Describe what "green taste" means?!

[mpfeil8484]

I am a new brewer bout 4 batches in...anyway i have been reading all over this site about beer with green tastes...what does it taste like tho?....none of my beer tastes "green"...at least i think....what are all your opinions on gree taste?

 

[skw]

Ever had an apple that wasn't ripe? That's what it tasted like to me.

 

[mpfeil8484]

what about a "yeasty" flavor is that due to a young brew?

 

[BiscayneBrewing]

To me, it tends to taste harsh. Like the ingredients haven't fully integrated yet. Sort of like a soup or stew...they might taste good the first day but they always taste better the second day.

I would encourage you to take tasting notes at the beggining of a batch. Then after a few weeks of aging compare what you taste now to how it tasted before.

 

[skw]

what about a "yeasty" flavor is that due to a young brew?

I get that when there is still too much yeast in suspension. Cold conditioning for a couple of days (better weeks) and/or several hours in a very cold fridge should improve that.

 

[unionrdr]

Green beer is a sharp,non descript sort of flavor where the malt & hop flavors are all muddled where nothing really stands out like a properly conditioned beer would.

 

[opiate82]

Once you start brewing, it really becomes a "you'll know it when you taste it" kind of thing. Especially since, if you are like me, you won't be able to resist cracking a bottle or tapping a keg the second it is done carbing. You will notice as you work your way through a batch that the beer is getting better.

Eventually when you get a good pipe-line of beer going it becomes much easier to resist the temptation of cracking early because you'll have other stuff sitting around ready to drink. Well, that is the hope anyways.

 

[woozy]

I *think* I had it in my beers when it was a feeling that the beer was simply too "sharp" and I got after tastes of chemical-alcohol. Basically it was the opposite of mellow. Flavors, although not nescessarily strong, were sharp and noticible and the whole experience wasn't mellow enough.

It's a good question. I kind of wish there were bad beer tastings, where you could go and taste these aspects in beers and have them pointed out.

 

[Rbeckett]

Woozy,
That is an excelent idea, too bad not too many brewers would be willing to share their flub ups and green brews. I too think that a well developed palate is dependant on experiencing as many good as not so good brews so you can sort of form a mental yardstick and help to decide if age will fix this brew or should I invite all my drunk freinds over to make it go away. Ocassionally a brew just doesn't get better with age, it may be the water, old hops, wrong hops, wrong boil schedule, poor ferm temps or any of a myriad of variables that we dont even know exist. But I would love a brew that started fresh out of the carb period and several samples over time all together at once. Then it would be clear how a brew ages and smooths or not. Ahh..... wishfull thinking.

Wheelchair Bob

 

[KPaul]

Green beer is a sharp,non descript sort of flavor where the malt & hop flavors are all muddled where nothing really stands out like a properly conditioned beer would.

That actually sounds like a pretty good description of my Double IPA I'm drinking right now. It's been in the bottle for about 3.5 weeks and I thought to myself that I would expect to taste more hops. It seems rather malty and the hops are hidden. Perhaps a bit more conditioning time and they will become more distinct.

 

[opiate82]

That actually sounds like a pretty good description of my Double IPA I'm drinking right now. It's been in the bottle for about 3.5 weeks and I thought to myself that I would expect to taste more hops. It seems rather malty and the hops are hidden. Perhaps a bit more conditioning time and they will become more distinct.

I would actually think the opposite is true. The more you age a beer the more the malt profile comes through and the hops fade a bit. At least that is how the simplistic explanation of beer aging that I read explained it to me.

I was having similar issues with my IPA's where I just wasn't getting the hop flavors and aromas I was hoping for. Turned out the "if your tap water is drinkable, just use it" advice wasn't working for me (local water was very calcium-deficient). Once I started using RO water and using the Water Chemistry Primer as a guide for what to add, my hop flavors started popping a lot more.

 

[KPaul]

I would actually think the opposite is true. The more you age a beer the more the malt profile comes through and the hops fade a bit. At least that is how the simplistic explanation of beer aging that I read explained it to me.

I was having similar issues with my IPA's where I just wasn't getting the hop flavors and aromas I was hoping for. Turned out the "if your tap water is drinkable, just use it" advice wasn't working for me (local water was very calcium-deficient). Once I started using RO water and using the Water Chemistry Primer as a guide for what to add, my hop flavors started popping a lot more.

Hmmm. I suppose if I'm going to put this much time and effort into brewing beer I should find out where I'm starting with my water. Since my tap water goes through a softener before hitting my tap I don't think the city water report will do me much good. I should send off a sample of both my softened and softened/RO to see what I've got.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[grv]

<<<< To quote a friend, "It's not easy being green."

 

[Cathedral]

I like the "fresh soup" analogy that was posted earlier.

To me, green beer is when you can taste every single ingredient in it's own right--like, being able to pick out the Magnum taste, and then the chocolate malt taste in a stout individually. They're their own separate tastes floating together.

A beer is 'ready' when the flavors blend and--without being muddled--contribute to each other to make a whole new experience. So now you can say, man I can really appreciate how this hop contributes to this malt; one flavor flows into the next.

Like chicken soup: you can eat a piece of chicken, a piece of celery, and a piece of carrot one after another, but that's not really an "experience." When you let them blend, mellow, and work with one another, then you have a great soup.

 

[unionrdr]

That actually sounds like a pretty good description of my Double IPA I'm drinking right now. It's been in the bottle for about 3.5 weeks and I thought to myself that I would expect to taste more hops. It seems rather malty and the hops are hidden. Perhaps a bit more conditioning time and they will become more distinct.

Yes. In my experience they will indeed. You'll taste a lil tiny bit of malt muddled with this sharp,non descript kind of flavor. That's about as accurate as I can describe it,beyond obvious off flavors added to the mix. They seem to separate,mellow,& become more destinct with conditioning...not just carbonating. This is the difference between carbonating & conditioning I've attempted to describe so many times. Hope I got it this time...

 

[MMJfan]

I brew a lot of different beers using yeast I harvest from bottles of Bells beer. I find that beers I brew using this Bells yeast tend to take longer to get the 'green' taste to go away than other brews I make using various strains of Wyeast or White Labs. But, given time, the beers I brew using the Bells yeast always end up turning out great and eventually the 'green' taste goes away.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. That's where conditioning comes in.

 

[brokebucket]

I like the "fresh soup" analogy that was posted earlier.

To me, green beer is when you can taste every single ingredient in it's own right--like, being able to pick out the Magnum taste, and then the chocolate malt taste in a stout individually. They're their own separate tastes floating together.

A beer is 'ready' when the flavors blend and--without being muddled--contribute to each other to make a whole new experience. So now you can say, man I can really appreciate how this hop contributes to this malt; one flavor flows into the next.

Like chicken soup: you can eat a piece of chicken, a piece of celery, and a piece of carrot one after another, but that's not really an "experience." When you let them blend, mellow, and work with one another, then you have a great soup.

This is what my experience with green beer is as well.

Oh and by the way, if anybody is local to the richmond area would like to try a bad beer, I have one you are more than willing to try. It has been nicknamed "plastic goat". Still plenty of bottles left!

 

[mpfeil8484]

i think i get this green taste thing....thanks for all the words....i guess time heals all pain(green taste)

 

[MMJfan]

i think i get this green taste thing....thanks for all the words....i guess time heals all pain(green taste)

Yep! One thing about homebrewing, you need to have patience!

 

[scoundrel]

I *think* I had it in my beers when it was a feeling that the beer was simply too "sharp" and I got after tastes of chemical-alcohol. Basically it was the opposite of mellow. Flavors, although not nescessarily strong, were sharp and noticible and the whole experience wasn't mellow enough.

It's a good question. I kind of wish there were bad beer tastings, where you could go and taste these aspects in beers and have them pointed out.

You can run your own "bad beer tasting". You can go in with a bunch of friends or your homebrew club and split the cost for one of these.

Sensory Training Kits

It's pricey but not if you split it up.