Every time I brew a beer I keg it in a 5 gallon keg. The first gallon or so is okay beer but then about half way through the beer gets spot on. It's a really good brew. What is going on with the first gallon? Why does it taste different and frankly slightly off. Is it that it needs to age in the keg for a bit, or is it that there's some heavy funk that settles to the bottom. Perhaps I need to leave a bit in the carboy before I keg. Do I need to use some sort of fining to push the funk to the bottom before kegging? It's not that the first gallon is terrible beer, I drink it but there is a noticeable difference after about a month in the keg and 1-2 gallons in. What's going on? How can I get the beer to be more consistent throughout the keg? On a side note, It's not that I'm getting drunk and then it tastes better!
Why does beer change as you drink it.
- Thread starter ftmill
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The phenomenon of green beer! Some beer takes a bit to finally hit the mark. When you hear the term green beer, it's beer that is too new and hasn't had time to mellow and hit its sweet spot. This is pretty common. Some beer is best fresh, some is best aged, and some just needs time to mellow. I think this is what you're experiencing. It's pretty normal
What beer do you notice this on? Different beers need different times to become good. A wheat beer usually needs little to no time to be ready to drink. A strong stout needs quite a bit of time to age. The time it takes to age or mature depends on the beer itself and on the temperature during the storage.
I find nearly all my beers get better with a little "aging". When I first started brewing, my brew buddy told me patience is the key to brewing good beer. The hardest thing to do is wait to drink the beer you've put sweat and tears into making! After the neipa craze, I've often heard commercial brewers bringing beer from grain to glass in 21 days. Then I read on here that many people are getting it done in 2 weeks! Every neipa I've made has improved in the keg. I usually keg on day 14, carb for a week, then drink. But it honestly doesn't peak until week 2 or 3 after the kegging. So basically 4-5 weeks old from brew day. Just kicked an all mosaic ipa that was in the keg for 6 weeks, so it was 8 weeks old. It was peaking as I poured the last of it. On the flip, I just kegged a Long Trail Hibernator clone that was instantly drinkable. It'll be interesting to see how it "ages".
MY experience has been that MY beer gets better as it sits in the keg. Never gotten further out than 6 weeks though...
MY experience has been that MY beer gets better as it sits in the keg. Never gotten further out than 6 weeks though...
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I find that I enjoy the first couple of beers. The next few, my taste buds are numb so they don't taste as good. The last few I never even remember.....
OH, you were talking about days - weeks, or more in a keg.
Probably, depending on style your beers are aging to perfection after a while. Before that you are drinking beer that is not really ready.
OH, you were talking about days - weeks, or more in a keg.
Probably, depending on style your beers are aging to perfection after a while. Before that you are drinking beer that is not really ready.
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