First Kit Taste Test ! Yuk !

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Bluepaul

Bluepaul

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:sick: I got the Coopers Beginners Brew Kit (Lager) for Xmas. Followed the instructions to the letter and used only what was in the box.
The brew was in the FV for 12 days (sg1016) and then bottled, with 2 drops per bottle, and left in a warm dark box for 12 days.
Last night I thought I would try one to see how things are getting on. On opening, there was a little fizz but not much and when I poured it I had to put some height on the pour to get a head. The head quickly disappeared by the time I'd walked from the fridge to my chair (10 yds)
On tasting, it had little fizz and a very strong cider aftertaste ! After 3 mouthfuls I had to chuck the rest of the bottle away !

My big question is (finally!) Will this improve over the next few weeks or has it gone bad and only fit for the drain ?

Cheers
Paul
 
I have this kit in a keg at the moment I added 500g of lme and it is delicious. Although I think mine is around 6 weeks old maybe 8. Beers definitely improve with aging, i have had that cider taste you mention with a batch of coopers Mexican cervasa, and the reason I got it was because of the temperature it brewed at. I think I brewed at around 26/27, at higher temperatures the yeast produces different by products and one of those is acetaldeyhde and can give an Appley flavour. Can you remember what temperature you let it brew at? All you an do with it now is leave it for a few months and see if it improves.
 
Bluepaul said:
:sick: I got the Coopers Beginners Brew Kit (Lager) for Xmas. Followed the instructions to the letter and used only what was in the box.
The brew was in the FV for 12 days (sg1016) and then bottled, with 2 drops per bottle, and left in a warm dark box for 12 days.
Last night I thought I would try one to see how things are getting on. On opening, there was a little fizz but not much and when I poured it I had to put some height on the pour to get a head. The head quickly disappeared by the time I'd walked from the fridge to my chair (10 yds)
On tasting, it had little fizz and a very strong cider aftertaste ! After 3 mouthfuls I had to chuck the rest of the bottle away !

My big question is (finally!) Will this improve over the next few weeks or has it gone bad and only fit for the drain ?

Cheers
Paul
Click to expand...
I'm sure most folks on here will suggest that it is down to not enough conditioning time. The normal minimum is two weeks, and it is unlikely you have allowed that. Also, irrespective of what the kit instructions say, some beers take weeks and in extreme months before they come good after they have become carbonated. Yours might be one of them. I suggest you put your bottles in the coldest place you have and forget all about them for at least month or so and then try again. You might also find that your beer retains its head better since that is one of the things that usually improves with time.
By way of example I have a mild I bottled in mid December and the character of the one I opened last night has changed completely since I first sampled an earlier bottle three weeks ago.
 
That cidery taste is probably acetaldehyde which is a by-product of fermentation and has a green apple sort of flavour. Given enough time it should disappear, so stick your bottles away for another few weeks and try again.
Edit. I just saw Jakeyboi has already said that :oops:
 
Thanks for the speedy answers.
Up in the loft they go then, for at least a month.:)

Cheers
Paul
 
Bluepaul said:
:sick: I got the Coopers Beginners Brew Kit (Lager) for Xmas. Followed the instructions to the letter and used only what was in the box.
The brew was in the FV for 12 days (sg1016) and then bottled, with 2 drops per bottle, and left in a warm dark box for 12 days.
Last night I thought I would try one to see how things are getting on. On opening, there was a little fizz but not much and when I poured it I had to put some height on the pour to get a head. The head quickly disappeared by the time I'd walked from the fridge to my chair (10 yds)
On tasting, it had little fizz and a very strong cider aftertaste ! After 3 mouthfuls I had to chuck the rest of the bottle away !

My big question is (finally!) Will this improve over the next few weeks or has it gone bad and only fit for the drain ?

Cheers
Paul
Click to expand...

It sounds like you bottled from the fermenter,Next time you brew, leave in fermenter for two weeks. then rack the beer off the yeast into a clean bucket. Seal with lid and air lock and leave some were cool for at least a week, two is better. This will clear your beer and allow the yeast to clean up the off flavours and smells. Then carbonate and bottle in the warmth for two weeks, then condition cold for ten weeks. Follow this procedure on all kits dont use there instructions, there a load or codswallop (why this is i dont know):thumb:
 
Tanzanite said:
It sounds like you bottled from the fermenter,Next time you brew, leave in fermenter for two weeks. then rack the beer off the yeast into a clean bucket. Seal with lid and air lock and leave some were cool for at least a week, two is better. This will clear your beer and allow the yeast to clean up the off flavours and smells. Then carbonate and bottle in the warmth for two weeks, then condition cold for ten weeks. Follow this procedure on all kits dont use there instructions, there a load or codswallop (why this is i dont know):thumb:
Click to expand...

They have worked out that to sell the kits, they have to tell people that they will be necking it down within three weeks.
 
Taste is a funny thing some folk like what i would call green beer supped weeks after bottling or kegging, personally im happy to sit on a brew a month or more, trick is tho to keep collecting bottles and keep brewing.. then when the brews have matured to your taste, you will have a good supply ready ;)
 
Tanzanite said:
It sounds like you bottled from the fermenter,Next time you brew, leave in fermenter for two weeks. then rack the beer off the yeast into a clean bucket. Seal with lid and air lock and leave some were cool for at least a week, two is better. This will clear your beer and allow the yeast to clean up the off flavours and smells. Then carbonate and bottle in the warmth for two weeks, then condition cold for ten weeks. Follow this procedure on all kits dont use there instructions, there a load or codswallop (why this is i dont know):thumb:
Click to expand...
18 weeks.!!!!
Sorry bud but no one is ever going to convince me to leave my beers for that long, i have had many a beer drinkable from fermentation and bottled drinkable after 1-2 weeks (shut it Dutto ') its a case of try it and see 👍
 
pms67 said:
18 weeks.!!!!
Sorry bud but no one is ever going to convince me to leave my beers for that long, i have had many a beer drinkable from fermentation and bottled drinkable after 1-2 weeks (shut it Dutto ') its a case of try it and see 👍
Click to expand...

I suppose there no accounting for personal taste ??? i never drink any thing until its had a decent time to condition, if you have a selection of beers to chose from theres no need to be drinking it that early , a quick bitter or IPA might be drinkable, but a stout , porter or lager just cant be drinkable after a week or two ??
 
Tanzanite said:
I suppose there no accounting for personal taste ??? i never drink any thing until its had a decent time to condition, if you have a selection of beers to chose from theres no need to be drinking it that early , a quick bitter or IPA might be drinkable, but a stout , porter or lager just cant be drinkable after a week or two ??
Click to expand...
Lol
I usually only brew Ipa's or Wheat beers,18 weeks,no thank you, imho most beers are well ready by that time,they could be sitting ready to drink doing nothing.
I must say my friend,you have a lot more patience than most of us on here and i admire you for that 👍
 
yup, just have a good stock of beers then you don't have to drink them all young if you want to keep them to mature. I do wheat, aipa, stout, quads etc. the darker beers needing at least 8 weeks from bottling to start improving but if you have a mix then it is possible to keep beers.

you should if intending to keep beers a while to try a bottle every couple of weeks to see how it's getting on. Wheats last a bit longer than AIPAS and you can drink them a bit sooner - drink them by week 4 wheras AIPAS I start at week 5-6. As for saisons It took 3 months before it was drinkable and was superb after 6 months.

I have already got 24 bottles of beer for xmas 2017. They'll all be at least 1 year old the oldest having been bottled on 28/12/2015 :eek:
 
I was planning my brews earlier and trying to alternate between hoppy/light and dark/malty.

Brewed my maple bourbon stout/porter (think I ordered too light a crystal malt....) yesterday which I plan to drink no more than 5litres* of before Xmas 2017.

*12 x 330ml and maybe 1 x 500ml for my birthday in August.

I really enjoyed the 3 month old stout (I allowed myself 10 early bottles) that I brewed especially for Xmas this year and try to keep a 660ml bottle of each brew to drink with my old man.
 
Personal taste is the key here! Let no-one tell you that you can't drink it before x weeks ... try it and see what you like. As soon as a beer has carbed up and cleared then it's up to be sampled in my book. Hop heavy beers often lose some of the hoppiness as they mature and are intended to be consumed young although I agree that heavier/darker beers will usually benefit from longer conditioning. I often start on a Wherry after a couple weeks in the barrel. Still alive to tell the tale and wouldn't drink it if I didn't like it!
 
Each to their own. Keep it for months before you try it irrespective. Try it early and drink it if its ready if you want to. Keep it to mature for a special occasion.
It's your beer that you brewed, so you can do what you want with it :thumb:
 
wfr42 said:
I was planning my brews earlier and trying to alternate between hoppy/light and dark/malty.

Brewed my maple bourbon stout/porter (think I ordered too light a crystal malt....) yesterday which I plan to drink no more than 5litres* of before Xmas 2017.

*12 x 330ml and maybe 1 x 500ml for my birthday in August.

I really enjoyed the 3 month old stout (I allowed myself 10 early bottles) that I brewed especially for Xmas this year and try to keep a 660ml bottle of each brew to drink with my old man.
Click to expand...

Look at Simpsons DRC and Simpsons Imperial malts you will like them :thumb:
 
Have to agree with Fil. Build up a stock and drink them them when YOU consider them at their best.
 

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