To bottle, or not to bottle (yet)

caveat: I may be over thinking this... I guess I'm just running under the assumption that it is better to bulk age something, rather then to bottle age it.

I've got a Flander's Brown style beer (no bugs though) in the primary, it's been there for 3 weeks, the gravity is stable and has been for a long time, but it doesn't taste very good. I'm not sure how to describe it... it has a sort of astringent bitterness about it that conjures up thoughts of medicine. I'm assuming it just green and needs more time.

I was wondering about whether I should bottle it now (since it's been three weeks), or let it sit on the yeast cake longer. Can I expect the beer to taste better the longer it sits in the primary? Which begs the follow up general question: assuming that the gravity is terminal, is there a good way to tell by taste when something is ready to be bottled?

I wouldn't judge it yet. It still is not bottle conditioned or carbed. It will change the way it tastes over time. I would bottle it if you have hit FG and let it sit for another 3 weeks or so before you try it again. Hope that helps.

most likely you can bottle now and let it sit for a few weeks to a few months. but the "medicine" flavor could be from clorinates in your brew water.