two differnet things for sure. Now with that said, time is a biggy when it comes to beer getting ripe and ready.
A lager is skunky because of the yeast and thats what its supposed to be, with an ale its not really a skunky scent but in the early stages of conditioning it can take on several aroma's that might turn you off. InMyHumbleOpinion give your brew at least 3 weeks to condition and carbonate -- you cant hurry it so dont even try. So with that thinking dont open one for at least 3 weeks, I know the instructions say --7 days and its ready to drink---- but not from what I've found!!!!!!!!! If you try one in 2 weeks and you go ewwwwww. well its just not ready yet, so keep that in mind.
I have found that home brew is just not what you can buy and thats kinda what you are trying to do, make your own flavor....prepare your mind for something different and let it age to maturity which might be 3 weeks to 12 weeks. But it might be 2 weeks to perfection. So give it 2 weeks and put one in the fridge for 24 hours and try it, does it suck ??? If so give it another week or two and try one more, thats just he only way to get it right. I have found that I dont even put one in the fridge for 3 weeks or so, just to make sure and give it the best chance to get right.
Now if you were kegging that would speed up carbonation but not the development of the flavors, so agian give it time cause you cant hurry it anyway, good luck and hope it turns out for ya."

1st batch is one for the books, I went with what heeler does, I bottled it and didn't even look at it for 3 weeks. 2 nights ago I took a few out and put them in the fridge, we of course had to crack one open that night too. It was horrible, had an actual chemically taste yuk. Our only hope was that this IPA was like revenge, something best served cold. Got busy with work the next day and forgot about the beer in the fridge until after dinner. Cracked a couple open and poured them, nicely carbonated, nice thick foamy head and what about the taste?.....................Delicious. Had to hand a few out to the professional beer drinkers I know, everyone loves it. what I described a few weeks ago as skunky/hoppy has totally mellowed/smoothed out and call me crazy but there is an almost bittersweet chocolate taste to it. The aftertaste is nice too, kind of dry but leaves you wanting more. Thanks everyone for the helpful info on this first project, already bought ingredients for a new batch, I'll start another thread on that in a day or so.
NS