Soured Ale?

Me and a couple friends recently completed our first batch (a BB amber ale). Which turned out OK, but has a very sour aroma and after taste that wasn't present when we sampled pre-bottling. Is this likely from contamination, light exposure (which was minimal, but possible), or something else? Also, is this the kind of flavor that could be expected to mellow over time?

It's likely YOUNG! When did you bottle? How long in Primary / Secondary?

Sour is a hard to describe flavor, and could be from a LOT of things. Mostly, I'd say chill out, and get another batch going! Your beer will improve in the next 3 - 4 Weeks.

I have a full Pipeline, so it's EZ as a hop addition for me to age beer for 2 months or more, almost eliminating some of the funny flavors that plague new brewers.

BTW...
Welcome to HBT.com!

All told, it's been a month since brewing, so yeah it hasn't aged long enough. I was just concerned if these off flavors were signs of a skunking as they weren't noticeable pre-bottling. Do underconditioned beers often exhibit harsh flavors such as this?

yes. i do 10 in primary, 10 in secondary, and 3 wks min in bottle. once you get a good pipeline going its not a big deal. i just transfered my xmas ale over to the secondary and im almost positive it has the same taste that you are describing.

redbaron24 said:

Do underconditioned beers often exhibit harsh flavors such as this?

Click to expand...

Yes! Almost Always! There are plenty of ways to make beer good fast...see Yuri's bit about ageing myths and Facts, also the 10der and mild project was aparently a success....although my mild is considerably better now than it was at 10 days.

Also, Skunking is the oxidation of hop oil, so as long as you didn't bottle in the kitchen window, or use clear bottles, his is almost certainly not the case.

Also (part2) I've been needing an extended ageing time with any beer containing cascade hops lately. I'm not sure why, but it's taking a lot of time before they really smooth out.

While I would certainly agree that your beer will benefit from more conditioning time, I would be a bit concerned. I've bottled dozens of batches and the only time I've ever had a batch with an aroma similar to what you described, it was infected.

I respectfully disagree with BK in his assessment that underconditioned beers almost always exhibit harsh flavors like this. I've tasted every single batch that I've bottled at 10 days and while they were certainly green, only this same batch showed any signs of any 'sour' qualities.

That certainly does not mean that your beer is infected, but it could be. I'm not trying to scare you, just sharing my experience.