Taste testing before secondary

[siucubfan8]

I was hesitant to ask this question but what the hell.
When I racked to my secondary I obviously pulled a sample for a gravity check. I had a sanitized glass measuring cup. After testing the gravity I said "what the hell I'll taste it". It tasted hoppy but with it being warm and not carbonated I am not sure me tasting it told me anything. It wasn't bad/skunky but didn't taste like a whole lot. What should it taste like?

 

[Osedax]

Young. After a few, you will understand that taste. The flavors shouldn't meld correctly yet. Don't worry, they will. The co2 will bring other flavors out as well.

 

[TyTanium]

It should taste like warm, flat beer. I.e., it should give you a decent impression of the final product. Cold & carbed definitely changes it, especially the mouthfeel & tartness, but the underlying beer should taste good. Unless there's still a ton of yeast in suspension, different strains test better than others and may be in different stages of the conditioning process. But if you're at your final gravity and the yeast has dropped, it's usually a good indicator of the final beer.

 

[siucubfan8]

I'm bottling tonight so I will take another taste.
thanks

 

[Yooper]

It will just taste like warm flat (but good!) beer. It will taste a bit different when fully carbed up but the basic beer will be the same. You'll get to a point where you can taste a beer out of the fermenter and say "Oh, this is gonna be gooooooood!".

 

[siucubfan8]

So would you say it is pretty common for a 1st timer to not have the experience to really judge the warm/not carbonated beer after primary?

 

[Osedax]

Kind of. Its something you will pick up along the way. Its just hard right now because you have no comparision to another batch. Experience = knowledge type of thing.

 

[kh54s10]

I have experienced some beers that didn't taste real good at bottling and one that wasn't all that great at 2 weeks in bottles. All of those were very good at 3 weeks +.

 

[Heavywalker]

pour a little of one of you commercial craft beers into a glass and let it sit out, warm up and go flat, then taste it. It doesn't taste as good but if you try you can taste the flavors and see how carbonation helps them come out. Keep this in mind when tasting your warm flat beer from secondary. Also keep in mind that the commercial beer that you tried has been properly aged while your brew is still green.

 

[Wynne-R]

I like to pour the hydrometer sample into a cool glass and taste it a few times. Then I add a carbonated beer to it a little bit at a time, noting the change.

Does siucubsfan8 mean what I think it does? I’m surprised there are eight of you.

 

[Gary22]

So I'm in a pretty similar stage in my brewing "career" lol. Not knowing what it should taste like upon sampling n what not. From my very limited experience if it tastes like flat beer it's going to be okay. What I did was I brewed an American ale from a mr. Beer (1st batch). When I sampled it it tasted like a flat Budweiser. When it was finally done bottling (n chilling) it tasted exactly like a Budweiser. N from my experience (which is minimal so take it for what is) that's Wat it was supposed to taste like. For my second batch I tasted a homebrew that someone brewed-so I brewed it. I just took a sampling yesterday before bottling n it tasted just like the homebrew sampling. So in another 2-3 weeks I'm pretty confident ill be enjoying some great homebrew. Best of luck to you. KEEP BREWING

 

[siucubfan8]

So I tasted before bottling and it tasted pretty darn good for a warm not carbonated beer. It was different than after primary. I also took a Coors and let it warm and lose carbonation to have a comparison. Thanks for the advice, now we wait 3 weeks.