Hi all,
Fairly new to homebrewing and new to the forum. My question regards the development of the final flavour/aroma of beer during the fermentation cycle. My current batch is a Pale Ale that has been in the primary for ~72 hours. Bubbling at the airlock has slowed to less than 1 bubble a minute, so I used a wine thief to get a gravity reading to see how its coming along. All looks good in that regard, but I do like to taste the beer (from the cylinder) after Ive taken a reading. Currently it smells like old pup carpet, so a bit like stale beer, and has no unpleasant flavours, it just isn't particularly flavourful. Im not at all worried about this batch, Im just more interested if anyone has any comments on the flavour development during fermentation, and when you could taste your beer and have an indication on what the final flavour will be, or is the only way to have patience and wait until it time to open up a bottle?
Thanks all!