ChandlerBang
Well-Known Member
I'm sure I have read about what causes a fruity flavor at bottling. Is that what 'green' beer is? Otherwise it pretty much just tastes like flat beer. So I'm hopeful for my first batch. 
Fruity off flavors
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Six_O_Turbo
Well-Known Member
How long has it been since you bottled? Sounds like you may not have given it enough time to carbonate properly.
young beer does tend to have a flavor some describe as "green apple". Is this the fruity flavor you get? Otherwise, fruity flavors are the result of esters and could be a result of the yeast you used and/or the temperatures you fermented at. Some yeasts - like English and Belgian strains - tend to produce more fruity esters than others. And higher temperature result in more esters, in general, regardless of yeast strain.
Which yeast did you use? And what temp did you ferment at?
Which yeast did you use? And what temp did you ferment at?
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ChandlerBang
Well-Known Member
I don't remember the yeast.... it was a dry packet that came with the kit - American Cream Ale from Brewer's Best. This was the sample I got when I bottled it today. I wasn't expecting much, I just knew I read something about that.
And since it is getting colder here in Ohio, I had more worries about keeping the primary and then secondary up to temp. No way did it get too warm.
And since it is getting colder here in Ohio, I had more worries about keeping the primary and then secondary up to temp. No way did it get too warm.
I don't know, then. I like to ferment ales, especially cream ales, at 60-62 degrees with a clean well-attenuating ale yeast. I'm talking about fermentation temperatures, not room temperature. In a 68 degree room, the fermenting beer would be 8-10 degrees higher during the peak of active fermentation. If you used nottingham, it would be really good at 68 degrees or less. At 72 degrees, it gets estery (fruity) and can be foul at higher temperatures. It's pretty cold here, but I still try to keep fermentation temperatures down, and under control. If your beer stayed under 65 degrees the entire time, that's a good thing.
Maybe at this point you're tasting acetaldehyde- a green apple flavor in young beer that will fade. It really depends on the yeast strain- some yeast strains are more estery than others.
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ChandlerBang
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I guess I can't say what the temp was for sure if it can rise that much. I suppose if the yeast needed 60-62 that is prolly what the room temp was. I'm sure it didn't get above 65, so we'll see.
My first brew, American Blondie, turned out with a fruity taste. I went through all my process and there are a few things that I did wrong.
First was my pitching temp. I pitched when it was still too hot (90-95).
Second was took my forever to cool the wort (over 1 1/2hours finally gave up and pitched not knowing).
Third fermentation temperatures were all over the place. From 66 one day at night to 78 the next (georgia weather for ya)...
My beer ended up with a strong alcohol taste (which conditioned away), darker (more amberish than blond), and fruity (the esters from the higher temperatures). But it by no mean is undrinkable and taught me many more things, and how important variables can be.
First was my pitching temp. I pitched when it was still too hot (90-95).
Second was took my forever to cool the wort (over 1 1/2hours finally gave up and pitched not knowing).
Third fermentation temperatures were all over the place. From 66 one day at night to 78 the next (georgia weather for ya)...
My beer ended up with a strong alcohol taste (which conditioned away), darker (more amberish than blond), and fruity (the esters from the higher temperatures). But it by no mean is undrinkable and taught me many more things, and how important variables can be.
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ChandlerBang
Well-Known Member
Ahhhhhhh, and now I know why people say take notes. I think the pitching temp may have been a bit high. I went from boil to 100 pretty easy. the ice was getting low and I think I said screw it at 80ish. That may be the problem? I still don't think my overall ferm temp was bad. Buuuuuuuut, we'll see what it does in the bottle. And nothing about it is undrinkable.
Not at all. It's very much like an American lager, but it's an ale. It usually uses corn to lighten the body and texture of the beer. Genessee Cream Ale is a good example, if you've ever had it.
Here's some more info:
Description: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.html#1a
A clean, well-attenuated, flavorful American lawnmower beer. An ale version of the American lager style. Produced by ale brewers to compete with lager brewers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Originally known as sparkling or present use ales, lager strains were (and sometimes still are) used by some brewers
Profile: Clean with low hop flavor and aroma. Faint malt notes. Light bodied, high carbonation. Little malt flavor. Pale straw to moderate gold color. Low fruitiness, no diacytl.
Ingredients: American ingredients most commonly used. A grain bill of six-row malt, or a combination of six-row and North American two-row, is common. Adjuncts can include up to 20% flaked maize in the mash, and up to 20% glucose or other sugars in the boil.
hmm I think cream ale is a bad name for that description. When I hear cream ale I think of something like bodingtons on draft not can. That can have almost a creamyness to it.
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