Time Really Does Heal All!

(Even though I am decidedly not a beginner, this was only the 5th batch I ever made, and I also want to give hope to the newbies that all problems can be solved by father time.)

Last March I brewed a big milk stout (1.074 OG, 6.3% ABV). After 3 weeks of fermentation and a month of bottle conditioning, I had five gallons of cloying, bland, mediocrity. This did not change after 2 months in bottle, or 4, or 6. After choking down a couple dozen bottles and making as much chocolate stout cake as I can possibly stand, I left the last half dozen or so bottles in my basement.

Now almost a year to the day it was bottled, and having nothing else to drink, I cracked open a bottle and it is GREAT! I'm frankly surprised that a beer with only 6.3% ABV has become this complex (milk chocolate, dried fruits, and creme` brulee predominate). It's gotten to where the residual sugars aren't even an issue. In fact, this beer has almost taken on the characteristics of a mini-RIS.

The lesson: if your beer is crap, store it in the basement for a while. When you get back to it, you may have gold.

Agreed. My first batch was undrinkable (not even mediocre), but after a couple of months of pouting on my part, The World's Worst Wheat (TM) was actually pretty ok!

Hate to rain on the parade but i have about 40 bottles of 10 month old ipa that could strip the paint off of my house. Time doesn't heal mass fusels.

chumpsteak said:

Hate to rain on the parade but i have about 40 bottles of 10 month old ipa that could strip the paint off of my house. Time doesn't heal mass fusels.

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That was the big flaw with my wheat. Can you say hefe yeast fermented at 85F+? Yea, that was some jet fuel hooch, my friend. But it mellowed out bigtime after a few months on the yeast in a cool cupboard. There were definitely still some fusels, but like I said, it was not bad for a first effort.

chumpsteak said:

Hate to rain on the parade but i have about 40 bottles of 10 month old ipa that could strip the paint off of my house. Time doesn't heal mass fusels.

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Also, as a newbie, I don't want to hear it'll take my beer a year before its considered good or drinkable. I have a wheat beer (my first brew attempt) that's been in bottles for six weeks and it isn't what I'd consider drinkable. Maybe LHBS should make sure newbies get a recipe/instruction set that ensures success with a much shorter turnaround.

I was able to taste a friends Homebrew over the weekend, which at the point of first tasting became known as "Lemon Pledge". Over time it even became Drinkable. While I wouldn't "order it", it has mellowed, so time does Heal All.

My first 2 brews were bitter and bland at 3 weeks in bottles. At 8-10 weeks, completely different drinking experience. If you want a beer that is good after only 3 weeks in bottles go with a Pale Ale and ferment it at 65 degrees for 21 days.

I found some old bombers of what was likely one of my last Extract batches made a few years ago. Back then it was drinkable. When I tasted from a couple of bottles of "The Forgotten Part II", they were all like liquid cardboard cider.

I'm of the opinion that if it isn't drinkable after a month or so then dump it and move on. Try to figure out what went wrong and fix it. No point in pining after something that isn't great when all it takes to make great beer is a little technique. Do a lot of reading on this forum and you too can make great beer with a little knowhow and effort. When I started I made 2 so so extract beers, 2 horrible all grain beers, and umpteen great beers since then. Don't give up and don't settle for mediocrety.