'Green Flavors' - Tasting Young Beer

[rahmdog]

Hello HBTC, I was looking for some tips on tasting young beer. I bottled a Baltic Porter kit yesterday and sampled the F.G. to see what I could taste. I have read that this particular style is one for long-term aging, but I am not sure what flavors are associated with a beer being to young.

The beer was okay, obviously flat and warm, but looked the part and smelled wonderful. My fermentation temp was far too high so I was expecting a very fruity flavor but I did not notice that. One thing that struck me was a lingering bitter-acidic taste like a white grapefruit with-out any of the grapefruit flavor. Is this a taste that will go away with age? It is not acetic acid, there is no vinegar flavor, just a sharply acidic taste that dominates the finish.

Beer Info: Defalco's Baltic Porter
OG/FG (Kit Specs): 1.068-1.016
OG/FG (Real Life): 1.080-1.022
Yeast: WLP029 (German Ale/Kolsch)
Ferment: First 50h 17-20 deg. C, Next 12 days 25 deg C, Gravity @ 7 days was 1.024

Thanks all

 

[phuff7129]

You don't mention how young the beer is, but it obviously does not taste good. This is fairly common with young beers and especially common with new brewers.

The first thing that jumps out at me is your fermentation temps. The maximum temp for the yeast you used is 69F or 20.5C. These temps are wort temps not ambient temps. When you consider that at peak fermentation the wort temp can be as much as 10 degrees warmer than ambient temps you have got to keep your ambient temps in the low 60's F. Ramping the temp up to 25C or 77F is just way too high. All kinds of off flavors will be produced at those temps.

Experienced brewers who have no flaws in their process can have brews ready to drink in as little as 2 or 3 weeks that will taste great. The key is to have very fast, clean, fermentations. The best way to achieve fast, clean fermentations is to 1. Pitch the proper amount of active, healthy yeast. The best way to do this is by making a yeast starter. I'm sure you can find info on this site on how to do that, or go to mrmalty.com or yeastcalculator.com. 2. Aerate you wort with pure O2. Nothing will oxegenate your wort better than pure O2. 2. Keep your fermentation temperatures within the range recommended by the yeast manufacture. There is tons of info on this site about how to control temps.

 

[Dynachrome]

I drink green beer every batch I make. ...at least one bottle.

It isn't horrible actually and it's always nice to see how it progresses.

I have learned not to get to excited that it doesn't taste the way I want until a few weeks have passed.

Bigger beers like porters and such take longer yet.

Patience.

I don't usually drink green beer, but when I do:

 

[Paradigm]

OG/FG (Kit Specs): 1.068-1.016

That's a pretty gentle Baltic Porter, the one I was looking at had an OG of 1.1!

 

[rahmdog]

The beer was tasted on bottling day, two weeks after fermentation began.

The temperature issue is obviously a big one. My ambient temp was probably sufficient, but I thought 16 deg. C was too cold. I used a aquarium heater to try and raise it up a few degrees. The thermostat on the aquarium heater was broken (my first time attempting this) and the reservoir temperature shot up way over where I had set it (20 deg C). Lesson learned and a problem I will not have for 10 months since Texas has flipped over to summer weather already. Now I have to try and cool the reservoir down but I have seen a fair amount of literature on that process (swamp cooler, frozen water bottles, ect).

This was fairly light for a BP, but seeing that I had so many problems I am glad it was not a more expensive grain bill. One day I would really love to do a Smuttynose Baltic Porter clone. That was the first craft beer I ever had (on tap at La Festa if you are familiar) and I can still remember every sip.

 

[Paradigm]

I think 20C is a bit too warm for active fermentation in most beers, as the inside will probably be closer to 22-23C when it's in full swing, and that's too warm for a lot of yeast. I sit mine at 19-20C for the first 24 hours then bring it down to 16.5C for the majority of the fermentation, then raise it to 20 to finish it off.