What should the beer taste like before bottling?

I just finished bottling an English Brown Ale. The beer tasted flat and a little sweet with a slight taste of hops. Will bottle conditioning bring out more tastes and is it common for beer to taste this way before bottling?

Background. I did not do a secondary fermentation, just bottled it 13 days after putting it in the primary. The yeasts were very active for the first three days. My final hydrometer reading was 1.011, which is within the range the directions indicated (1.010 - 1.012). I added 5oz. of priming sugar. The beer looks really good, but the taste is not there yet.

English Browns benefit from carbonation and a couple weeks of aging. They lack single strong in-your-face flavor notes like IPA's or stouts. People think a Brown is the easiest ale to brew, making it exactly the way you want it is tough. I'm going on five years and ten batches and it still isn't precisely right. Good, though!

It should taste like flat beer...a little thin, and the tastes a little more pronounced, but mostly like flat beer. Sounds like you're right on track.

Thanks for your replys. I was unsure what preconditioned Ale should taste like, but it sounds like I m on the right track. Thanks again

El Pistolero said:

It should taste like flat beer...a little thin, and the tastes a little more pronounced, but mostly like flat beer. Sounds like you're right on track.

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Exactly. Just wait two or three weeks now and you will be amazed at the difference.

Mine was flat too. I just bottled so I will wait for the sugar Magic. I broke my hydrometer during the process and lost a bottle of beer. :-( anyone have a good sorce to get another?

Beer

Tropicpc said:

Mine was flat too. I just bottled so I will wait for the sugar Magic. I broke my hydrometer during the process and lost a bottle of beer. :-( anyone have a good sorce to get another?

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I've had great experiences with Midwest Supplies. www.midwestsupplies.com

Or you could see if you have a local homebrew store and support them!