Lost hop flavor

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Daniel1980

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I brewed an English pale ale kit from brewers best. Bottled it a week ago. While I was bottling I tasted it and was thoroughly excited about the almost fruity hop flavor it had. Tonight I opened a test bottle and the hop flavor is gone and there's very little bitterness and almost a sour flavor but not overwhelming. Did I lose the fruity hop flavor or will it come back?
 
That's not what I was wanting to hear. I'm pretty bummed now. From what I've read sour=infection?
 
Yes and it will probably just get worse. However, it may have been just that one bottle. Wait another two weeks and open another ...

Over a sink.
 
Not always. I've seen with IPAs you need to dryhop to preserve the aroma which helps impact the perception of taste. I recently had an English IPA that was amazing at bottling, meh at 1 week, but started to come back into its own after 4 weeks. Give it time and that sourness may just be in your head. The hop aroma won't come back but a smooth hop taste can come around.
 
I opened two when I tasted them tonight just to make sure it wasn't one bottle.
Could this batch be ruined? I'm very let down after expecting the aroma and flavor to be the same. How do I keep that from dissipating?
 
Time is your friend. Be patient, the beer will only improve, granted it's not an infection. Also, is it carbed up? Carbonation will affect perceived bitterness as well as affect hop aroma. Give it time...only then will you know.
 
It's not carbed up completely. What happens to a beer if it has an infection? Will it be drinkable?
 
If a beer has an infection, it will almost always only get worse over time.
 
Another possibility is overcarbonation. It has only been a week, but it still is a possibility, particularly if it wasn't fully fermented out. High carbonation can mute hop flavors and aroma, and if high enough give an acidic bite. Pour one and let it sit out for a while. If it still has the bite, then the news is not good

You'll know soon if it is an infection, in which case drink up and get that next batch ready!
 
Ok maybe I'm not tasting sour. I just opened one today to see if I had a weird taste in my mouth yesterday. Could it be because I used all dme on my first batch and half lme and half dme on this one that the lme is tasting a little different? Seems like I read that somewhere.
 
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