Tasting out of fermenter

[Jbauersbc]

Hi all I have just started brewing at home, stout is my beer of choice. I’m onto my second batch.
I suffer for a bad case of impatience, I tasted my first batch while it was still in the fermenter and it was quite pleasant. I have just tried my second batch in the fermenter (different recipes) and it’s really quite bad. I am wondering if I should continue or through it out and just go back to the first recipe?

 

[Pkrd]

Let it ride, and stop tasting it during the ferment. You're introducing oxygen and increasing the chance of infection.

Welcome to HBT.

 

[Jbauersbc]

Thanks for you reply. So even taking a sample from the tap will still let in infection? Sorry if these are basic questions

 

[schmurf]

When you take a sample from the tap the volume you draw has to be replaced with something... if your fermenter isn't air tight it will be oxygen.

Also be sure to clean the tap after a sample.

And also... samples from the fermenter is for me more often not pleasant than it is pleasant. It might sometimes give you a hint of what is to come but in my experience, not always.

 

[Miraculix]

The more roasted grain/malt a beer has, the more it benefits from aging. In other words, these beers tend to taste bad when young or even unfinished.

Great stout recipes are simple btw. I also started with a lot of stouts. My all-time favourite is 10% roasted dehusked barley, 5% medium crystal (leave it out if going for 6%abv or higher) and the rest pale ale malt. 25-30 ibus bittering addition only and s04 the yeast of choice. Tastes best at 4.5% abv with little to medium carbonation.

 

[nwhall3]

As others have indicated, the taste of samples during fermentation--especially early on--aren't necessarily indicative of where the beer will end up. Fermentation produces lots of nasty-tasting stuff early on that eventually clean up (sulphur, VDKs, etc.). I agree with others to forego frequent tasting during fermentation for fear of infection and oxidation (at least unless you have a fermenter with a sample port).

The exception to this, however, is towards the end of fermentation. Though this is less a concern for stouts, I make sure to taste after terminal gravity is reached to make sure diacetyl, in particular, has been cleaned up; sometimes this takes extra time beyond what just gravity numbers or airlock activity would suggest.

 

[gabrielrskin]

I find it very important to taste my beer towards the end of fermentation, or after fermentation has ended. As said above, the best way to decide whether the yeast has cleaned up diacetyl/acetaldehyde/sulphur is not by time (e.g. "3 days after terminal gravity") but by taking a sample, tasting it, doing a VDK test.

It's also a good way to develop your tasting skills towards flavors that won't (or shouldn't) be present on the finished beer.