Extract/Partial mash - longer to condition than kits?

[PaulCa]

So I've moved from using a kit can as my base malt to using 2 Kg of light DME.

The first brew which was a little hurried mind, tasted well funky at first. It spent 8 days in the FV and 10 days in the keg, but the first sample glass was very wrong. It's hop profile was way, way off and I swear it was sickly sweat tasting even though the FG was fine and had been for a few days in the FV. 1013. A week later and it started to taste like beer, but nearly another week later and 1/3 of the keg drunk and it's still cloudy and only really starting to taste like it should.

When I did this with a Coopers kit as base malt it tasted like beer straight away and cleared within days of going into the keg...

Is this normal or just one of those things? I mean maybe I siphoned too much sediment into the keg or something and have been drinking the cloudy bottom for a week? I suppose the hops in the kit can might have been better utilised/stabilised and mine tasted crap and sweat cause my hopping was still settling?

Kegging batch number 2 this morning, 12 days in FV. Fingers crossed that 2 weeks later it will have sorted itself out this time.

 

[pittsy]

I found my extract brews were faster to be ready ( a little) but mainly better , more like beer than kits imo .

 

[Sandimas]

Likewise, I find my Extract brew ready much quicker - I bottled/kegged a Marstons Pedigree clone last weekend, the bottles are still in the warm conditioining but I've already had about 5 pints out of the keg, and reckon it's one of the best beers I've ever made. I have had some though that take longer to come good, I think it just depends on the recipe / type of beer.