Am I nuts?

My 2nd batch of homebrew was / is the Blue Moon Belgian Wit Clone from AHS. It does not taste like Blue Moon, and I've gotten mixed reviews from friends, some like, some dislike. Personally, I am still trying to form my opinion--keep reading.

Anyway, what's crazy about it is that this beer, to me, seems better served on the warmer side. The bitterness seems less, and the citrus / tartness stands out more--as opposed to just out of the fridge which seems opposite. Is there any kind of explanation for this, or is it just in my head?

you ARE nuts...as proven by your new found hobby.

First....Yes, most beer does taste a bit better at just cool...not COLD. BMC needs to be ICE cold to hide the nasty flavors in it, but craft brew gets pretty happy from about 40 to room temp...IMHO

And my last bit of advise...DON"T BREW FOR YOUR FRIENDS. Brew what YOU like, and you'll rarely be disappointed.

I've never done the clone, but I definately will support the fact that pretty much every beer is better as it warms. I almost always serve cold and drink slowly to enjoy the taste as it develops.

I agree. My keggerator is at 45*F and most time I let the glass sit for a few to warm up.

I have a belgian wit on tap that does exactly what yours does. As other have said, it's how temperature affects flavor.

Thanks guys. I just finished one off, slowly, as I was posting and I swear it's like a different beer as it warms. I'm obviously new to homebrewing and somewhat new to better beers and homebrewed beers. Warm(er) beer is definitely a foreign concept to those of us that used to drink the mass marketed swill that's out there.

I never would have been convinced to drink anything other than ice cold beer had it not been for this experience.

My very first batch (Amber Ale kit) is a little rough right outta the fridge, but after a while in the glass, it is much better... Threw me for a loop when I first tried it...

How old is it?

I was quite disappointed in how my blue moon clone from AHS turned out, until about week 6 or 7 in the bottle - then it matured into a very different and very delicious beer. I am very happy with the way it turned out now and probably prefer it over the real thing.

The colder the beer the more it numbs your taste buds. +1 for serving it cool. Congrats on the brew though, keep going

mr_bell - Yes you are most likely totally insane, as evidential facts that your taking up homebrewing, and asking on a bulletin board if your nuts!. I'm not a doctor but if you send me two grand I can convince you your sane!
OK, not so serious, you did not say how long your beer has been conditioned. The easiest rule of thumb is 1-2-3.
One week fermenting, two weeks secondary, three weeks bottled or kegged.
For a standard wheat beer, two weeks in primary fermentation, two weeks conditioning is good to drink, but it will be much better after a month conditioning. (I just have a hard time keeping my friends away from the beer that long).
I think genetic knowledge is seeping past the BMC social conditioning, your taste buds are pointing you towards happiness, follow your taste, brew, age, and drink how you like beer. You just might teach your friends a thing or two.

For those that have asked, this beer as of August 16th has been bottled about 7 weeks (bottled on 7/5) and stored at about 68-70 deg. The difference I've noticed between say, week 3 after bottling and now, besides better carbonation, is that the bannana aroma and taste has declined.

As the carbonation seems right now, I stuck it all in the fridge.

Since were on the subject, I used the White labs Belgian Wit yeast (WLP 400), no starter, and fermented at about 70 deg (that was the air temp in the room) It was in the primary x 2 weeks, secondary x 1. Would it have been better to go with a higher (or lower) temp for the fermentation, and how would the taste have been affected? Just curious. (White labs website recommends 67 -74F for this yeast.)

Lower fermentation has less of a strong banana flavor to it.
It does mellow in time, but with that yeast you will get it.
If you just don't like the banana flavor, you could always make a wheat with WLP001.

For a wit, the secondary is not needed as the beer is supposed to be cloudy and secondary is just for clearing. So 3 in the primary rather then 2 and 1 would be better for a wit. My first beer was also a wit and I noticed the same thing. Also, mine never really tasted like Blue Moon and as that was at the time the only wit I had tried I thought I had done something wrong. Then I tried a Hoegaarden and realized that it tasted more like that beer then a Blue Moon, wich is a good thing as Hoegaarden is the beer that rekindled the wit and is truer to style then Blue Moon. All in all a success and SWMBO's new favorite beer.

I made the AG version of AHS blue moon clone and I don't think it tastes anything like blue moon. Using the belgian wit yeast adds much more flavor than the american ale yeast used in the real blue moon. The AHS clone is still a really good tasting beer, but don't try to sell it to your friends as a blue moon, just tell them it's a belgian wit.

Makes sense for the style not to use the secondary. Wasn't thinking about it at the time-beginner's error. In fact it did come out rather clear.

Congrats on the brew! It is always good to start out with a clone recipe so you can see how close you got to the mark. When your friends say they don't like it, have them describe the flavors they don't like. This will help you figure out any problems you had while brewing.

and always rememember RDWHAHB!!!!