Newbie Questions

[Gavo]

So is the colour/taste at bottling a good indicator of the beer quality down the track? Can you normally expect a bad beer is the colour/taste isn't great at bottling stage?

Taste at bottling can be an indicator of the beer quality, you will know if a beer is really bad at bottling. Some beers that seem a little harsh at bottling will settle out quite good. Colour on the other hand is an indicator of the type of malts used and as a result the taste will vary with colour, for example a darker beer will generally have a toastier flavor, think of comparing a pale beer with a stout. Personal taste is what counts here. That reminds me, I will have to put some of my year old stout in the fridge.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[manticle]

@Gavo - some of the better beers I've brewed have tasted quite foul even up to bottling point.

I brewed fatzgodzilla's Irish red (followed the recipe and fermentation procedure to the letter). On bottling the brew tasted like vegemite. 4 weeks later - beautiful. I agree you can pick up things like fusels and some esters etc on bottling but it can taste revolting and come good in a few weeks.

Alternatively it can also taste perfect on bottling and only get better like the stout I just bottled.

 

[panpac]

so the fact my brew tasted ok at bottling will hopefully mean it will taste ok in a few weeks?

 

[user 10246]

Seems sometimes ok, sometimes not though.