Tasted my first home brew tonight.

I tried my first homebrew tonight.
It was coopers draught. 3 weeks in primary. Only 6 days in the bottle. TastEd like green apples.

What's up with that?

Good link. Yeah, leave it in the bottle longer.

I still like to try my beers "early" but I tend to leave them in bottles at least two weeks before even pulling a tester. My hubby has quit trying them before they are "ready" altogether, since he finds that they tend to taste a little fruitier or ciderish early on.

Conditioning them not only helps with the carbing, but also allows the flavours to have time to mellow and blend.

Give it time and it will get better... in the mean time start another batch if you haven't already, and pick up some commercial beer while you are wating for the homebrew to finish... it will give you a head start on the next bottles you will need!

Also - I have been making Cooper's kits pretty much exclusively (while I slowly get together the gear for grain brewing). I found the draught and real ale okay, and hubby likes the stout... but the international series seem to make better beers. Just a thought if you are planning on making this type of kit for the next little while!

waiting for revvy...

most homebrews don't start to taste ok until 3 weeks in the bottle. many taste far better at 5-6 weeks. give it time.

Palefire said:

waiting for revvy...

most homebrews don't start to taste ok until 3 weeks in the bottle. many taste far better at 5-6 weeks. give it time.

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Spin: How wold kegging effect this decision? Leave it in a carbed keg for an extended period of time?

Keg it, put pressure on it, and let it sit. Of course you should have a keg on tap that you can drink while you are waiting.

Steelers77 said:

Keg it, put pressure on it, and let it sit. Of course you should have a keg on tap that you can drink while you are waiting.

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lol, good call. But how long do you leave it before tasting?

Green apples is not good. Your beer should taste pretty good as soon as it is even slightly carbed. Mine peak at about 1 month.

I've had acetyldehyde problems in beers with very high OG (barleywine / RIS). It does go away, in the bottle, but this can take months. I believe I get it from overpitching yeast.

I nearly dumped my barleywine in July 09. Bad green apple. The only reason I kept it at all was that I had a bunch of 22 oz bottles with no other purpose. This barleywine won 1st place in December. Without any carbonation! So, it got better in the bottle.

Did you have any problems with the fermentation? I'd have to agree with everyone else - leave it in the bottle another couple of weeks. Taste a sample bottle every 5 days or so and you'll be pleasantly surprised and you'll actually be able to taste the "conditioning" process everyone is talking about...