My beer tastes (not good)

[Gnarbacon]

I recently posted a thread about my first batch a beer(a moose drool clone) a few weeks ago. Long story short I screwed up on my measurements and ended up with about 3 1/2 gallons of beer instead of 5. A lot of people said that it's not a big deal and would just make the beer a bit stronger and perhaps better. I ended up diluting it with about a half gallon of clean water before I bottled it so it would be an even 4 gallons. It's been a week now since I bottled so I decided to try one out...and It tastes (not good). It has a strong coffee like aroma to it and a weird bitterness, not to mention it's very thick. I know it's still too early to judge my beer after only being bottled for one week, but can a few more weeks of bottle conditioning really change/improve the flavor that much? I just wanna know if it's worth waiting on because I have another batch fermenting and I could really use the bottles soon.

 

[akillys]

I'm new to this as well but I would suggest waiting it out. I have read quite a bit about such problems and the beer usually gets better and off flavors even out after a month in the bottle. I've even had a buddy who brewed a batch and after a week in the bottle they thought it would be good to drink. When they tried it they felt a lot like I imagine you feel now. That the beer sucks and it was a waist of their time. Long story short they decided not to dump the beer and about 6 months later they had a party where they ran out of beer to drink. In the back of their fridge was the beer they had thought tasted (not good) 6 month earlier. Turns out after it conditioned it was the best beer they had ever drank.

 

[EFSbrew]

did you take a fg reading? what's the flavor like? is it too sweet? what hops did you use?

 

[Gnarbacon]

did you take a fg reading? what's the flavor like? is it too sweet? what hops did you use?

I used US goldings, liberty, and willamette hops. 1 ounce of each. My OG was 1.052 and my FG was 1.022 before I diluted it. The best way to describe the taste is like a thick, over sweetened black coffee with a weird bitterness to it(but not the good kind of bitterness that usually comes with beers). Moose drool is one of my favorite beers so I know what it SHOULD taste like but it doesn't even come close.

 

[EFSbrew]

it sounds like it really under attenuated. Did you us extract? The flavor and aroma sound like they came from burnt extract.

 

[Math0]

You should probably post your whole recipe here. I understand you cant change the thickness at this point. I just want to know if you used lactose or maltodextrin in the process. It wouldnt help lol !

If next time this happens again, mixing with boiled water (then leave until room temp) is fine, but just leave it a couple hours for the beer to mix itself up without having to shake the whole thing.

 

[GuldTuborg]

my FG was 1.022 before I diluted it.

Which should put you around 1.019 after diluting. What was the target FG for the recipe?

 

[BansheeRider]

The bottles aren't done conditioning. Did you taste the hydro sample before bottling? Did it taste the same? Did you clean and sanitize the bottles real good before bottling? If so I suggest putting the bottles away in a closet and getting new bottles to brew another batch. Sounds like your beer needs more time. Check CL, often times people are giving away cases of bottles.

 

[wildactbrewer]

Another thing to always remember is that taste is all on the palate of the "beerholder." What I mean by that is if you think your beer is crap...then it's crap! Someone else may like it though! Personally, I HATE Corona...but it continues to be one of the most popular commercial brews around.

In my opinion, too often we get caught up in trying to replicate a certain style or flavor profile. If that's your intention then by all means go for it, but sometimes great things can come from complete accidents. Everyone that tried my first brew nearly spit it out. And I'll admit I didn't really know what I was doing at the time, but I liked it and am still drinking on it today! In short:

1.Never let anyone tell you that your beer is bad unless it is YOU!
2.Time can cure a lot of flavor issues
3.Just because your clone didn't come out to style doesn't mean it is bad beer...simply a happy accident.
4.Any beer that is beer is still beer...and beer is always good!

 

[Upthewazzu]

I recently posted a thread about my first batch a beer(a moose drool clone) a few weeks ago. Long story short I screwed up on my measurements and ended up with about 3 1/2 gallons of beer instead of 5. A lot of people said that it's not a big deal and would just make the beer a bit stronger and perhaps better. I ended up diluting it with about a half gallon of clean water before I bottled it so it would be an even 4 gallons. It's been a week now since I bottled so I decided to try one out...and It tastes (not good)..

Yeah that's not going to be a good beer...ever. I made that mistake once on an 11 gallon batch, somehow ended up with 9 gal. It's beer, but otherwise it sucks.

 

[NastyN8]

Just wait it out in the bottles. Leave them be for at least another month and then give them another taste, I guarantee they'll be a bit better. Relax and let the yeast do their job.

 

[andy6026]

Your FG explains the sweetness. By why is it so high? Post your recipe and process and we'll be able to help you better. Time can make a significant improvement to beer, but not always.

+1 on riding it out and picking up some more bottles. It doesn't guarantee that the beer will become good, but if you want to have a good 'pipeline' going then you'll need enough bottles for more than one batch.

 

[kh54s10]

Not enough volume, high final gravity. Tasting before bottle conditioning is long enough....

I expect this one is going to stay too malty sweet. Though for the style and missed volume you should be looking at a couple months for bottle conditioning.

You might try blending it with a lighter beer.

 

[Gnarbacon]

Lol I like the edit on my post title. Sorry for cursing. Anyways, here is the exact recipe list and instructions I used for this beer http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/CaribouSlobber.pdf I followed the instructions exactly, except for topping the carboy off to 5 gallons of course. The brew went very well and I fermented it for about 4 weeks before bottling. I figure the reason for the high FG reading was because the beer was very concentrated and/or because the beer was kept too cold during fermentation(around 60 degrees). I tasted my final sample before bottling and I thought it tasted great, this is why I'm so puzzled as to why it tastes so awful now. I'll take your guy's advice though and just wait a few more weeks. It would be a shame to dump out my very first batch of beer. Thank you all for the advice and support.