Green Apple Taste in my Ale

I have been enjoying my first brew for about 5+ weeks now. It's a German Amber Ale.

I left it in the primary for a little over 4 weeks then kegged it. I began drinking it right from the start. Partly to learn how the taste changes and partly because I was eager to try it. Now I'm a little over 5 weeks with it kegged and on CO2. The flavor was really improved but it still isn't as smooth as I was expecting. It starts off great but the finish is a bit off. I took bottled some and took it to my local brew club meeting. They described it as a bit of a green apple taste. I don't get the green apple taste but something is a bit off.

I assume it is a bit of Acetaldehyde. However, shouldn't I be past the conditioning period? To me it was more pronounced in the bottled samples that I took than out of the tap. I bet it is due to the lower carbonation from me transferring it to bottles.

What do you think? I'm down to about a gallon left, so I will try really hard to keep some to taste at a later time.

green apple is usually associated with new beer, but it sounds like this is not your problem. A beer of that gravity should be ready by now. What are you using to sanitize? Are you sure you are mixing it to the proper strength? Only reason I ask is because I think my worst off flavor came from an improperly mixed solution of iodaphor that was not rinsed. Sorry I don't have any better ideas for you. Keep at it, your end product will improve.

Maybe it's too late for your current batch but something to think about for the next one:

From John Palmer's online version of How To Brew

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Acetaldehyde
A flavor of green apples or freshly cut pumpkin; it is an intermediate compound in the formation of alcohol. Some yeast strains produce more than others, but generally it's presence indicates that the beer is too young and needs more time to condition.[/FONT]

According to Brew Chem 101 by Lee W. Janson

Acetaldehyde can be avoided by:

Using good quality yeast, especially when brewing high-alcohol beer styles

Allow beer to ferment and age for the proper amount of time

Eliminate bacterial infections by maintaining sterile brewing techniques

The book explains that acetylaldehyde is made during fermentation, then processed into ethanol. If the yeast is too weak for the style of beer being made, it can fail to complete the conversion.

You can also flood acetylaldehyde into beer by adding too much of an adjunct sugar (like table sugar, etc.) People making Trippels and other Belgian styles can run into this if they are not careful.

I used Star San, so no rinsing. I used my bucket to measure the 5 gallons of water and added 1 oz of the concentrate.

It did ferment at a slightly temperature. Around 70-72 degrees, but I thought that would be fusel alcohol which would be a different taste. Oh well, it's not bad. It's just not great.

Remember that chilling slows down conditioning dramatically. So, basically your beer is 4 weeks old (the time in the primary). If it was a bottled beer, it'd be at least 7 weeks old at room temperature before you would sample.

I bet if you had the keg at room temperature a couple of weeks before chilling and drinking that the "green apple" flavor would have been gone.

YooperBrew said:

Remember that chilling slows down conditioning dramatically. So, basically your beer is 4 weeks old (the time in the primary). If it was a bottled beer, it'd be at least 7 weeks old at room temperature before you would sample.

I bet if you had the keg at room temperature a couple of weeks before chilling and drinking that the "green apple" flavor would have been gone.

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Aahhh, I didn't think of that. Thanks. I have a Pale Ale in the primary now. I will keep that in mind.

TRainH2o said:

Aahhh, I didn't think of that. Thanks. I have a Pale Ale in the primary now. I will keep that in mind.

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I'm usually in a hurry to drink my beer, and kegging allows me to do that! But remember that green beer is green beer, whether it's carbed up or not. One (dis?)advantage to kegging is the ability to drink your beer much faster. That's fine for a beer that's already conditioned, but not for a beer that might benefit from more time.

When you keg this pale ale, sample it. If it's perfect, or darn near, then it can go right in the kegerator. If it's still a bit green, a week or two at room temperature will help quite a bit.

Yooper's advice is (as usual) very good.

I either let me brews sit in their secondary for 2-3 weeks, which is usually long enough for everything to convert, that or sit it in the keg and let it age there. (It depends on whether I need the carboys or not)

Anyhow, green brew is almost a waste, because it would be GREAT beer if it had sufficient time aging.

Very good information. Thanks all.

So at the end of my 4 week-ish time in the primary, I keg it, purge the O2 with CO2 and let it site at room temp for a couple of weeks. I guess I was thinking that it would continue to condition after I cooled the beer. Actually it has improved but I guess at a much slower rate.

TRainH2o said:

Very good information. Thanks all.

So at the end of my 4 week-ish time in the primary, I keg it, purge the O2 with CO2 and let it site at room temp for a couple of weeks. I guess I was thinking that it would continue to condition after I cooled the beer. Actually it has improved but I guess at a much slower rate.

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It does continue to condition when cold. Cold-conditioning is a valid process but it does happen quite slowly.

Assuming that my beer is still green, can I remove it from the fridge and let it sit at 68 degrees for a week or so? Will it condition after 5 weeks in the cold? I know there are still yeast in there......sleeping I'm sure.

TRainH2o said:

Assuming that my beer is still green, can I remove it from the fridge and let it sit at 68 degrees for a week or so? Will it condition after 5 weeks in the cold? I know there are still yeast in there......sleeping I'm sure.

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Yes. If it is acetaldehyde, I'm not sure conditioning will clear it up. Only yeast in suspension will get rid of it. If you are still having problems after you let it warm condition for a while, the best fix is a method called krausening. To do this, you simply add some yeast from a current batch at high krausen. Make sure its from a neutral yeast. Using a sanitized spoon, or even wine theif, take some actively fermenting beer and transfer to your conditioning beer. I've never done this, but a friend who works at a brewery told me he has done this to clear up acetaldehyde.

Thanks Edcculus. I may give that a shot. I have a Pale Ale bubbling away in the primary right now.