Hi all,
Made a brew about this time last year. Was a coopers real ale with fuggles trying to copy the hightail ale. After I brewed it I thought it wasn't good but had one today and it's great. I had meant to chuck them all out but haven't been bothered. Laziness pays off again. I now mean to enjoy all of these beers. Anyone else surprised themselves later with beers they thought were shite originally?
undisowning beer
Re: undisowning beer
IMHO, this can be a bit of a lucky dip.
I've brewed beers which were not so tasty at first, but which improved with time. I did an extract Aus Pale Ale which was shite at first, but improved to be quite drinkable after 3 or 4 months.
I've also brewed some which just didn't stand the test of time. For eg, one batch of Boonies LCPA seemed to have lost all it's hops aroma and taste after about 3 months.
Having said that, I'm still enjoying a Porter, a partial, brewed in August last year, and an AG dunkelweizenbock brewed in September last year.
I've brewed beers which were not so tasty at first, but which improved with time. I did an extract Aus Pale Ale which was shite at first, but improved to be quite drinkable after 3 or 4 months.
I've also brewed some which just didn't stand the test of time. For eg, one batch of Boonies LCPA seemed to have lost all it's hops aroma and taste after about 3 months.
Having said that, I'm still enjoying a Porter, a partial, brewed in August last year, and an AG dunkelweizenbock brewed in September last year.
Re: undisowning beer
Brews generally get better, but I've never yet had one that was terrible at first but got drinkable after months.
I found some leftovers of a brew I did about a year ago where I repitched a Cascade Spicy Ghost over a belgian wit trub and I think it got infected. Tasted another one tonight and - yep - definite nail polish remover aftertaste.
I found some leftovers of a brew I did about a year ago where I repitched a Cascade Spicy Ghost over a belgian wit trub and I think it got infected. Tasted another one tonight and - yep - definite nail polish remover aftertaste.
Re: undisowning beer
I made a hefedunkel that i wasnt too impressed with when i made it, but i had a bottle of it on saturday (about 7 months after creating it), and it was fantastic...
Shame the same cant be said for the 25L of duvel that i made when i was pissed.. cant give it away....
Shame the same cant be said for the 25L of duvel that i made when i was pissed.. cant give it away....
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
Re: undisowning beer
Agree with the LCPA, it does fade after 2.5 to 3 Months.warra48 wrote:IMHO, this can be a bit of a lucky dip.
I've brewed beers which were not so tasty at first, but which improved with time. I did an extract Aus Pale Ale which was shite at first, but improved to be quite drinkable after 3 or 4 months.
I've also brewed some which just didn't stand the test of time. For eg, one batch of Boonies LCPA seemed to have lost all it's hops aroma and taste after about 3 months.
Having said that, I'm still enjoying a Porter, a partial, brewed in August last year, and an AG dunkelweizenbock brewed in September last year.
I have had some beers that were crap at first especially a couple of blacks, but after 6 months in the bottle, they had mellowed into a very tasty treat
A homebrew is like a fart, only the brewer thinks it's great.
Give me a flying headbutt.......
Give me a flying headbutt.......
Re: undisowning beer
I'll third the comments on the LCPA - it's a winner when first bottled, but tends to taper off in intensity after three months. Of course, not much of it remained unconsumed after three months... 
I found a 1.5l grolsch swingtop bottle full of one my first brews the other day. It had probably been in the bottle for two years, and if my notes are right it was a cheapie APA flavoured with cascade hops. It used an out of date kit yeast, and cost maybe twenty bucks for a 23l batch. It was reasonably tasty when I first made it but definitely nothing special, and had a bit of harshness to it. On tasting it with an old friend from school, I found it to be amazingly flavoursome and any harshness had mellowed superbly.
I found a 1.5l grolsch swingtop bottle full of one my first brews the other day. It had probably been in the bottle for two years, and if my notes are right it was a cheapie APA flavoured with cascade hops. It used an out of date kit yeast, and cost maybe twenty bucks for a 23l batch. It was reasonably tasty when I first made it but definitely nothing special, and had a bit of harshness to it. On tasting it with an old friend from school, I found it to be amazingly flavoursome and any harshness had mellowed superbly.
Re: undisowning beer
Found a similar result with Coopers wheat beer using the recommended dry malt and dextrose mix. Both this and their bavarian lager were undrinkable at 2 months- the recommended age period for the wheat. Didn't want to deal with them at that point and forgot about them for another couple of months. Tried them again at six months and found the wheat aged to a reasonable brew-better with a fresh lemon wedge. The bavarian remained garbage and was dumped. Coopers has since discontinued the bavarian lager. Just my 2 cents.