Newbie Q: What does "green" beer taste like?

so, like any good newbie I've been reading the brewing books by Palmer and Dave Miller and they both talk about beer tasting "green" after 1-2 weeks in the bottle (ie not ready).

I'm wondering if any of you more experienced brewers could describe this taste? Is it more of an aftertaste? obvious or subtle?

Thanks!

I dont think anyone can really answer that question "green" is any negative flavor that disappears after aging. It also varies a lot depending on the style, a strong alcohol beer might have a hot alcohol taste while a lighter beer might have yeasty flavor. I guess the only difference between a green beer and a bad beer is if the bad flavor disappears after a while.

Strong alcohol, strong hops, lots of yeast flavor many other unpleasant flavors are around when a beer is young. Depends on the style of the beer. If a beer tastes bad and is young give it more time. If a beer has had plenty of time to age and tastes bad there is nothing much you can do.

........... you can learn to like it though. I always drink some when bottling and when hydrometer testing. I drink one after a week and another at two weeks. It is kind of like a ritual for me, bottling a few 12 ounce samples and when I am brewing next week "here is to last weeks brew!"

Taste your brew at 2 weeks and compare it to 3 weeks and 4 weeks. I always sample an early bottle to see how beer matures. Different beers mature differently. Some brews taste great at 3 weeks, others 3 months. You may ask, "Why didn't it taste that great at 3 weeks? Green beer probably." Otherwise, the tastes/flavors have not gelled yet. Maybe the beer will seem a little harsh, a little sharp, and just need a little more time to get together. If you have not started yet, you'll never experience this phenomenon until you brew. Peace.

It's kind of like...Irony. It's pretty hard to describe but you'll know it when you see it....or taste it as the case may be.

My best comparison is:
Green beer is like putting all the raw ingredients for chicken soup in a bowl and trying to eat it.

Thanks, everyone, that definitely helps. I've had my first brew, an amber ale, in the bottle for just under 2 weeks and would definitely describe it as tasting "sharp" and possibly unbalanced, but not really bad/contaminated/spoiled.

Another question if anyone's still reading...
when do you move your beer into the fridge for storage? Do you keep tasting it until it seems balanced and then chill it down? Does aging continue much in the fridge, or are you just trying to maintain the pre-fridge result?

Cheers.

brewgrl said:

Thanks, everyone, that definitely helps. I've had my first brew, an amber ale, in the bottle for just under 2 weeks and would definitely describe it as tasting "sharp" and possibly unbalanced, but not really bad/contaminated/spoiled.

Another question if anyone's still reading...
when do you move your beer into the fridge for storage? Do you keep tasting it until it seems balanced and then chill it down? Does aging continue much in the fridge, or are you just trying to maintain the pre-fridge result?

Cheers.

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You move it in after you decide that you're ready to drink it....A good description is when the beer is at your "pre-chill result." But it is a good idea (though I rarely manage to subscribe to it ) is to chill them for a week before drinking. It helps further clear the beer.

Aging does continue in the fridge, but at a slower rate. If you aren't strapped for space you should wait to move it to the fridge until your ready to drink it. I am strapped for space, so my kegs spend some of their time aging in the fridge. In bottles your biggest battle is to make sure you don't cool it down before it gets carbonated.

Just wondering, does homebrew beer ever lose the green taste totally? More so for me its the "yeasty" after taste. My nutbrown after 4-5 weeks still has a slight tang to it. Commercial beer has non wat so ever.

I always think of green beer as having a substantial yeast bite - slightly bitter on the finish. The carbonation/cooling thing is something that you definitely don't want to do before the beer has been in bottles for 2 weeks, even 3 in most cases. After 3 weeks, chill a bottle for a day, taste it, and if it still doesn't taste right, wait another week, then repeat.

Kiwi_Jonno said:

Just wondering, does homebrew beer ever lose the green taste totally? More so for me its the "yeasty" after taste. My nutbrown after 4-5 weeks still has a slight tang to it. Commercial beer has non wat so ever.

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There is a different taste between commercial and homebrew, but I don't have what I would call a yeasty taste to my beer. My first batch did, but I drank it before it was ready. Now, I crash cool the secondary, force carb, let it clear and rest for 2-3 weeks and then drink. It is just as clear and yeast free as any commercial beer (well, except my Newcastle clone since I forgot to add irish moss)

If you bottle you can achieve similar results by having a longer timeline and getting good at not pouring the yeast out of the bottom of the bottle.

its a strange and probably not very scientific way at all whatsoever, but if i cant enjoy a beer with a meal like pizza, wings or something then for me, they need some more time to age. like i said, its not a very acurate aproach whatsoever, but it seems to work for me pretty well. i can still enjoy a green beer tho usually. its kinda cool how you can go from a beer that is completley unsatisfying to drink with a meal, to a wonderfully refreshing drink with the same meal.

The watery taste associated with "Green Beer", in my opinion, is due to lack of sufficient total body carbonation. I've poured beers with a very decent head after one week. The aging allows the entire beer to be consumed with carbonation and achieve complete and even flavoring/carbonation. ALL of my beer I have ever brewed has definitely benefited from aging in the bottle, some even achieve the best flavor after a couple months. It takes longer, but I do:
One week Primary
Two Weeks Secondary
Four Weeks Bottle Condition
Three Days Cold Condition (Refrigerator)

I apologize for the thread resurrection, but this was the first thread to come up. I am debating if my beer is green or not. I have had a few infected brews before, but they were one-offs. With my current brew, an Oatmeal Stout with Vanilla Beans added, has been either green or infected for 3 weeks. Now some bottles, I try about 1-2 throughout the week just to try and verify if it is in fact infected, didn't taste nearly as possibly as infected as the previous. But, some just jump out at you as being token infection. While I am still relatively new to homebrewing, I just wanted to see what people thought about my situation.
Should I keep at my weekly period for another month or so, or dump it? I have an IPA I wan't to brew, but don't really want to spring out for more bottles in case this batch is in fact green.
Thoughts?

I'd get more bottles and see what happens with what you have. You can easily obtain some pry top bottles through friends and neighbors, and possibly even bars.

I wouldn't dump it as I've seen how time has greatly fixed some of my crappy beer. And some beers just take longer to condition well. I have an oatmeal coffee stout I assumed would be ready, and it's not carbed at all and tastes nothing like what I expect. It's sitting and waiting longer...

mrk305 said:

........... you can learn to like it though. I always drink some when bottling and when hydrometer testing. I drink one after a week and another at two weeks. It is kind of like a ritual for me, bottling a few 12 ounce samples and when I am brewing next week "here is to last weeks brew!"

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Same,Ii find IPA taste the best when the hop flavours are still green. Basically I try and drink them as soon as they carb, as early as ten days, but I try them on day 5 too. After a few weeks they lose that hop potency that you only get for a brief time after dry hopping.

I just sampled the california common I'm bottling tomorrow, and oh man is it green. I didn't know what green was until I tried this. Really looking forward to finding out what a couple weeks in a bottle does for it. Thanks for the tips, all.

You should send it to me, I'd be happy to condition it for a few weeks and drink it


Sent from the Commune

Thanks duboman. So generous...

Barley_Bob said:

Thanks duboman. So generous...

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Hey, anytime, it's the least I could do on a thread revived from almost 6 years ago;.......


Sent from the Commune

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I made a Porter that was do doubt infected. I tasted it almost every week for two months and it never got better.

Nearly two years later we moved and I found a half a case of this stuff all the way back in the garage, I had totally forgot about it. For the heck of it I opened one and it was easily the best I ever made.

Not saying that you need to wait two years, but I found this very interesting. By then the beer should have tasted like vinegar. So, I would let it sit until it either tasted like vinegar or you need the bottles.