Fermented two weeks, tastes... Blah!

[pc_trott]

Checked the SG in my first beer brew ever (Block Party Amber Ale), and it's gone from 1.044 OG to 1.011 SG. I opted to drink the test beer, and was surprised to find that it tasted, well, not good. It's still very cloudy, and has a thin layer of what look like the hops floating on top (I neglected to run it through a strainer while pouring into the carboy). I put the rest of the test sample into the fridge to see if cooling down would improve it, but it still didn't taste like beer; no sweetness, no bitterness, just blah. Does the carbonation make that much difference? Or have I just made a lousy beer? I'm going to test it again in two days, and if the SG is the same, bottle it with my fingers crossed...

 

[Blazinlow86]

Checked the SG in my first beer brew ever (Block Party Amber Ale), and it's gone from 1.044 OG to 1.011 SG. I opted to drink the test beer, and was surprised to find that it tasted, well, not good. It's still very cloudy, and has a thin layer of what look like the hops floating on top (I neglected to run it through a strainer while pouring into the carboy). I put the rest of the test sample into the fridge to see if cooling down would improve it, but it still didn't taste like beer; no sweetness, no bitterness, just blah. Does the carbonation make that much difference? Or have I just made a lousy beer? I'm going to test it again in two days, and if the SG is the same, bottle it with my fingers crossed...

Carbonation can make a difference but don't be discouraged if your beers not as great as expected. While making beer isn't difficult making great beer like the stuff you buy can be much more difficult and take time to perfect. Practice makes perfect.try to improve at least one thing in your process every brew until you get there. Some claim they make excellent beer without any effort but I've never came across any of it in real life. Cheers

 

[khannon]

Carbonation does make a difference. Also while you may be finished with the gravity portion, the yeast may still need time to do their job with other flavors.. The temps that you fermented at play a big role in this. You should bottle it up with priming sugar once you are convinced that the gravity is stable (check again in a few days to make sure it is still at 1.011). Then leave those bottles for a week or two at ~70F if possible, then chill one and taste that. It will (probably) be much different that what you sampled now.

It is a good idea to taste along the way. Over the course of some beers you will be able to learn what to expect at what stage.

 

[McKnuckle]

Cloudy beer in the fermenter is gonna be gross. It's got suspended yeast, which tastes sour and generally gnarly. Hop particles will be unpleasant too, if those are getting into your glass.

YES, carbonation is hugely important, as is time, time, time. Patience is the bane of the new homebrewer. Some people feel that cloudy beer is irrelevant to flavor, but in my experience this is not true. As a beer clears over weeks in the cold, its flavor usually improves dramatically.

Granted, you may still have made a blah beer, but sampling it now is more of a learning experience rather than a pleasant sensory one.

 

[wepeeler]

Think of it as drinking warm, flat beer. Can't say I've had too many great tasting warm, flat beers.

Carb it up, and hopefully that makes the difference. As does letting it sit (condition).

 

[pc_trott]

The temps that you fermented at play a big role in this.

I added the yeast when the wort was 65 degrees F, and it cooled to around 62 before it started fermenting (as observed in the airlock). I had read a post in here saying that you should increase the temperature into the seventies at the end of the ferment, and I perhaps mistakenly thought that meant when the activity in the airlock ended. So after several days, I increased the temperature to 72, and let it sit there for the remainder of the two weeks. I obviously have a lot to learn about fermenting and conditioning temperatures.

 

[cubalz]

You will be surprised how much better it will taste after carbonation and chilling. There is an old saying that goes: the best tasting beer is the last one of the batch. Your patience will be rewarded.

 

[wepeeler]

I added the yeast when the wort was 65 degrees F, and it cooled to around 62 before it started fermenting (as observed in the airlock). I had read a post in here saying that you should increase the temperature into the seventies at the end of the ferment, and I perhaps mistakenly thought that meant when the activity in the airlock ended. So after several days, I increased the temperature to 72, and let it sit there for the remainder of the two weeks. I obviously have a lot to learn about fermenting and conditioning temperatures.

RDWHAHB (acronym for Relax. Don't worry. Have a home brew - from the great Charlie Papazian). It's most likely going to taste fine. Ramping the temp up near the end of fermentation allows the yeast to clean up off flavors. It's called the diacetyl rest. Diacetyl tastes like movie popcorn or butterscotch.

Also, airlock activity is not the end all representation as to when fermentation is complete. Only way to really determine if fermentation is complete is to take gravity readings. Take a reading 2-3 days apart, and if it's stable, it's fermented. Without going into too much detail, this mainly depends on original gravity, the amount of fermentables, the yeast and temperature. Don't always trust the airlock.

Each batch you make, you'll learn from! Forever a learning experience!

 

[Buick Beer Gardens]

Bottle it. Carb it. Test it in two weeks. You may very well be pleasantly surprised.

 

[pc_trott]

Yesterday I put half of the beer I took out of the carboy into a glass and placed it in the refrigerator to see if it tasted better cold. I tried it this morning (I know; gentlemen don't drink before 11:00). It still tasted flat; no sweetness, no bitterness. But then, I realized, it's probably oxygenated now, too. Seeking to compare it to something, I opened a bottle of Widmer Hef, poured a few ounces into a glass, shook it until it had given up all its CO2, and tasted it. You know, my flat young beer doesn't taste too bad in comparison. Thanks for all of the encouragement, I may have something here after all! :>)

 

[Buick Beer Gardens]

Yesterday I put half of the beer I took out of the carboy into a glass and placed it in the refrigerator to see if it tasted better cold. I tried it this morning (I know; gentlemen don't drink before 11:00). It still tasted flat; no sweetness, no bitterness. But then, I realized, it's probably oxygenated now, too. Seeking to compare it to something, I opened a bottle of Widmer Hef, poured a few ounces into a glass, shook it until it had given up all its CO2, and tasted it. You know, my flat young beer doesn't taste too bad in comparison. Thanks for all of the encouragement, I may have something here after all! :>)

Beer is like a car. Test and tune. Test and Tune.

 

[speavler]

I don't taste until it's been carb'd, packaged, and spent 5 days in the keg.