Beer still green? I hate asking such a noob question.

[ganu]

(I think Revvy recently said that 1/4 of his posts are on this very subject.)

My hefeweizen has only been racked for about 2.5 weeks. Tonight I go to taste a bottle. At first, I was struck with an odd, sour smell. The taste was kinda flat, kinda watery, and again, kinda soured. The only way to describe the smell/taste combo is "organic dishwater".

Oh, there's no way that I'll NOT drink this batch. It's drinkable, but definitely NOT presentable... at this time.

I'm guessing that this should clear up over the next week or two, but here's my REAL question: What exactly does "green beer" taste like? Is it dull and lacking in flavor, cause tonight's bottle was certainly that. (It also had some kind of off flavor, but I don't know if that's due to its greenness or not.)


Thanks in advance... again.

G

 

[Shinglejohn]

Cloudy, sour, Sounds like a hefeweizen.

 

[BostonRogue]

Wheat beers tend to be cloudy, but not often are they tart.

What did the krausen (the bubbles on the top of the fermentation tank) look like? Did it look like a spiderweb, small bubbles, or kind of scummy bubbles?

In all likelihood the beer is fine, but if you had an infection it tends to lead to a more tart taste that you described; largely attributed to not sanitizing EVERYTHING or an unpure/unsanitized water source. This could be determined by the krausen; if it looks like spiderwebs it indicates an infection, and can be drank- however the sooner the better.

 

[lumpher]

Cloudy, sour, Sounds like a hefeweizen.

hefe's are a sweeter kind of beer, not sour. if it's sour, there's something wrong. drink it fast so you don't care

 

[Gldnst8warrior]

Fa git about it you got some veal. Next few weeks it will get better and better.