I am just starting to drink my first homebrew. It's been in bottles for about three and a half weeks. It's an IPA from a kit and I left it in the primary for three weeks and bottled without a secondary. I definitely wasn't as organized as I should have been, but things went pretty smoothly. The beer is definitely drinkable, but has that stale, cardboardy taste that is often attributed to oxidation. It's not overpowering, but it's definitely there. I'm not sure what I might have done to cause this, so I'm wondering if there are "typical" beginner mistakes that lead to this. I searched around a bit, but didn't find a specific answer.
My next beer (a stout) is currently in the primary and I will transfer this to a secondary at three weeks. The initial brew went much smoother on this one, but I intentionally aerated the wort before pitching the yeast as per the recipe. Does the bad oxidation come from transfer to secondary or bottling stages?
My next beer (a stout) is currently in the primary and I will transfer this to a secondary at three weeks. The initial brew went much smoother on this one, but I intentionally aerated the wort before pitching the yeast as per the recipe. Does the bad oxidation come from transfer to secondary or bottling stages?