Beer gets worse in cold?

Hey guys,

This is probably a stupid question but I am going to ask anyways. So, we brewed an Oktoberfest a while ago, and bottled it 3 weeks ago as well. At the 3 week mark we took a bottle and let it chill for like an hour in the fridge. We then took it out and drank it and it tasted FANTASTIC, just like an Oktoberfest should. So, I was quite excited and stuck two more bottles in the fridge. After 2 days in there, I took one out and drank it last night. It tasted JUST like our first beer tasted. Not very good, and kinda had a bitter finish. I thought letting it warm up would help so I did, and it didn't. Thinking it was a fluke bottle, I opened the other one and the same thing happened. I have yet to try another bottle straight from the case that is unrefridgerated, but is it possible that coldness can ruin a beer? Thanks!

I would guess you just have inconsistency from bottle to bottle. Chilling the beer should not make it taste worse. If your main issue is bitterness, that will mellow with time...

Gotcha, it was just soooooo different from the first bottle we opened. Any ideas as to why it would be so inconsistent?

Mirage said:

Gotcha, it was just soooooo different from the first bottle we opened. Any ideas as to why it would be so inconsistent?

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The first bottle you opened may still have had some residual priming sugar in it. That sweetness would have masked the bitterness you later detected. Like I said, bitterness will fade over time. If the beer were too sweet, you'd be stuck...

Ah, I see. It just tastes NOTHING like an Oktoberfest. Oh well, guess we will have to play the waiting game some more. Thanks for the info!

Mirage said:

Ah, I see. It just tastes NOTHING like an Oktoberfest. Oh well, guess we will have to play the waiting game some more. Thanks for the info!

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Posting the recipe would help us provide more info. Another thing you should consider is the yeast sediment in the bottle. Are you pouring it into the glass or leaving it on the bottom of the bottle?

It was the BB kit. 2 cans of LME some specialty grains. I am leaving the yeast in the bottle. It definitely is a bit harsh on the finish, and does not taste like yeast too much.

Mirage said:

It was the BB kit. 2 cans of LME some specialty grains. I am leaving the yeast in the bottle. It definitely is a bit harsh on the finish, and does not taste like yeast too much.

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Strange. Just give it more time and see how it goes...

Alright, thanks! I am thinking that maybe oxiclean go into it. We let the bottles soak in it and tried to rinse REALLY well, but who knows. Some of the bottles had some foam on top of them when we filled with the wand. I thought that it was probably the angle of the wand and not residual oxiclean, but even then that would mean some oxygen in the beer which is bad too. Think either of those could cause the beer to taste harsh?

I could be wrong, but I understood oxiclean to be a cleaner, not a sanitizer. I've been using it to clean, but star-san to sanitize. Star-san has bubbles also, but they are ok, ie. won't kill yeast or produce off flavors. Also, I found out the hard way there are 2 versions of oxiclean. One has perfume (the regular), and the other, labeled as "oxiclean-free" does not. Kinda sucks I bought the regular one 1st, but hey, at least I've got some good smelling laundry now....

oxiclean will just break gunk up and help you remove it from the surface. you'll still want to use some sorta no rinse sanitizer; easy clean, star san, iodophor to insure you've killed any nasties.

We did. Sorry I didn't post that. We used starsan, and oxiclean (scented version as I heard that with glass it didn't matter and I couldn't smell it after the rinse) to make them visably clean. Good thought on the starsan causing bubbles. Maybe that was it. Still doesn't make sense about the beer tasting harsh though, maybe some mellowing out is what it needs...

1. an hour in the fridge did NOT get it as cold as the bottles that sat 2 days in the fridge
2. normal fridge temps are a little too cold for 'good beer'. good beer has malty flavors (especially an o-fest) and hop flavors... Ice cold temperatures rob you of those flavors and aromas...warmer beer would have more flavor.

so, the 1 hour chill got it down to..oh say 50 degrees. cold, but not ice cold. so it had some flavor. The 2 day beers were down to 34 degrees. Too cold really.

In England, there's a lotta beers served at damn near room temperature. A lot of people let their pint of Guinness warm up too.

malkore said:

In England, there's a lotta beers served at damn near room temperature. A lot of people let their pint of Guinness warm up too.

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In Scotland I'd let my Guinness warm up to room temperature. Then I'd toss it down the sink and open a Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout.

Did you notice an excessive head or any other abnormalities in the beers that tasted off?

Cold beer tastes harsh and your beer is way green still.

I guess we will have to let it sit some more. Thanks for the all advice!

Sorry to revive this, but I am confused still. Yes I did not let the beer sit longer and cracked open (a warm beer tonight) but it tastes EXACTLY like our first batch, a brown ale also a BB kit. That beer did mellow out a bit and became decent (that one has been in bottles for like 12 weeks). I am confused as to how the two can taste EXACTLY the same when one had 2 times as much extract. I wish I could send you guys a sample of each, maybe you could pinpoint the problem but as we have only brewed 3 beers and only two are bottled, it is hard for me to describe the flavor except that it lacks it, and has a bitter flavor and harsh/strong bitter finish.