Midwest pumpkin ale cider taste

Hello all, i was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers as this is my second batch to homebrew. First batch being a honey hefeweizen that turned out fantastic. I brewed the kit as is except I made a spice tea that included more nutmeg, ginger and pumpkin pie spice. I also added 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar to the original 1 cup of light brown (my thoughts were it might give it a more distinct taste profile and boost the abv a tad). I used wyeast 1000 headwaters ale yeast and fermented at 70 degrees. I popped the top on the primary to draw a hydrometer sample after 4 days and the smell of cider/almost vinegar about knocked me off of my feet. Drew the sample and tasted afterwards and it was unbearably stout tasting of cider. Now it has been racked to secondary after two weeks in primary and still a distinct taste of cider. Should I let it sit and see how it turns out? Or should I dump? I would love to have a batch for Halloween and I'm also planning on brewing a winter ale that will tie up my fermenters for an extended period. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

My sg was 1.052. The hydrometer reading this morning was 1.002.

FG of 1.002 and a cidery taste? Sounds like a bacterial infection to me.

Beer usually doesn't get that low, especially with extract kits. Also, bacteria is known to create acetaldehyde, which has a green apple or cidery taste/smell.

You are only 14 days from brew day. This beer is VERY green, so you shouldn't be concerned about how it tastes right now.

I wouldn't dump anything until I gave it time to fully condition. Short of a small amphibian growing in there, give it another month before you dump it, your cider taste will likely condition out.

Oh, and it's very possible for your to ferment really dry like that, since you added refined sugar to the mix, which is EXTREMELY fermentable. Next time, skip the brown sugar, it doesn't add much to taste, it just dries out your beer's body.

Ok thanks. I was thinking there may be an infection but there is no nasty film or anything on top, not that that means anything. I just assumed that since the recipe included it, it would give off more of molasses flavor. If I'd known that it would dry it out I wouldn't have added the extra (note to self on next batch haha.) The Hefe I brewed smelled like beer a day after fermenting began, I guess that's why the smell threw me for a loop. I will just let it sit as I don't need the secondary for a while and see how it turns out. If it fails I will just have to settle for having some pumpkin beer for turkey day vs Halloween.

Here, jsut found this for your to read.

Refined sugars seem to be fine in beer up to a tipping point percentage-wise, where they start to contribute to cider off flavors.

The original amount of sugar in the recipe was probably fine, but the additional sugar definitely created the cider taste, but it should still condition out, given enough time. The good news is that you most certainly don't have an infection.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/ad...ot-going-make-taste-like-freakin-cider-90498/

Thank you for the help. I will definitely let it sit and see what happens. Pumpkin beer is one o my absolute favorites and it would kill my soul if it was ruined. Thanks again for all the opinions and information. I will update and let ya know how it is

TopherM said:

Oh, and it's very possible for your to ferment really dry like that, since you added refined sugar to the mix, which is EXTREMELY fermentable. Next time, skip the brown sugar, it doesn't add much to taste, it just dries out your beer's body.

Click to expand...

I severely doubt 1.5 cups of sugar will dry the body out that much.....



But to the OP, I'd definitely let it sit for a while longer and wait it out. I'm sure it'll turn out delicious.

I've had good results adding 2+ cups of brown sugar (usually dark brown sugar) to brews. Usually I caramelize it a bit first. Never had an issue with it drying out or tasting cidery (both extract and all grain scotch ales). My thinking was that only really refined sugar (like table sugar) would have that effect, not brown sugar or molasses. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But I certainly don't think that much brown sugar would do that.
I brewed some Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale last year and some bottles had some cidery taste and I suspected it was due to unclean bottles. I'm guessing bacteria in your case, but I would also give it time to see how the flavor evolves.

Well just a little update I cracked open a bottle o the pumpkin ale and it still tastes like hell. I brewed another batch and put into secondary today and it has the same damn smell. I guess my primary bucket has an infection or something, so I guess I will probably be chunking it. I will give it a week or two to see how the beer is turning out before I do so though.

that sounds heartbreaking! I have been planning to brew up the pumpkin spice ale from AHS and appreciate your insights into the brew process. Hope you can pinpoint the cause of the offending flavor

Well after I transferred to the secondary and noticed the smell I got to checking the bucket I realized there was one large scratch in the bucket. So I'm guessing there is bacteria harboring in that scratch. I thought that I may have been a little careless the first go around because I had to many home-brews... Lol but the second time I was extra carefully and soaked everything in a double dose of disinfectant for an extended period time just to make sure I had sterilized anything that may have been contaminated. This broke my heart because I absolutely love a good pumpkin beer and this was my second batch to screw up. The only two that I have brewed so far. So I guess I am going to switch to all glass fermentors to reduce the chance of accidentally scratching my fermentor and possibly harboring bacteria. Still I'm not sure exactly how that happened because I use all plastic spoons post boil (?) but it is definitely there and there is no possible way that it was due to unsanitary practices.

I've toyed with that same idea but I have a hell of a time getting my carboy clean as I'd like after bottling..I'm gonna stick with plastic fermenters for now, paying close attention not to cause any scratches for critters to hide out.

Ya. But after ruining two batches I would rather spend a little extra time cleaning vs ruining batch after batch

If anyone has any input I am going to post a picture of the brew in the carboy. Open for any ideas of what it looks like it may be. Sorry it's a little blurry.