Worth Keeping? How To Decide

[Sinfathisar]

So I have a stout that will be finished soon, problem is I am not liking the taste of it. I am just not sure if I will keep this one or not ... if I don't like it much at bottling time is it worth it? I know brews improve with age, particularly stout, but I think that should be from ok to good, or from good to great. Is it likely to go from not good to ok,good or even great?

Opinions please?

 

[DU99]

stout tends to get better with age as you said.what type of stout is it..

 

[MVZOOM]

If you have the bottles spare, bottle it and let it age. You may be very suprised in 2 months time (winter = stout season too!).

Cheers - Mike

 

[amiddler]

What about it don't you like? If it is sour or something then its a goner but if it is just unbalanced then bottle and age will help heaps.

Drew

 

[mika]

Unless it's too sweet. If it starts off too sweet it'll only get worse with age.

 

[rude]

It would have to be infected for me not to bottle it.

Then if it was a bad drop after aging I'de curse myself to the last drop for getting it so wrong.

I wish my good beers would last as long as my bad ones

Give it a chance I say

 

[Sinfathisar]

stout tends to get better with age as you said.what type of stout is it..

It is a milk stout (see the other thread on the probs I have had with this)

What about it don't you like? If it is sour or something then its a goner but if it is just unbalanced then bottle and age will help heaps.

Drew

Just tastes thin and a bit too bitter.





Final decision is to add lactose and bottle, wait and try. Thanks for the input :icon_cheers:

 

[nathanR]

I had some pretty average stout at the middle of last year but at the moment it has turned into pretty nice smooth drinkable stout after 6 months

 

[Gormand]

My last stout was too bitter when I bottled, but after 4-5 weeks in the bottle its really good, so I would be careful with the lactose, or maybe only do half of them.

The longer the stout sits in the bottle the more the bitterness should mellow out.

 

[Silo Ted]

You can always brew another stout with an extra thick body with low attenuation (mash high, select a yeast for the job), then blend that with your first one. Make recipe No2 quite a bit different, to allow for a nice complexity when the two are mixed

 

[Pennywise]

What was you final gravity? Stouts aren't geberally thin. The bitterness could just be from the dark grains, tannins & such, but with out extra info it's kinda hard to help. Post up the recipe & your procedure

 

[Sinfathisar]

FG stable at 1020 over 4 days

recipe below

Recipe: Two Plank Stout

1 can Stout (I used Thomas Coopers Selection Irish stout)

1kg dark dried malt

200g dried malt additive

1 can sweetened condensed milk

kit yeast - did not respond well to hydration so I used an extra yeast


I also threw in some brown sugar coz I like mine sweet and a yeast nutrient

pitched at 23degrees and kept it at 20-21 for the two weeks

 

[DU99]

enter it in "Stout Extravaganza"..

http://www.westgatebrewers.org/pdf/2011StoutInfo.pdf

 

[Sinfathisar]

enter it in "Stout Extravaganza"..

http://www.westgatebrewers.org/pdf/2011StoutInfo.pdf

not sure how well it would survive australia post

 

[Silo Ted]

^^ Why not ? Many of us send beers around Australia without issue.

Anyway, I still think you should blend it with another stout.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I find that some yeasts, while still in suspension, give beer a somewhat unpleasant taste

Given a little time to clear up most beers end up being very tasty

Cheers

 

[Sinfathisar]

^^ Why not ? Many of us send beers around Australia without issue.

Anyway, I still think you should blend it with another stout.

really? I asked elsewhere about posting beer and no-one knew if it was ok for the beer or not.


Blending is a good idea but the next stout I make will be a cherry one and I don't think I want to mix those two. As I am the only one who drinks beer etc I always end up with way more than I can use so 2 stouts will be enough.

 

[Silo Ted]

really? I asked elsewhere about posting beer and no-one knew if it was ok for the beer or not.

Really. Hundreds of members here would post beer every year for swaps, comps and x-mas lotteries without any dramas.

 

[Milky11111]

Just have a few of your better brews first then have one/two/twenty of your less appealing ones, that's what I do with my Pale Ale that turned out a bit bland. Another option is give 'em to bludgey mates.

"Then if it was a bad drop after aging I'de curse myself to the last drop for getting it so wrong."
^I applaud this attitude.

 

[Sinfathisar]

Really. Hundreds of members here would post beer every year for swaps, comps and x-mas lotteries without any dramas.

:icon_offtopic: so how is it done? won't they get too warm sitting around in a postpack heading interstate? is there a knack to packing them?