Is tasting safe? Is it a good indicator?

[drew1d]

Hello All,

So my friends and I are brewing beer. We started with a starter kit, from an online brewing company. We started with extract brewing, for ease of use. The beers we brewed are "Carribu Slobber" and "American Wheat" ale.

We have been tasting it at every step of the game, is that potentially hazardous? As a Wort, when transfering to secondary, right before bottling. (just a little of each remainder)

Will the taste change dramatically after bottling for carbonation?

 

[deggenbe]

tasting is fine, gives you an idea of what to expect at every stage of the process for certain types of beers.

i LOVE TASTING HYDRO READINGS LOL

 

[eastoak]

tasting is fine if you just want to see how things progress, you'll stop doing that in time. the taste does change with time and with carbonation.

 

[shafferpilot]

i encourage tasting so you get a baseline in your head. Just don't let it throw you off as the flavor of a beer in the middle of fermentation is NOT the flavor of the finished product. However, be SURE to keep you sanitation impeccable anytime you are touching the beer!

 

[unionrdr]

I also add any info from tastings of hydro readings,bottling,etc to my brew notes. And date everything down to the time of day if I have more than one notation for that day. Good things to know later when/if something tastes different at the same point.

 

[samc]

Always taste everything. Go to the LHBS if you have one and taste a bit of grain before you buy something you've never used. Any Chef that doesn't taste his food or ingredients is destined for failure IMO.

 

[squirrelly]

So long as you are not dumping samples back into the carboy there should be no adverse effects on pulling a sample from time to time. In fact this is a good practice; just make sure to sanitize your wine thief and air lock each time.

As for changes in flavor profile, it is really fun to take notes of what flavors you detect from your pre-boil sample all the way up to when your beer is done and ready to drink. Even after fermentation is complete if you condition the beer properly for an extended period of time you will notice flavors melding together and becoming more complex. Bigger beers will typically mellow out, and the hot alcohol flavors will die down bringing out some really interesting subtle notes that you can only get from doing this. In hoppy beers you will notice the hop aromas start to dissipate and the malty backbone really show it's face. Just take good notes each time, and have fun.

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[unionrdr]

I've noticed a couple of times that the hoppy ones do loose hop flavors after 2 months or so. But since I started using the o2 barrier caps,a couple weeks after that the malt flavor mellows out again. And the hop flavors get a bit stronger & more appealing again. Darndest thing,but it's happened to a couple of my beers. Just thought I should say something after a few months of seeing it happen again & again with the o2 caps.

 

[RobWalker]

Infection risk is usually quite low on most things, but don't tempt fate. Just make sure to sanitize every step of the way. It'll probably give you some idea of what's going on if you ever do anything wrong, or want to develop a recipe further too...hell, I usually go by taste on my wines rather than SG.

 

[drew1d]

Thank you all for the quick and prompt replies.

As for sanitation brought up earlier, generally, the beer we sample is at the end of another process. When the wort is Aerated and moved into the ferment-er, we will take a some beer left in the boilpot and try that.

During racking, most of the beer is sent to the secondary carboy, the little that remains, is split between us for tasting.

During bottling, we bottle the beer, and the little remaining is split again.

We never return any amount to the carboy, and all our equipment is previously sanitized with easy-clean.

We have made a few mistakes for sure, but it hasn't seemed to affect us yet.

Hopefully, these first two batches (ready 9/23/11) come across drinkable.

 

[daksin]

I'll take my hydrometer reading and put it in a chilled glass in the freezer. After a few minutes, I have a chilly treat to enjoy.

When I was new at this (yesterday), I would freak out because the green beer still tastes like bitter cereal water, but then I knocked over a bottle of stone pale ale, which foamed up badly and lost all carbonation. Guess what? Tastes pretty similar!

If that's not a compliment to my beermaking, I don't know what is.:rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

Kinda like a terminator. The more I'm around brewing,the more I learn (best Arnold voice). I just love the experimental aspect of it. The voyage of discovery. Landing in new greatest beer land...seemingly the lost world. Just got some more brewing supplies in today. Including 2 cooper's pub glasses. Like collecting glasses too. Still gotta find that box of rare beer glasses I got from pop. Damn basement clutter...

 

[PIGMAN]

Kinda like a terminator. The more I'm around brewing,the more I learn (best Arnold voice). I just love the experimental aspect of it. The voyage of discovery. Landing in new greatest beer land...seemingly the lost world. Just got some more brewing supplies in today. Including 2 cooper's pub glasses. Like collecting glasses too. Still gotta find that box of rare beer glasses I got from pop. Damn basement clutter...

What kind of glasses did Pop leave you? I collect glasses as well, to the point where I'm out of room behind my bar.

 

[unionrdr]

What kind of glasses did Pop leave you? I collect glasses as well, to the point where I'm out of room behind my bar.

We used to call them "fish bowls". Sorta shaped like a chalice in biblical times. But clear glass that'll easily hold a pint. I've got a whole box of them. Don't recall where he got them,but he bought them when he tried brewing beer when I was a teen. Gotta completely clean out the basement to find'em. They're really cool & different from anything I see today. They have to be some 40 years old,at the very least.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Taste everything, at all stages of the production. Take notes of what you taste. Except for maybe the acids and salts that you add to your mash. Those are a wee bit concentrated.