Well I'll be a monkey's.....well, you know

[Truble]

So my stout had not been going to well. I had posted back a while that I had screwed up the recipe, and that it was getting worse. well, I tried one tonight, and I can honestly say that, while it definitely is not the best stout I have ever had, there has been a quantum change! It is still a little harsh, but not nearly as bad as it was a week ago, and it is now fully carbonated (bottled on 12/29/05). For the first time, I can actually taste a little of the chocolate malt flavor getting through the black patent. This is the first one that I have opened that I can honestly say I will drink the whole thing without having to choke it down, like I have the other 3 testers and it is definitely potent (this started at ~1.090, and get down to about 1.018). Since it is fully carbed, it is going down the basement to age a little on the cool cement floor.

Question: Is this a normal progression for a big beer? Having never done a stout or anything other than Pales, IPAs, and Red Ales, I am not sure if this is at least semi-normal. I am happy, though, since I was thinking about dumping it. I am going to give it a while longer.

 

[david_42]

Big beers can take a long time to be drinkable. I've had barley wines that had to age over a year. Give your stout another month or two.

 

[Truble]

Are your bigger brews undrinkable at first, or just rough?

 

[Walker]

My stout went through some MAJOR changes in the last two months.

It started out too thick and too sweet. I used high-dextrin DME for this one (laaglander brand). It was damn good, but could have been a little more roastey, a tad more coffee flavor, and better head. I was very happy with it at the time, because it was pretty darn close to what I was after.

A month later, it was MUCH better. The sweetness had died down a bit which allowed the roasted flavor to stick out more.

Two weeks later, it seemed like it was fading away in flavor.

Now, it has no real taste to speak of. You can tell it *used* to be a big stout, but the volume is turned way down. I'm pretty upset, but at least I only have a six pack or two left.

I know it might change again, but I don't think it's going to recover from where it is now. I must have gotten air into it at bottling time or something.

The strange thing is that I had a draught Guinness in a restaurant over christmas that tasted the same way! I remarked at the time that I had never tasted anything so strange before, and then my own stout does the same thing to me.

-walker

*gasp* Maybe I broke my stout taste buds!