What does green beer taste like?

[redm18]

Just tried my first homebrew ever. I brewed Midwest's Irish Red extract kit. I had it in primary for 2 weeks the bottle conditioned for 3 weeks. It does not taste bad but it doesnt have much taste to it. The main thing i taste is alchohol. Is this just what green beer tastes like or what this kit tastes like or has something gone wrong?

 

[jigidyjim]

I often associate green beer with tasting like yeast. It depends on the style too. If there are certain flavors in it, those flavors may taste heightened or very sharp. Hops mellow with age, so sometimes green might mean bitter.

I don't think the taste of alcohol is usually associated with a green taste, but I could be wrong. Best way to find out: drink one every week for the next 2 months and see how it changes!

 

[honeybadger]

What temperature did you ferment at? An alcoholic taste can be due to a high fermentation temperature.

 

[SKMO]

I don't think there is one characteristic taste. Probably yeasty, but otherwise can taste like ass or taste pretty good. There are dozens of off-flavors that can and will disappear if you leave it be for a few weeks.

Green beer tastes like nothing compared to how it finishes would be my answer. I might have a clue as to hoppiness, but in my experience there is no way to predict the overall finished beer quality/flavor from the "green" taste.

 

[thisgoestoeleven]

I've got my second batch, an IPA, in secondary right now, and when I was racking it I took a sample to see how it was coming along. It tasted like good beer gone flat. My first batch tasted really yeasty and not too good as "green" beer, but this batch was quite tasty and I'm really excited to taste it in a few weeks. I know this isn't much help, but just my $0.02