How different does beer taste after bottle conditioning/ carbing?

[natelindner]

Hi all,

I had my first bottle day today. Everything went smoothly, but I was only able to fill my last bottle half-way. For this reason I chose this bottle to test my FG and also I wanted to have a taste test. The FG was right where I wanted it (1.014) but upon tasting it it didn't taste amazing. It certainly wasn't terrible, no off flavors or anything, but it did seem a little weak bodied and had a surprising bitterness. Do flavors change much in bottle conditioning? Do you think I am perceiving it as slightly watery and bitter because those are things that carbonation usually makes up for or mitigates in a finished beer?

 

[revco]

From experience, the taste does change pretty radically during conditioning, but the green version is pretty representative of what the final outcome will be like. I feel it takes some experience tasting green beer to get better at estimating how a fresh beer will mature. You probably won't get more body, but carbonation does compliment a beer's flavor and presentation to the pallet pretty dramatically. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Taste it when it's ready and judge it then. If it's not what you were going for, try a different recipe or kit and you're bound to find something that does it for you.

 

[davekippen]

Some styles will change a little, some a lot. It will *generally* taste like it does now even after time. As a general rule, higher abv beers will "meld" and taste better with time, anything with a lot of hops will fade over time.

 

[gilstein21]

the pale ale i make with galaxy hops doesn't change much other than mouthfeel. At bottling/kegging I can tell how it's going to taste. The beer still improves with carbing though since the mouthfeel gets better. Most other beers I've made show a lot of improvement after carbing and conditioning. I can pick out certain flavors early on, but they definitely improve and balance with time.

 

[unionrdr]

Green beer will have a sharp taste from the hops,& the malt will taste a bit weak. Carbing & conditioning matures these flavors & brings out the hops more. So it def makes a heck of a difference imo.