5th day in bottles early tester alcohol taste slightly less

[brewtus72]

Tested my autmn amber today after 5 days in bottle just to see if the slight alcohol taste had subsided any at all and to my suprise it had some. There was not a huge difference but a slight noticeable difference. I'm thinking by week 3 this brew may actually turn out alright. What do you guys think? Do you think since its atleast some better after only 5days that it's gonna turn out. It obviously had no head but cap did hiss and smoke slightly and did have very very mild bit of carbonation. Let me know what you think guys.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

yes... let it finish carbing and cleaning up after itself and it will be fine... the yeast know what they are doing

 

[brewtus72]

ohhh i'm going to man Jus wanted some reassurance from you guys that know from experience. I dont think i will crack another one till week 2 just to see the difference. Thanks for easing the mind.

 

[Revvy]

You shouldn't judge or worry about a beer until it is passed the carbing and conditioning phase. It's on a journey, and often they taste like crap until right up to when the journey is done. So there's no point in stressing out about it. Heck, that's why I don't think there's even any point to sampling a beer early. But that's just me. I'd rather have 54 perfect jewels then whatever is remaining after I've prematurely sampled a few. So I don't even bother trying the first one anymore until it's been 3 weeks in the bottles.

 

[brewtus72]

thats very true Revvy guess its the noob in me. I'm gonna just have to chill out in relax i agree with you guys on that i've deffinately been stressing about it guess cause I want it so badly to turn out really good. I'm gonna wait it out from here on out though no more premature top poppin'

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

I'll jump on Revvy's boat.. I don't taste mine until at least 4 weeks in the bottle, usually that's because i forget its there while I'm drinking the kegged beer. but 4 weeks is really on my calendar for first tasting!

 

[lowtones84]

Always a good rule, but I did a batch of Orfy's mild recently and dang...after two weeks in the bottle it was amazingly good. But Revvy's 3 week guideline is definitely a good one to follow!

 

[kiwibrew]

Testing it early I think is part of the learning process, learning to decern the flavor and tell if it ready. Testing it early is part of what will eventually teach you that Revvy is right.

 

[brewmax25]

One of the first brews I made from my own crafted recipe had a strong taste of alcohol. I waited a couple weeks after trying my tester and now it is a regular brew of mine. I just make sure to let it condition in the bottle for a bit.

 

[seabass07]

I think it also depends on what beer it is. Last time I made a hefeweizen, it was mostly carbed and delicious after 2 weeks in the fermenter and 3 days in the bottle. My stouts need the full 3 weeks in the bottle for the roast flavors to balance out. I still taste bottles every week to see how they're coming along. Even though I know they aren't ready, I want to taste how they change along the way.

 

[brewtus72]

Yea seabass07 thats kinda what I was going for too just the progression stage of how much waiting actually makes a huge difference. Thanks you guys for all the real good info.

 

[Revvy]

Yea seabass07 thats kinda what I was going for too just the progression stage of how much waiting actually makes a huge difference. Thanks you guys for all the real good info.

Yeah that's a great rationalization ALL you new brewers use to justify your impatience.

At the risk of getting flamed like I always do when I dare post this, read my take on the "tasting early" thing. (But remember, it's just my OPINION, you can do whatever YOU want with your beer. Call it sally for all I care. )

But the biggest point is, if you KNOW it's too soon, then don't start a panic thread. Don't ask to have your hand held. Just realize that when we say "3-weeks..." we're not saying that to pull your chains, it's not "prank the new guy." It's that there's a HIGH probability that your beer won't be carbed or will taste like crap, so taste your beer if you want to, but don't stress it if it's not there yet.

 

[seabass07]

Yeah that's a great rationalization ALL you new brewers use to justify your impatience.

At the risk of getting flamed like I always do when I dare post this, read my take on the "tasting early" thing. (But remember, it's just my OPINION, you can do whatever YOU want with your beer. Call it sally for all I care. )

But the biggest point is, if you KNOW it's too soon, then don't start a panic thread. Don't ask to have your hand held. Just realize that when we say "3-weeks..." we're not saying that to pull your chains, it's not "prank the new guy." It's that there's a HIGH probability that your beer won't be carbed or will taste like crap, so taste your beer if you want to, but don't stress it if it's not there yet.

I think it happens to new brewers because we're curious. I have learned a lot from that practice. For example, the last porter I made tasted like licking an ash tray after a month in the fermenter. The ash flavor slowly faded over the 3 weeks in the bottle. I knew it would change over that 3 weeks, but I didn't expect it to taste like a completely different beer. I'm glad I kept tasting them even though I knew they would taste like crap. Eventually, I'll stop tasting them while green, but for now it satisfies my curiosity.

I've also found that when I carbonate with table sugar, I get that horrid green apple flavor after 2 days and it goes away by the 4th day. It's basically useless information, but I find it interesting.

It's very important to realize that it could taste completely different after 3 weeks in the bottle. It isn't always just carbonating. If there are weird flavors, there's a good chance that they will go away by the 3rd week.

 

[brewtus72]

Thanks guys!