Green taste from trying too soon

[NewBrewMeister]

I guess I'm probably like every other new brewer out there....I have cheated on the first couple of batches and tried my beer on day four after bottling. The beer was very flavorful....but it had a very hoppy flavor .... what I would thought was way too hoppy. I had already considered this "experimental" batch a failure but was very pleasantly surprised on day five, (I cheated again), to find that the hoppy taste had mellowed out tremendously. The carbonation was alot better on day five and the taste was very good.....the beer had a very good malty...coffee like flavor that I was trying to get by adding Belgium chocolate malt in the steep. I don't really have a question.....just wanted to comment that I was surprised at the extreme change in flavor that I noticed between days 4 and 5 after bottling. Comments would certainly be appreciated.

[mmmBeer...]

Sounds like a nice first beer! Congrats and welcome to the obsession. You will notice even more changes over the next 3-4 weeks. Everything will smooth out and the flavours will start to merge. BTW it isn’t just newbies that “cheat”…I have lost track of the number of batches I have finished and I still try it at various stages to see how the beer is maturing, and I know a lot of others here do as well.

[mortong]

12 batches so far, and I have yet to NOT try one after a week. =)

[Bruno_78]

I would comment that it's probably a good thing, especially for a beginning brewer like myself, to taste the beer at all stages, even if it's early. I think it's helped me tremendously to understand more about that beer and how it matures.

[NewBrewMeister]

Thanks for the comments....now I do have a question. I let the bottle conditioning take place around 72 degrees F and was wondering if after a couple of weeks of conditioning whether it is better to refrigerate at that point or not. Any comments??

[fretlessman71]

Either way is fine, as long as you don't let them get REALLY warm, like sitting on your back porch in the sun in June. Keep 'em dark, keep 'em cool, and chill them as you need them. On the other hand, if you have the space to keep them all cold, the yeast will have an easier time settling down at the bottom of the bottle and won't pour out as easily. I don't have the fridge space to store all of them at drinking temp, and I manage all right. :)

[mmmBeer...]

Before I got into kegging, I would let the bottles sit at room temp (about 70*) for 2 weeks and then keep them at cellar temps (around 65*), and never had a problem. However, by brews never last very long so I have never had the chance to see if they go off at higher temps :)