Should I be worried if......

Bonzailopper · Nov 23, 2009

the beer that I have bottle conditioning for 10 days tastes like ****?? I know I'm supposed to keep it bottled for 3 weeks, I just didn't expect it to taste SO off.

It's a Brown Ale brewed from extract, and it even tastes like a Brown Ale, but I was just so discouraged by how off it was. This is my first batch ever. I used good sanitation as far as I know, and I was very careful to follow the directions. I tried to relax, not worry, and have a homebrew, but this is my first batch, so there was no homebrew to be had!!

Should I even have expected it to taste right at this point?? Just curious. Thanks!!! :tank:

atromic · Nov 23, 2009

Nope. Let it sit for 21 days, then taste one. Then let it sit even longer. I tasted my first beer at 6 days and it was ok. It was good at 3 weeks and fantastic at 6 weeks.

Marko73 · Nov 23, 2009

You will be amazed at how time heals beer. You will get a lot of the same advice to try it again in another two weeks and you will be surprised at the difference.

The hardest thing I ever had to do was waiting on that first batch. It was a Brewer's Best Cream Ale and it only got better with time.

If it tastes like **** after 3 or 4 weeks, then come back and everyone can help you diagnose the problem.

But for now, Relax, Don't Worry, and have one of your favorite commercial beers that you will eventually clone.

broadbill · Nov 23, 2009

Bonzailopper said:
the beer that I have bottle conditioning for 10 days tastes like ****?? I know I'm supposed to keep it bottled for 3 weeks, I just didn't expect it to taste SO off.

It's a Brown Ale brewed from extract, and it even tastes like a Brown Ale, but I was just so discouraged by how off it was. This is my first batch ever. I used good sanitation as far as I know, and I was very careful to follow the directions. I tried to relax, not worry, and have a homebrew, but this is my first batch, so there was no homebrew to be had!!

Should I even have expected it to taste right at this point?? Just curious. Thanks!!!

I think your biggest sin was following the directions, at least for the fermentation part. Typically kit instructions WAY undershoot how long you should let your beer ferment, probably because they want you to drink it as quickly as possible and buy another kit to brew!

Most people have found that 2 weeks is typically the minimum for primary fermentation, with 3 weeks even better. Follow that by another 3-4 weeks of bottle conditioning and you are at the magic 6 week point for good-tasting homebrew.

Sorry, homebrew takes awhile!

Bonzailopper · Nov 23, 2009

You know, I knew I would get responses like this. I think I just needed to hear it from the wise ones. This site has helped me SO much more than I ever thought. Thanks for the reassurance. I guess I'll just have a Widmer Drifter then. It's what I got right now. THANKS!