Bad Aftertaste

[mackdjroc187]

Hello I just finished my first batch. It was a Sierra Nevada clone. Everything went fine. It has been bottle conditioning for about 1 week. The problem is when I tasted it, i had a very bad aftertaste I would describe like aspirin. When I steeped my grains I didn't have a thermometer so I just raised my water to a boil then turned down the burner till I had a nice steam coming off. If this is tannins from steeping my grains at too high of a temp will the beer improve with age? Thank you

[brewmeisterintng]

It could be tannis but it sounds more like an infection. There have been batches that I could not determine where I went wrong as there are so many variables to consider. There are online charts and books that will assist you in troubleshooting. Ensure that you are taking good notes while you brew. They may add insight to where you went wrong.

[slothrob]

Tannins will age out a bit, but slowly. Buy a thermometer, you can't guess at these temperatures if you want to make good beer.

The beer is also still very young, at 1 week in the bottle. You could be tasting green beer for the first time. A lot of hoppy beers will smooth out around 8 weeks post-brewing.