Are Fusel Alcohols Guaranteed To Have A Taste?

[BoisePorter]

Everything I've read seems to indicate that fusels will have at least some sort of "hot" taste. I'm equating that to drinking hard alcohol (true or false?). Will you or should you always be able to taste fusels? I brewed up Midwest's Porter recipe and let it ferment for 5 weeks. Then bottle condition for 3 weeks and sit in the fridge for 2+ days. Cracked open a bomber last night and shared it with SWMBO. I drank more of it than her and I feel a little hung over but she doesn't. Neither of us tasted anything odd other than a small tinny flavor. Was this fusels?

 

[ThereThere]

It's probably fine. Maybe you just didn't drink enough water last night, or perhaps you haven't had a lot of homebrew so your stomach isn't used to it.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Fusels have that distinct "burn" that you mentioned, but nothing along the lines of actual taste from what I've experienced. As Revvy is sure to chime in, aging that bad boy will reduce the burn & tin flavor you mentioned. A lot of heavier ales (winter brews especially) actually emphasize using fusel alcohols just to get that "warming" feel, but I can't say for sure that's what MW was going for. I'd say give it another 2-3 weeks and you'll more than likely notice a big improvement.