Weiss to get better with age?

[MetallHed]

I brewed the lemon coriander weiss kit from midwest, and thus far, I'm disappointed with the brew.

The recommended one lemon's zest was apparantly not enough, as I cannot taste any lemon at all. But that is unrelated to my question...

After about 2.5 to 3 weeks in the bottle and a week in the fridge, it tasted pretty good and very drinkable, though not what I wanted (I did drink about 7 of 'em around a fire. 6.7%ABV). I put in another sixer of it in the fridge closer to 4 weeks after bottling, waited a week, and had some more to find that it tasted not good at all, and had a rubbing alcohol taste to it.

The last 12 pack of it is in the fridge and it still has that taste to it, and was so bad that I actually couldn't finish the beer.

Now, even though it is in the fridge already, will this taste mellow out?

If not, no biggie, I'll use it to boil brats!

Thanks!

 

[SteveM]

I can't say for sure about a regular weiss, but a hefeweizen will not improve over time - they peak young (personal experience confirmed this). But I don't know if it's because of the yeast or the use of wheat.

Putting them in the refrigerator will do nothing for you if the taste is improving. If it is going downhill, then refrigerating them will slow the process. But other than that, there's no compelling reason to chill any beer for a week.

 

[Superkabuto]

Yes, heffes peak on the earlier side, but if you have off flavors they could dissipate over longer periods of time. Don't dump them until they have aged for a year or two.

 

[bullinachinashop]

Use it up. It will not get better with age. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

Look at controlling your fermenting temps. The fusels you're describing are usually the result of excessive temps.

You may want to decant into a glass and let it rest for a time to see if it's more drinkable.

Bull

 

[yodalegomaster]

Anything over 1050 OG will generally get better with age, But hops drop out after 6 months. The Weise and hefe type beers are important to drink young. There is only one problem with this hobby, I learned what good beer is. It makes for a lot of dumping of mistakes.

 

[tenchu_11]

I learned what good beer is. It makes for a lot of dumping of mistakes.

I second that, and I brew mostly Wheat Beers and they don't age well. I believe they condition good like 3 weeks tops and its perfect. Not really a brew that should be satt around for a while. I live in a small town in Alaska and when i get bought Blue Moon or Weidmier Hef it just taste like beer and chalk..Wheat Beers (i believe even commercial) don't age well. I'm just lucky everything takes months to get here on barges

 

[SteveM]

This is why I stopped making hefes, even though I like them. Plus, there's a place a few minutes from here that always has Paulaner hefe on tap. Mine wasn't as good at its best, so I figured I would stick to what I knew I could do well.

 

[tenchu_11]

Also the problem with Hefs the yeast and temp control on the yeast can have totaly different results. Fermented in the low 60s and you'll get citrus and spicy notes. Fermented warm in the mid 70s you'll get Banana's, Cloves, apricots. Either or they taste good a very forgiving beer. (depending on which Weiz yeast you use)

 

[MetallHed]

I think the problem does lie within my ferment temps. I had a hard time keeping it down in the mid 60s with my swamp cooler. I have a fermentation chiller built now so future batches will not suffer the same fate.

It tasted good at three weeks and got worse from then on. After reading that wheats peak young, I suspected it was a combination of that plus the ferment temps that led to the strong off-flavors.

 

[tenchu_11]

Well, for Hefs its not necesseraly considered an off flavor. I like both the spicy/citrus and the banana/clove notes.

 

[MetallHed]

brought six of the weiss to the double header softball game tonight. My girlfriend put them in the cooler on their side and drove to the game.

Popped 'em open. Poured 'em.

Cloudy. Four finger head..... tasted very good. No rubbing alcohol taste at all.

Now, when I had the astringent(i believe is the word to describe rub. alc. taste) taste before, I had not roused the yeast as much as having the bottles on their side and taking a car ride did.

Could the non-rousing of the yeast been a factor in the bad taste? Or I'm thinking I just had a couple of bad bottles?

 

[bullinachinashop]

You may have had a couple of dirty bottles.

BTW, I always pour a wit into a glass by inverting the glass and then flipping the whole thing over and slowly remove the bottle. This chugs all the settled yeast back into suspension.

Finish the batch while it's young and move forward with the learning experience.

Bull

 

[MetallHed]

I'm going to try that this morning after work.... that might be a cool trick to further convince my friends how weird I am.. lol

Thanks!

 

[MetallHed]

holy hell did that work well!!!

Thanks again bull, one of the best tips I've gotten... if that isn't pathetic enough. First attempt... channeled my inner homer, butthead, and quagmire:



woo hoo! tasted good!