When taste testing a little when moving to secondary, what's it supposed to taste?

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Improv241

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I wanted to take a reading with my hydrometer to see where i was when I moved my belgian wit over to the secondary (yeah...i know a lot say you shouldn't, but I needed the room).

It tasted like water.

Is this normal? Does the carbonation make it better after sitting in the bottle for a week or two?

TIA!
 
I wanted to take a reading with my hydrometer to see where i was when I moved my belgian wit over to the secondary (yeah...i know a lot say you shouldn't, but I needed the room).

It tasted like water.

Is this normal? Does the carbonation make it better after sitting in the bottle for a week or two?

TIA!

Did it really taste like water? Or are you exaggerating?

How long did you primary this one? If it has been about 2 weeks at least you should be able to taste the beer but it might be a bit "green." I usually find that if I take a taste test at 2 weeks I get a decent representation of the end product. A little green maybe but I at least get a good idea.
 
I've never had a beer that tasted like water at the end of primary...

It always tastes like flat, warm beer.
 
Same - flat, yeasty warm beer with a nasty tinge underneath. It all gets better after a while though! But if anything, mine tend to have a strong taste of alcohol that disappears over time.
 
Yeah mine are usually flat, warm beer, yeasty with a bit of hot alcohol or that wierd tinge that RobWalker speaks of.
 
Just checked my gravity on mine and its not done yet. Mine tasted strong with alot of alcohol burn. I got a slight buzz from drinking about 3 ounces too hehe
 
Twelvelookslikex - that buzz is surely not the booze, but the sense of pride and accomplishment that home brewing brings...its fantastic!
 
When I say it taste like water, it's that it has the flavor i'm looking for...but it's extremely flat and no alcohol taste.

However...it's only been one week. :) My recipe called for moving it once the airlock bubbled once every 45 seconds.

The first day I got back from work, I thought I had a good cool spot, but it reached 78-79... I was able to get it down to 68 pretty quickly and it's been in the 68-72 range ever sense. Hopefully, I didn't already kill it. =\
 
I learned that carbing in the bottle also changes the flavor profile a LOT. Continue on and bottle and let it sit in the bottle for a minimum of 3 weeks. (I taste one a week to make sure things are changing though.)
 
Mine usually taste pretty close to the final product at bottling, I have only used a secondary twice out of the 6 brews I have made. Many here don't use them at all, just a longer primary. Witbier definitely does not need a secondary. The carbonation will lift the flavors.
 

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