Newbie worried about the taste of my beer.

[nperea16]

This is my first post on here and I must say I have looked up tons of info on this site so I figured I would ask my question.

I have just brewed up my first batch of all grain and after 1.5 weeks of fermenting I wanted to take a hydrometer reading. It started at 1.042 and is now 1.012 and when I tasted it it had a very strong aftertaste that I am having trouble describing (I guess I would have to say rubbing alcohol). It was sitting in a room at 65 degrees. Forgive me if my details are faint but I am new to brewing. I brewed about 8 extract kits and after fermentation I never tasted what I do now.

It mashed (in a cooler) at 150 degrees for an hour and sparged with 180 degree water. I am afraid the batch I brewed up last night will have the same taste too. Should I not worry about it until it finishes fermenting and aging in the bottles? I really appreciate the feecback and I must say this site rocks so far.

Cheers!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

We'd have to know more information like yeast strain, amount pitched, and the recipe of the beer.

However, I'd make a preliminary guess and say it's just green and it'll be fine after some bottle time.

 

[JLem]

I hate throwing around potential problems with beer that is still green, but I wanted to just say that water chemistry becomes more important in AG compared to extract. My first non-extract batches all had this astringent aftertaste that I figured out was due to my mash pH being too high, which extracts a lot of tannins. Don't know that this is your issue (or if you even have an issue), but thought I would put it out here.

 

[keon]

I agree with Reno that your beer is probably green and it will change with time and carbonation. Let it carb for a couple weeks and I bet it will be much better.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

+1 on green beer.

It's good to taste as you go. You're learning and it's interesting to see how it develops. Green beer is usually much harsher than once it's aged. It usually has a fairly rough grain character, in my experience, and a lot of the flavors are out of whack. Hasn't really settled down yet. That "rubbing alcohol" is probably just some young alcohol character that will mellow pretty quickly in another couple of weeks.

Don't panic. Just taste it as it progresses and continue on as normal.

 

[nperea16]

I greatly appreciate all the response. I will buy some tabs to help with the ph for sure. I will let it age and give it a try!