New at Home Brewing

I'm new at home brewing and I just finished bottling my third batch tonight. I'm starting with the Mr. Beer kit and hoping to step up to a better setup once I get the hang of things.
My first batch was the West Coast Pale Ale. I let it ferment for 3 weeks, bottled it and let it sit for a month and it still comes out with a strong apple smell and taste. I've spoke with others that fermented it for 2 weeks and drank it two weeks after bottling.
I just finished bottling the Leprechaun Lager tonight and it also has the strong apple smell and taste. I even let this batch ferment for 5 weeks to make sure it fully fermented. I checked it with the hydrometer and it looked like it completed fermenting, but I wanted to make 100% sure.
I'm fermenting it in a dark place at 66 degrees which seems to be the warmest dark place I can find in my house. I spoke to a local brew shop near me (Jay's Brewing) and they said 66 degrees would be fine, but may take a little longer to ferment and may give my beer a butterscotch flavor since the yeast is working harder. They recommended wrapping it with a towel, which I did for the last 2 weeks and it brought the fermenting temp up to about 70 degrees.
I'm 100% sure I'm sanitizing everything and keeping everything clean, so what am I doing wrong? I've heard letting the beer condition longer after bottling can take care of the sour apple flavor, but I'm obviously doing something wrong.

Thanks in advance.

usually caused by Beer taken off the yeast too soon.. but, can be caused by Bacteria as well... Try a thourough Clean of everything ? New Racking Hoses? .. ?I don't know what yeast Mr Beer Uses? Maybe a fresh new pack of Safale US-05?

_______________

Acetaldehyde
Tastes/Smells Like:
Green apples, rotten-apples, freshly cut pumpkin
Possible Causes:
Acetaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical produced by yeast during fermentation.
It is usually converted into Ethanol alcohol, although this process may take longer in
beers with high alcohol content or when not enough yeast is pitched. Some bacteria
can cause green apple flavors as well.
How to Avoid:
Let the beer age and condition over a couple months time. This will give the yeast
time to convert the Acetaldehyde into Ethanol. Always use high quality yeast and make
sure you are pitching the correct amount for the gravity of the wort or make a yeast
starter.

After the first batch came out smelling/tasting like sour apple I made sure I cleaned everything really well. The packs of sanitizer I use were from two different batches too.
Since I'm letting it ferment longer than most people are and still having the issue, do you think the temperature at which I'm fermenting it could be the main issue here? The thermometer reads 66 degrees, which I didn't think was that cold considering lots of people ferment it in their basement.

66 is fine for fermenting. But raise it after fermentation is complete by a few degrees and let it set for a few days for the yeast to clean up after themselves. Sounds like you tried that though. Try picking up some different yeast for your next batch, rather than whatever is in the kit. Your LHBS could direct you to an appropriate one for your next batch.

Did you use the fromunda yeast that came with the Mr Beer kit? I'm far from an expert but the Mr Beer directions say to keep the LBK in a "location with a consistent temperature of 68 to 76 degrees".

Just a thought from a fellow Mr Beer noob...

I don't know what size a batch the Mr Beer makes but you might see if your LHBS can put together an ingredient kit with fresh ingredients.

I think the extract in the kits you are getting might have sat around somewhere for quite a while.

I brewed my extract kits last July and August. They were 5 gallon kits from Northern Brewer. I have confidence that Northern Brewer has a large turnover so the product remains fresh. They came out great even with some small problems with fermentation temperatures on the first one.

BTW I don't think your fermentation temperatures are a problem (unless your thermometer is way off). I ferment most of my beers at approximately 64 degrees. I haven't had a bad one yet.

Damn! I just jinxed myself again!

Fermenting In the 60's is great for the ale but lagers are usually fermented I the low 50's and then lagered in the mid 30's

I would recommend fresh yeast. Find a way to control temp. Go all-in and purchase equipment to make 5 gallon batches. I am just starting out but I am loving every minute!

Here is what I have done so far.

I started with Mr. Beer too and my first 2 batches had odd taste too. Both were purchased from by my GF for a gift from a garden center that sold beer stuff which leads me to believe that my kits were old. After Mr. Beer kit #2 I purchased a bucket kit from my local home brew store and it came out great. Batch #4 and #5 were started at the same time. #4 is Muntons American Light and #5 is Mr. Beer St Patrick's Irish Stout. I noticed the numbers on the yeast looked like a date that ended 09 so I purchased new yeast and didn't use the booster and instead used 1 lb of Munton's light hopped dry malt. The American Light is in the bottle building co and taste great as a light beer and no off taste. I didn't bottle the Mr Beer yet because the specific gravity was at 1.014 but 4 days later it was the same. On Sat. it will be 3 weeks so I am going to "relax, have a home brew" and bottle it up. When I took both readings I tasted it and it was really really good! No off flavors, like the first 2 batches.

Here is a great idea to control temp. You know all those armoire cabinets used to hide tvs in the 80's and 90's? Turn one into a brewery cabinet! I took over my GF's armoire and purchased a very small heater that has a digital thermostat and now its a brewery that stays at a solid 70 deg. monitored by a digital temp gauge and it hides all my equipment.

brewery pic

what temp are you conditioning at? Is it possible colder conditioning temps are causing slower conditioning, and what you're tasting is just green beer?

I'm only got 8 Mr Beer batches under my belt. I ferment at 70-74 degrees for 3 weeks minimum and bottle condition at 70-73 degrees for 4 weeks minimum, and never had an off flavor.

I use Mr Beer too and my first batch had a really bad cidery flavor. After 2 months in bottles it is almost completely gone, but so is the beer... From what I have read and heard, the problem may be that the Mr Beer basic kits use too much sugars in relation to malts. Try replacing the booster with a pound of light DME (dry malt extract) and that should help. That's what I do now and now the beer is much better.

Good point OClairbrew. Losing the booster for a pound of DME or even canned UME from Mr Beer makes a big difference.

OClair...what do temp do you condition your beer at.?...I've found that if you condition at around 70 degrees it conditions faster than if you condition colder? I suspect the OP just has green beer due to inadequate conditioning times and/or temps.

But don't go by me, I'm still really new at this myself

My house is never cooler than 75, but the closet I condition in I believe is around 70. This summer it will be even warmer, about 80 in the house. I agree the OP may have conditioned a little cooler than the recommended 70. I highly suggest stashing those bottles away for a few months if possible to let time fix things. If I would have known that sooner I wouldn't have consumed 2 gallons of unappealing beer.