How similar is taste to final beer?

[BrewChick]

Hello!
I just took a gravity reading on my first batch, a honey brown ale that I made on 4-13. The gravity went from 1.060 to 1.010 so I was pleased with that. There was no (or very little) krausen at the top of the bucket but a very thick line of trub. I tasted the beer after the gravity reading and it was really bitter. Just wondering how much the final beer will taste like that, or if it is only bitter until you put the priming solution in at the end. I plan on leaving it in the primary until Monday, and switching to my secondary then. Thanks in advance! :rockin:

 

[ericm]

some of the bitterness could be from tasting the yeast themselves, as they're probably still in suspension at this point - they will eventually drop out and that will make it less bitter. hop bitterness also fades significantly with age (so if after getting it aged and bottled and conditioned in the bottles for a while you still find it's too bitter, you can just wait and it will get less bitter with more time)

 

[bennychico11]

the beer will change dramatically over the next few weeks...and then after you bottle for those following weeks as well. Your last beer will taste amazing!

 

[Revvy]

Never ever judge a beer until it has been carbed and conditioned At least three weeks in the bottle...sometimes 6-8. It sounds like you are tasting it in the fermenter, your beer is still fermenting, it is going to go through a huge amount of changes or the next few weeks....or months depending on the beer...


Read these and relax.

Of patience and Bottle Conditioning

This will give some some extreme examples of how a beer will change in the bottle over time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

 

[BrewChick]

Great, thanks! I was nervous because I kept reading threads where people said they tasted their beer during a hydrometer reading and it was delicious! I guess it will take some time to be able to separate what will taste good in the end

 

[BrewChick]

Oh, and for the record, dumping it never even crossed my mind. I wouldn't dream of it until it was complete, just trying to get a forecast!

 

[Revvy]

Oh, and for the record, dumping it never even crossed my mind. I wouldn't dream of it until it was complete, just trying to get a forecast!

That thread just gives you some examples of how a beer transforms over time...but you would be surprised to find out how much beer get's dumped for such reasons as they didn't like the hydro sample from the fermenter....

Or becasue they saw a krauzen and panicked....that's why threads like that are created (usually by me) to try to step the tide of beer-icied.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Great, thanks! I was nervous because I kept reading threads where people said they tasted their beer during a hydrometer reading and it was delicious! I guess it will take some time to be able to separate what will taste good in the end

I've had hydrometer samples that have tasted perfect. And some that have tasted like ass. It is fun to see how your beer evolves.

 

[BrewChick]

That thread just gives you some examples of how a beer transforms over time...but you would be surprised to find out how much beer get's dumped for such reasons as they didn't like the hydro sample from the fermenter....

Or becasue they saw a krauzen and panicked....that's why threads like that are created (usually by me) to try to step the tide of beer-icied.

If you have saved the life of a batch of beer through your thread, then it's been a good day.

 

[Indy418]

+1 on waiting.

From one noob to anoober (another) WAIT. I tried my first AG batch after one week in the bottle and it was watery and tasteless. I was sure it was ruined. Two weeks later--it was dee-licious!

 

[khiddy]

Gawd, I hope that's right, as far as watery and tasteless becoming delicious. I just had a pull of the hydrometer sample from my first batch, and all I could think was, "Geez, that was a lot of work for goat pi$$!"

 

[VApatriot]

Boy I'm glad I found this thread. I just bottled my first batch of Irish Red from an extract kit last Sunday. I tasted it out of the secondary right before I mixed in the priming sugar, tasted like beer but seriously bitter. Now for the hard part - waiting......... As soon as I have one, in about a month or so, I'll post a pic and a report but so far so good.

 

[bdaddy]

Gawd, I hope that's right, as far as watery and tasteless becoming delicious. I just had a pull of the hydrometer sample from my first batch, and all I could think was, "Geez, that was a lot of work for goat pi$$!"

yes, my Irish Red Ale hydrometer sample tasted the same..very watery and tasteless. I haven't yet bottled, but will be leaving it for 3 weeks @ 70 (after 3+ weeks in fermenter), so I'm not jumping to conclusions based on that, but like you...hope it makes that transformation.

Funny part was, opening the lid for the first time I was taken back by the strong smell of alcohol, and after taking the sample I made a comment to my wife how I smelled like a brewery and she said "well, what is it exactly you think you're doing?"

 

[Revvy]

Boy I'm glad I found this thread. I just bottled my first batch of Irish Red from an extract kit last Sunday. I tasted it out of the secondary right before I mixed in the priming sugar, tasted like beer but seriously bitter. Now for the hard part - waiting......... As soon as I have one, in about a month or so, I'll post a pic and a report but so far so good.

yes, my Irish Red Ale hydrometer sample tasted the same..very watery and tasteless. I haven't yet bottled, but will be leaving it for 3 weeks @ 70 (after 3+ weeks in fermenter), so I'm not jumping to conclusions based on that, but like you...hope it makes that transformation.

Funny part was, opening the lid for the first time I was taken back by the strong smell of alcohol, and after taking the sample I made a comment to my wife how I smelled like a brewery and she said "well, what is it exactly you think you're doing?"

Wait til you start brewing all grain, or partial mashes (if you haven't already.) To me those hydro samples taste, well, "grainy" for lack of a better word....nothing like beer at all, but more like this old Post Cereal Coffee Replacement called Postum.

Postum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It taste "good" but to me actually, Extract Hydro Samples taste more pleasant and "beer like" than ag ones....but like everything it changes dramatically in the fiished product.

 

[Grinder12000]

Never ever judge a beer until it has been carbed and conditioned

I don't really agree with that as a blanket statement but in the Beginner forum it is good advice. I always judge a beer when I'm bottling and I've only been wrong a few times.

HOWEVER - When I judge I take into account how much the beer will change and I think that just comes with experience.

I can tell when a brown or porter or Pale will be very good or when it will be a good "second" non-exciting beer.

AND - with the lighter brews carbonation is a BIG (stress BIG) factor

 

[Revvy]

I don't really agree with that as a blanket statement but in the Beginner forum it is good advice. I always judge a beer when I'm bottling and I've only been wrong a few times.

Well maybe a better phrase would be Never freakout if your beer doesn't taste right to you, until....

That's what I'm getting at....as you can see from the new brewers in this thread's response, that is often the case...they expect their beer to taste like, well, beer right off the bat. Not realizing that there's still a ways to go...

After they get a few batches under their belt, then they will be able to discern how their beers are in terms of the process.....

 

[Grinder12000]

Exactly - I remember when I tried my first brew and it was weak and tasteless. Sort of watered down. Then once it was carbonated and cold I was amazed that the floavor came out.

Never freakout if your beer doesn't taste right to you, until

pefect +1

 

[davesrose]

Great, thanks! I was nervous because I kept reading threads where people said they tasted their beer during a hydrometer reading and it was delicious! I guess it will take some time to be able to separate what will taste good in the end

Hey, it's a good learning experience to keep tasting your beer as it ages! When I was showing my gf how to all grain brew, she even wondered what the sparged mash tasted like before boiling with hops. She actually wound up liking that the most

Anyway, I've done a lot of tasting of my hydrometer samples (from OG to FG to right before racking to keg).....The thing I have noticed is that unfermented beer is very bitter....yeast itself tends to be sweet tasting....and that bitterness should definitely mellow out with time.