2bluewagons
Well-Known Member
I just had my first taste of an ordinary bitter I brewed recently. It was 1.052 SG and I made an appropriate starter, aerated by shaking the carboy, and fermented around 68 degrees for two weeks, ramping up to 70 for the third week to make sure all diacetyl was taken care of by the yeast. Temperature was maintained with a water bath with an aquarium heater.
First taste is amazingly fruity. I guess I really haven't had too many true British beers to know for sure, but this beer is so estery that it makes me think of Belgians. Anyone else have this experiece with Wyeast 1968? I was going for a nice malty (it was my first AG) flavor highlighted by the MO malt, but I'm not getting any of that.
Now it's only been in the bottle just over two weeks, but a low gravity beer shouldn't be too green at this point should it? Will these esters mellow out in a week, a month?
And a sub-question for maybe a different category, but this is not the first time that a finished beer has tasted completely different from hydrometer samples along the way, even at bottling. Does the addition of carbonation to the beer really change it that much? At week two, hydro sample was deliciously malty and biscuity, with a firm bitterness and a nice amount of hop flavor. Now it's a fruit bomb with some bitterness felt more than tasted.
Still drinkable, just not at all what I was going for...
First taste is amazingly fruity. I guess I really haven't had too many true British beers to know for sure, but this beer is so estery that it makes me think of Belgians. Anyone else have this experiece with Wyeast 1968? I was going for a nice malty (it was my first AG) flavor highlighted by the MO malt, but I'm not getting any of that.
Now it's only been in the bottle just over two weeks, but a low gravity beer shouldn't be too green at this point should it? Will these esters mellow out in a week, a month?
And a sub-question for maybe a different category, but this is not the first time that a finished beer has tasted completely different from hydrometer samples along the way, even at bottling. Does the addition of carbonation to the beer really change it that much? At week two, hydro sample was deliciously malty and biscuity, with a firm bitterness and a nice amount of hop flavor. Now it's a fruit bomb with some bitterness felt more than tasted.
Still drinkable, just not at all what I was going for...