Honey Bee Ale 1st Batch

[AeroT]

Well I brewed my first batch about a month and a half ago. I followed midwest supplies kit and instructions verbatim.

Sanitized and all of that...

Let the beer ferment in the primary for about a week and a half and it sat in a secondary for another week and a half.

I used wyeast liquid yeast and pitched it below 80 degrees. It fermented at 70 degrees consistent. The airlock was happy and joyful for the first week and a half or so.

I bottled it and used priming sugar. They have been in the bottle for about 2 1/2 weeks now and I cracked one open yesterday and chilled it for an hour or so and then took a sip. At first it tasted really good and then the ending kind of bit me and tasted like a moldy mushroom. The clarity and carbonation are perfect.

I know it's not infected it just doesn't taste how I thought it would.

Do I need to let it sit in the fridge longer to mellow out the taste?

 

[shawnbou]

Any beer that's been bottled less than 3 weeks is still going to have some green flavors. A lot of times, they don't really taste good until around 6 weeks in the bottle.

If you put them in the fridge to condition, it will take much longer because conditioning is a function of the live yeast, and ale yeast don't work very well at fridge temps. I'd recommend letting them sit at room temperature and chilling and tasting one every week or so and see how the flavor develops. I think you'll be very happy in a couple of weeks.

EDIT: I just noticed you only chilled it for an hour. I usually try to chill my beers for at least 16-24 hours, because it crashes more of the yeast out. Your moldy mushroom taste might have just been yeast that didn't drop out (after all, they're fungi).

 

[AeroT]

Great explanation. Thank you for your help!