How good is your green beer?

[RobbyBeers]

I try not to taste the wort (nasty). But I do always sample my brews on their way to the bottle.

Sometimes, they taste ok. But my last couple of batches have been totally unpalatable. In both cases they (1) were too hot on the alcohol side and (2) had a wet dog smell.

Both beers were fairly high in alcohol (~8%; a big hefe and a big saison), so maybe that explains part of the problem. But why the dog smell? The only thing I can think of is DMS, because I still use an ice bath to cool my wort, but that is usually described as a corn smell. In any case, the alcohol and dog characteristics seem to fade over time, and both beers turned out pretty well. Still, it makes me feel like I'm not brewing as well as I could be.

And to return to my initial question: How good are your beers when they're green? Am I expecting too much?

 

[phatuna]

Hey Robby, some good, some bad. You really need to let it condition for a few weeks. I'll put money that you will be pleasantly surprised in a couple of weeks.

 

[Makeyermark]

The bigger beers are going to taste a bit funkier when green. I had an IPA that I thought was going to be horrible when I sampled during bottling. 4 weeks later it ended up being my favorite beer so far.

 

[BA_from_GA]

my first few beers were GREAT when they were green... then i realized how much greater they were after 4 months in the bottle, so i don't drink many green anymore. The couple big beers i've done (over 8%) were way funky and hot early on. I do taste all my hydrometer samples, just to try to recognize taste changes. Even then the big beers weren't great. BUT after 6 months in the bottles both are great, and would be my picks for the best beer's i've done yet.

 

[JoeMama]

+1 to waiting for them to age. I did a DC Raspberry stout and a holiday ale a while back that tasted 'salty' when they were supposed to be ready. Couple of months later, they were some of the best beers Ive drank. I nearly cried when those kegs were floated...
-Me

 

[C4PNJ4ZZ]

All of my favorite beers have tasted great at bottling (Blondes and IPAs). I've had one that seemed to go backwards, great at bottling and got more astringent as it aged (Chocolate Oatmeal Brown). I had a wit that tasted like garbage at bottling, fermented around 82F. Its at 3 months and its finally starting to mellow a bit. I hope for it to be drinkable this winter.

 

[businesstime]

My first two batches were high OG and tasted on the "hot" side as well before bottling. Also, a bit sour, which had me concerned. Both ended well..

 

[JoeMama]

My very first batch was VERY tasty when green. Once I tasted what it was SUPPOSED to taste like (with proper age) I have resisted the temptation to be a beer pedophile.
-Me

 

[KYB]

My Kentucky Common was great 10 days grains to glass. Of course it's even better aged longer. Had to brew and tap that (the second one) as fast as I could, but it's meant to be a quick beer anyway.

 

[adx]

Most of my lighter beers taste like warm, flat Genny Lite when they're tasted that young. At first I was worried, but now I know that taste means it'll be a damn fine beer in about 3 months.

 

[iXanadu]

I love tasting the wort, and drink almost every gravity sample. Overtime I'm starting to associate the various stages a beer is going through. I don't do a lot of large beers, but those I have, get much better in time. A couple I was going to pour out at 2 months, are a fav at 6.

 

[JuanKenobi]

It's definitely batch to batch for me. My first Double IPA tasted phenomenal on bottling day. It was also my first attempt at dry hopping, and the auto siphon got clogged up. After trying to pump it with the auto siphon and failing I got desperate and actually tried to get it going by sucking on it. That didn't work either, but I got a huge mouthfull and it was delicious. I think it was actually better on bottling day than it was for the first month after it carbed up. It is REALLY tasty now after 4 months. On the flip side, I tasted a sample of a saison I have going now and I spit it out almost instantly. It was hot and sour and I'm not sure what else I spit it out so quick.

 

[RobbyBeers]

Thanks for all the feedback.

What I gather is that there's just no telling, but things do always get better. (Although even this rule seems to have exceptions...)

great at bottling and got more astringent as it aged

I really don't have a patience problem. The change in the bottle never ceases to amaze me, and I love archiving my beers. What was throwing me off was just how drastically inconsistent my experiences were. Some of my beers tasted great at bottling; almost like a finished product, but uncarbonated. Others tasted like something I would never want to put near my mouth again, aged or not. I started to think, "Sure, style can account for some of this difference...but, man, this is terrible. I musta done something wrong."

Ok, and I'll go ahead and admit that I do taste a little of my beer at each stage, even the wort, just to see how it develops. However, maybe I'll stop these practices now that it has been described as being a...

beer pedophile

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I'll be the voice of dissent here. It all depends on what you are brewing. I brew bitter. I have found that you need to adjust the recipe for when you are going to drink it......In my case, pretty darned quick.

If you want to be drinking your bitter early, then you cut back on the dryer malts in the grist and use less hops. If it is a more robust brew, then heavier on the toasted malts and let it sit longer and maybe dry hop it.

Horses for courses. I drink a lot of session ale, so i don't have time to piss about with too much aging.

 

[Pivzavod]

I dont like the taste of any of my green beer, it magically tastes good after a few weeks of carbonation + some time in the fridge.

 

[candlejackstraw]

yea, i just bottled my first beer last wednesday. I snuck a taste, and I enjoyed it. I noticed the "green" taste...i'm guessing thats from hops?

 

[boo boo]

I try not to taste the wort (nasty). But I do always sample my brews on their way to the bottle.

Sometimes, they taste ok. But my last couple of batches have been totally unpalatable. In both cases they (1) were too hot on the alcohol side and (2) had a wet dog smell.

And to return to my initial question: How good are your beers when they're green? Am I expecting too much?

1... most likely you fermented warm giving you the higher alcohols ( look up fusels in the wiki )
2.... another possibility is an infection called brettanomyces which will cause a smell like horse sweat/horse blanket which to me would be like a wet dog smell. This infection would thrive in a warm ferment.

And my green beers taste flat but good just the same.

 

[RobbyBeers]

If only it were brett...I would dig that. You have a good point about fermentation temp, though. I'm looking for areas of my process to tighten up, and that is probably one of them.

 

[chuggs]

Every style is different.

I always sample from my hydrometer cylinder...and I've gotten used to not being totally happy with the unconditioned flavor. The one time I did have a beer that was perfect right from the get go...it wound up only having about a 3 week shelf life before it lost that special flavor. I'll probably make it again...but only for an upcoming event where I know it will all be consumed rapidly. Most of the beers I make get better after keg conditioning for a couple of months. Most beers that I make aren't super high gravity...and they fade after 6 months or so. Ciders on the other hand keep getting better and better with age. I've got one now that's just smooth as silk and refreshingly carbonated...it's almost 2 years old.

It's just magic what happens...even after the brewing is over...the flavor profile is a moving target.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm currently drinking 3 oz from my 10% RIS that I brewed last week and while it's a little alcohol hot, it's pretty darn good. Most of my beers taste good following primary but take a step back just after carbonation. 3 weeks on the gas and it's back to good/great.

 

[Killian_77]

Mine have varied as well. I have an Irish red that keeps getting better with time. I also have a pale ale that was made with cascade. The bottles I drank young were very clean and crisp. Now a month later there is more of a black licorice after taste coming through. Is this common with cascade? The beer is still very drinkable but I much prefer the taste it had when it was green.

 

[SFBEER]

Most of mine are pretty good just flat at first. Then after bottling I find they all smell like dog puke for a week or two. The flavour definately improves but I know it is ready when I open it and it smells ready.

 

[dogbar]

Most of my beers taste good following primary but take a step back just after carbonation. 3 weeks on the gas and it's back to good/great.

This is interesting. I always have the same experience, but I figured it was because of the mini-fermentation in the bottles throwing off some unfortunate compounds that then get cleaned up. Although if you're putting in some sugar when you keg, it could be the same thing.

My beer tastes much better at bottling now that I use starters.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm pretty sure it's the temporary buildup of carbonic acid.

 

[dogbar]

That's good to know, thanks for the info.

Although it swiftly kicks one leg out of my justification for getting a kegging setup, so no thanks for that

 

[Malticulous]

My average beers are good at 4 weeks, the flavor profile is set at 5-6. Some drop off quick after about 10 weeks. Flavor stability is a real problem I need to work on. My stout brewed less than three weeks ago is very good right now and won't likely get much better. The flavors will meld and become less complicated. It's very smooth already. 1.045 brews should not take two months if brewed well.

 

[IXVolt]

Tasted my vanilla porter yesterday as I transfered to a secondary. Lots of roasty/toasty flavor followed by chocolate. It was deffinately green but very good. Can't wait to let this one age! I think the vanilla will add that softer ballance to really make this one shine.