So I tasted my first batch...

Opened a bottle of my first batch today. It was made with a Coopers Stout kit.

It has only been conditioning for 4 days but I wanted to be sure they were carbonating.

Good news: They are carbonating just fine (used Coopers drops).
Bad-ish news: It doesn't taste too great. Smells a bit like raisins, and also tastes a bit like raisins minus the sugar. Not much else going on. Very very dry finish.

Does anyone have any strong idea of where these bottles are headed taste-wise? Any alarm bells going off?

Patience is the key. Sounds like the case of a green beer. Stick 'em in the closet, forget about 'em for a couple weeks (I know, this is the hard part), then try em again. The yeast probably just need time to clean up any off flavors they produced during fermentation. Don't give up on it yet!

sounds about right for a stout. Time will do this beer good..what temp did you ferment at?

Your best bottle of this batch will be the last. I'm speaking from experience.

I made a wit a few weeks back. I was certain it was gonna taste like crap. I had orange peel and i got way too much pith in there. i couldn't stand to drink it 2 weeks in. I let it sit and condition for 4 more weeks. I couldn't believe the difference.

They are telling the truth wait and see. At least 3 weeks in the bottle.

iparks81 said:

sounds about right for a stout. Time will do this beer good..what temp did you ferment at?

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Cool, thanks all. I'll just wait and see.

To answer this question, I fermented in the high 60s/low 70s...the low end of Coopers' recommended range. Fermentation stalled at one point when the basement got too cold, but I gave it a swirl, moved it to a warmer room, and got it re-started.

Anyways, it doesn't exactly taste like liquid death, so I'll give it some time as recommended.

I'd bet on this being really good in about 3 months if any of it survives that long.

It's G-R-E-E-N... just like a rock hard green tomato far from being ready to eat. Beer is no different.

Just to provide a little more detail, I happened to pop open a bottle of cheap red wine last night, and realized immediately that the aroma of my beer was virtually identical to that of the wine, and the flavor was a bit like the wine minus any sweetness. May not mean much...I just found it interesting.

I'm not going to touch another bottle for at least a week (for "testing" ) and will start on the next batch in the meantime.

chiguy said:

I'm not going to touch another bottle for at least a week (for "testing" ) and will start on the next batch in the meantime.

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in general, it takes 3 weeks at room temp to carb and condition bottles of beer. before that, they'll taste 'green', as in not like the finished beer will taste. a lot of times, i'll check a bottle two weeks in, but i always feel like i've wasted a bottle of what will be great beer. give it a couple more weeks before expecting it to taste like the final product.