Taste your gravity samples. They're incredibly exotic.

This morning I brewed the "Common Room ESB" recipe found elsewhere on this site. Right before I drained the (cooled) boil kettle into the fermenter, I drew a gravity sample to see where my O.G. was going to land. It was a little low, but not enough to worry about. I removed the hydrometer from the sample tube and prepared to taste the sample. I knew what to expect, and suddenly it occurred to me.

This is incredibly rare.

Not only was I about to taste unfermented wort, but I KNEW what it should taste like. That's extremely rare.

Duck a l'Orange is a pretty exotic dish, but if you live in a reasonably-sized metropolitan area and have $50 to blow, you can taste it. Likewise with truffles, pho, or calamari. They're not your everyday cuisine, but any Joe with the cash can find out what they taste like.

But unfermented wort isn't sold anywhere. There are no restaurants you can go to to taste it. Pretty much the only way to taste it is to make it yourself, or have a relationship with a homebrewer. I'd be so bold as to suggest that less than 0.1% of the population has ever tasted wort.

So why would you take your gravity sample, and then just dump it out? It's absolutely not going to be harmful to you (it was just boiling 15 minutes ago), and such a tiny sliver of society will ever taste such a thing - why not taste it and gain a palate for wort?

I'm not saying I'd ever come inside after a hard day of physical labor and crave an ice cold glass of flat, unfermented beer, but I suddenly realized how extremely rare it is to know what to expect as I raised that sample cylinder to my lips.

Just some random musings. Thoughts?

That is a very cool thought and one that is quite accurate. While my taste for wort is not that high, it is a cool thing to think about

Your dentist will thank you for this post!

kombat said:

But unfermented wort isn't sold anywhere. There are no restaurants you can go to to taste it. Pretty much the only way to taste it is to make it yourself, or have a relationship with a homebrewer. I'd be so bold as to suggest that less than 0.1% of the population has ever tasted wort.

Click to expand...

I don't think this is true. Isn't Malta basically unfermented malt?

EDIT, it is unfermented malt. So I hate to say a large portion of the world has had it. Even as a mixer it gets used.

Malta Goya is pretty popular around my neck of the woods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_Goya

edit: too slow!

I thought every body drank the gravity samples while brewing and fermenting lol.

I like to drink the beer or apfelwien that sits right on top of the yeast cake also, I call it Rams Piss

I tasted wort before brewing once. A local brewery (full pint) had a beer tasting at a bar and they brought grains for us to chew on and wort to taste. Kind of cool

trent said:

I don't think this is true. Isn't Malta basically unfermented malt?

EDIT, it is unfermented malt. So I hate to say a large portion of the world has had it. Even as a mixer it gets used.

Click to expand...

Huh. How 'bout that. I've never heard of that.

Chuckling to myself. I misread the title as "incredibly toxic"

I always taste my wort samples, I have gotten to where I can tell if my recipe is turning out correctly by the taste of the wort (for my repeated brews)

"But unfermented wort isn't sold anywhere. There are no restaurants you can go to to taste it."

Go to a grocery store and buy Malta. Loon ala Orange is exotic. I'm not so sure about duck being exotic. Tasting a wort sample isn't that incredibly rare. But, hey, everyone has an epiphany once in a while.

I'm with ya OP!

I appreciate the novelty of trying the wort, but to me it's just to sweet.

I brewed my annual black ale(2.5lb carafa3/chocolate wheat) and 107 IBU, the sample tasted acrid, extremely bitter and nauseatingly sweet. However, I know it's gonna be good once the yeast do their thing, I just prefer wort after the yeast have done their job. Wort's just not for me.

I'm a big cooker, I think it's essential to taste your food while it cooks, but the final product is always better.

Does malta goya really taste like what you put into your fermenter? I mean, obviously stout wort is going to taste different than IPA wort. So what does it taste the closest to? And why would you want to drink that? I taste my wort on brewday, but it's not something I'd want a glass of.

kombat said:

This morning I brewed the "Common Room ESB" ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................but I suddenly realized how extremely rare it is to know what to expect as I raised that sample cylinder to my lips.

Just some random musings. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Don't Bogart that joint, ma friend,
hand it over to me

BBL_Brewer said:

Chuckling to myself. I misread the title as "incredibly toxic"

Click to expand...

same

Robin0782 said:

Does malta goya really taste like what you put into your fermenter? I mean, obviously stout wort is going to taste different than IPA wort. So what does it taste the closest to? And why would you want to drink that? I taste my wort on brewday, but it's not something I'd want a glass of.

Click to expand...

I dunno... A lightly hopped Belgian beer tastes like a good glass of warm sweet tea to me. I'd drink it.

Before I started brewing, I took a tour at the Otaru Beer brewery in Hokkaido, Japan. Most of what the tour guide was saying was over my head, but I do remember drinking a sample of wort, and thinking how weird it was that it was so sweet. Back then I never made the connection that yeast eats sugar to produce alcohol.

I'd definitely like to go on that tour again. It's one of my favorite Japanese craft breweries.

I think about this when I'm brewing. I force my family to come outside and smell the boil kettle just after I add the hops. Holy crap is that an intoxicating sensation.

I like to stand in the boil off steam to soak myself in it.

Komodo said:

I like to stand in the boil off steam to soak myself in it.

Click to expand...

Same here. It's my favorite thing about brewing beer.

I think it is a wasted opportunity to not try your gravity sample.