chungking

Recipes 

I brewed a Big Ben pale ale kit from Midwest about a month ago. I let it sit in primary for 3 weeks and then bottled. Og was about 1.050, final was about 1.017. I went by the recipe that came with the kit. Steeped grains for 30 minutes. Boiled 1oz bittering hops for 1 hour with 6lbs lme. Then added another 1 oz of hops for aroma.
I know it's still early, but they've been bottled for a week, and it tastes really sweet and cidery like apples, or maybe pears. I'm bad with describing tastes and smells, but definitely sweet. I was hoping for a more dry taste.

There is no hop aroma or flavor, which really disappoints me, and which I can usually perceive. I wanted a hoppy pale ale. I didn't strain the hops out either.

Fermented in swamp cooler that read low 60's the whole time.

It also has a reddish tint to it, like an Irish red. It actually tastes very similar to the Irish red i made over summer...

DocScott

Recipes 

Wait for it. Apple taste is probably just young, immature beer. It should improve with another 3-5 weeks in bottles.

Wayne1

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It sounds a lot like acetaldehyde

Check out BJCP Beer Faults

It might be you did not use a large enough yeast pitch, give it enough O2 or let it ferment long enough.

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innocent75

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^^^^^^^^^^ this ^^^^^^^^^
Just give it some time. It is amazing how much a beer can change with a few weeks of cellar time. I always put a few from batches in the way back of the closet. I often forget they are there. They improve with age to a point. I have had a real good homebrew that was coming up on a birthday.

chungking

Recipes 

This was the first time I let it sit in primary for 3 weeks and used swamp cooler. I usually only let it sit in primary for 1-2 weeks. But it still tastes very similar to all my other batches at bottling time.

Will the hop flavors and aroma start to shine through as it ages? I've never made a brew that had prominent hop characteristics. Seems like all my beers you'd be lucky to get a hint of hoppiness.

I did everything right for this batch, and it came out like nothing like it was intended to be...

b-boy

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I never touch any beer for at least 2 months. A few weeks can make a huge difference.

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chungking

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The color shouldn't be reddish, should it? I've haven't seen a pale ale that is red...

chungking

Recipes 

By the way, after racking into bottling bucket, I only had about 4.5 gallons of beer, but still used the full amount of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. Could this be contributing to the sweetness? It did seem really carbed for only being bottled 1week.

Should I have limited the priming sugar by a fraction to compensate for a 0.5 gallon difference?

Thanks!

Brewnoob1

Recipes 

It will add to the carbonation but shouldn't contribute to sweetness unless it hasn't been fully consumed and converted by the yeast.

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Keg #2: Yooper's House Ale
Kegs 3-5: Empty

Ferment #1: Redhook Blonde Clone
Ferment #2:
Ferment #3:

On Deck: MORE BEER!