Expectations from pre-carb sampling

I'm curious what others experiences have been when it comes to sampling their beer before carbonation, whether force carbing or bottle conditioning. I just sampled an IPA that I am dry hopping with a bunch of Amarillo (6 oz for just under 5 gal). I like to sample more than I probably should because to me, as a relative novice home brewer, every brew is an experiment. So I like to take notes whenever I can, if I think that I'm not being too disruptive. Anyway, the beer after a few days of dry hopping, being flat, had some flavors and aroma of the Amarillo. But not that much. Also, the beer is really not as sweet as I would have expected. Now, for the aroma, I imagine that sampling now is not a good indication of what the beer smell like when it's carbed, but I would expect the sweetness to be similar to when it is finished and carbed.
What are your experiences with comparing the taste and aroma of your beer before and after the beer is carbed? I know that there is going to be some changes due to conditioning, but again I imagine things like sweetness would not be that different.

I guess I put this in the all-grain category because that's how I've been brewing my batches. I guess this is a more general question.

I hve been brewing for 3 yrs now and when it carbs up some flavors will be stronger and other in the background and alot of this is the tempature also. I have found if it taste great flat and uncarbed it is a good beer, if it has flavors I dont understand then I probably have problems. I know this is not much help but this is my experience after 50+ brews.

I cannot often tell from a flat sample. I also find that cold conditioning makes a difference.

I think I can tell more about a dark beer like a stout or porter doing this than I can a pale or IPA. Most lighter beers taste way different to me at this stage than after bottle curing. Most times though, if it is good now, it only tastes better later unless it gets infected during bottling.

arcorey said:

I think I can tell more about a dark beer like a stout or porter doing this than I can a pale or IPA. Most lighter beers taste way different to me at this stage than after bottle curing. Most times though, if it is good now, it only tastes better later unless it gets infected during bottling.

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I was going say the same thing in my original post, about stouts versous lighter beers. The last beer before the IPA was an imperial stout. Before it was bottled, it tasted somewhat like the finished beer. This is my first dry-hopped IPA, which is what had me thinking about potential differences in how well-representative samples are from style to style.

I've made a couple of Pliny clones, or variations. At packaging they taste like grapefruit juice. A few weeks later they are much better.

It gives me an idea how the beer is coming along. If you do the same recipe multiple times you should start noticing how it tastes at multiple stages.

i sample my beers at every stage. bottling, xfer to secondary, when adding dry hops, pretty much any time the beer is exposed for any reason (gravity reading, etc...) i taste it. I also taste the wort coming out of the mash, and right before i pitch the yeast. if you do this for a while, you will recognize what sort of flavor is a 'green-ness' that goes away with conditioning, and account for it, and it's good palate training imho.

In general, i find the aroma stays pretty consistent. if you are bottle-conditioning and tasting after you have added bottling sugar, then the final product won't be as sweet, and the carbonation will reduce the perception of sweetness a bit more.