This stout is killing me.

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by IPAdams, Jun 24, 2013.

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  1. IPAdams

    IPAdams Initiate (0) Jun 10, 2013 Illinois

    So About two months ago I brewed an American stout. After three weeks in the bottle it was definitely undercarbed. The flavor was great but almost no head and little carbonation. I gave it another week and there was very little change in the carbonation. So I tried the method where you turn the bottle upside down for three days then turn it right back up. Now the carbonation and head is fantastic, but the flavor is almost like a watered down Guinness Extra Stout. I know that this method is supposed to reactivate the yeast to eat any remaining sugar but would this affect the flavor that drastically? Before it had a very strong coffee flavor and good bitterness, now there is very little of either. I have only tried one of the bottles since using the method, could it just be a bad bottle?
     
    #1 IPAdams, Jun 24, 2013
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    What you did was get the yeast back in suspension. It's sometimes called 'rousing' the yeast. I can't think of any reason that this would have affected your coffee flavor or bitterness, unless it's simply a matter of how you perceived the beer pre- and post- carbonation. Carbonated beer does taste different. But rousing the yeast (as opposed to just waiting) shouldn't affect flavor per se. I also wonder of you're experiencing some effects of oxidation, which can dull flavors.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Jun 24, 2013
  3. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Sorry, I don´t think it could be just a ´bad bottle´, provided all bottles were filled with the same beer batch.It is a little strange you feel a carbonated beer less flavored than a non-carbonated one. As Vikeman said ,oxidation is likely the culprit here.
     
    #3 Tebuken, Jun 24, 2013
  4. IPAdams

    IPAdams Initiate (0) Jun 10, 2013 Illinois

    If it was oxidation wouldn't it have tasted like that from the beginning? They were in bottles for about 4 weeks before using this method.
     
    #4 IPAdams, Jun 25, 2013
  5. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm not as smart as others here, but I don't believe it is oxidation, and I also cannot think of any actual reason for this, so I am going to go on a limb and say it might be your imagination, a factor of what you ate beforehand, a factor of weather or mood, or other factor(s) unrelated to an actual change in the beer's flavor.
     
    #5 cavedave, Jun 25, 2013
  6. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Oxygenation is fast. Oxidation takes time.
     
    #6 VikeMan, Jun 25, 2013
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