Flavor Change?

[shadygrove96]

so i havent been homebrewing for too long, but long enough to know that a beers flavor can change considerably through the process, i am just looking for some reassurance here...

i brewed my first pale ale a little over a week ago. im using a fairly hoppy recipe with some really aggressive bittering hops (1 oz warrior, 16% alpha). i tasted it today when i transfered from primary to secondary and it was not very good at all. not completely awful or undrinkable, but not good.... i know i know its way too early to judge. very bitter, but not good pale bitter with a really wierd after flavor.

every other beer that i have brewed and tasted between primary and secondary has been at least comporable to what the final product tasted like...but i hope this one evolves considerably. most of my other beers, however, have been fairly malty (amber, dry stout, red) and im thinking that maybe the flavors evolve differently in a malty beer as apposed to a hoppy beer??? what do you think? experiences? way to early in the process to even consider???

 

[brewmasterpa]

let it rest dude!! secondary it for 14 days, then bottle or keg and condition for atleast a month. youll never be able to determine a beers finished flavor after week #1. the hoppier beers are better off conditioning for longer than maltier beers. if youre lagering, you have to lager condition your beer for a considerable amount of time to settle the esthers and sulfers in suspension before you can determine a finished product. in other words, hoppy, malty, and lager beers all settle and condition at different time periods. the well balanced beers take the shortest time to condtion. you have made a rediculously hoppy brew, let it rest man. itll be great.

 

[Grinder12000]

I've tasted my beer "inbetween" and it was a waste of beer. I do taste it when I bottle as it is much better. Still - I've had so poor tasting brews that taste WAY better 3 weeks after bottling and I've had so beer that were undrinkable for 3 months and then got pretty good - weird.

 

[shadygrove96]

yeah, i dont really make it a point to taste the beer, but when i start my transfer, i usually let just a little run off into a mason jar before putting the tube into the secondary, just to get any leftover cleanser/water that was in the tube out before putting it into the carboy. I usually just taste that run-off because i am always curious...

 

[Col224]

I just made a very hoppy IPA a little while ago. It contained about 14oz of hops total including some warrior hops. I like very hoppy beers and it turned out great. I noticed that ~a week in bottles it was still almost too bitter to drink. a few weeks later though, it was a very good beer.

I'm sure you're fine if you just give it time.

 

[shadygrove96]

14oz of hops?!? how big was your batch? sounds interesting though...i love hoppy beers too...