Cider smell?

i did a Austin Homebrew Supply clone of the flat tire ale, last week i put it in the primary, everything was clean and sanitzed , this is the frist time i have put one in a 6.5 carboy, always used a pale, it was very slow to get started but started after 48 hours, the bottom of the carboy had alot of loose turb? today i transfered it to the 5 gallon carboy, i went to smell it and it had a cider smell, i did not take a sample just transfered it any thoughts of why the smell? also had an air lock on it the hole time with vodka

Lenny

Relax. Give it time to age some. There are several things it could be, but time is what the beer needs at this point. If you see a film or something growing on-top, then worry a little.

week old beer is never ready...full of fermentation aromas and flavors and diacetyl possibly.

you DID let it go at least a full 7 days in primary...right??

I don't see any reason a beer has to stay in primary for 7 days. It is probably just fermentation smelliness that will go away but if you fermented warm you could be smelling esters that were produced and will be in your finished beer as well.

it was in the primary for 7 days and i was transfering it to the secondary when i smelled the cider smell, its going to sit in the secondary 2 weeks, my house temp stays about 69-75 deg. this is my first amber and first time in a glass carboy and i have never had so much sediment or turb on the bottom before, but i also was never able to see it before
Thanks
Lenny

Primary fermentation should be kept at the yeast's recommended temperature range for 14 days at least. This gives the yeast time to clean up unwanted esters. Most of us brewers now do not use a secondary for ales. When you ferment out of this range the yeast create to many esters that can not be cleaned up. You can also produce fusel alcohols which are a hot taste on the palate. A cider smell can be caused by too high temperatures so you should make a fermentation chamber or get a refrigerator and a controller to maintain desired temperatures. You should age your ale 30 days at least. I make beer way ahead of time so I can afford to wait until it is ready. It turns out much better that way. Keep brewing and you will be reworded.

WBC said:

Primary fermentation should be kept at the yeast's recommended temperature range for 14 days at least.

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I don't know if this is a response to what I said but...that doesn't mean you can't transfer it to another fermenter. Of course you don't want to ferment out of the proper range...

WBC said:

Primary fermentation should be kept at the yeast's recommended temperature range for 14 days at least. This gives the yeast time to clean up unwanted esters. Most of us brewers now do not use a secondary for ales. When you ferment out of this range the yeast create to many esters that can not be cleaned up. You can also produce fusel alcohols which are a hot taste on the palate. A cider smell can be caused by too high temperatures so you should make a fermentation chamber or get a refrigerator and a controller to maintain desired temperatures. You should age your ale 30 days at least. I make beer way ahead of time so I can afford to wait until it is ready. It turns out much better that way. Keep brewing and you will be reworded.

Click to expand...

Even though I'm a completely n00b as far as going it solo is concerned, I'm going to go with patience here as well. Since I'm in the middle of my first batch of beer by myself without anyone helping, I'm taking copious notes on things I never would normally do anyway, such as the progression of odor on a daily basis. I crack out on these things and am curious, I can't help it.

I've noticed that the cider odor is indicative of an incomplete fermentation. My friend blew his first batch of beer by adding *way* too much sugar to the recipe, something like nearly 50% of the weight of the malt syrup (I learned before my first endeavor to just go ahead and use malt extract if you need to sweeten things up). His beer also had an apple hint to it, which in my reading and research also indicates incomplete fermentation.

Out of curiosity, are you using sugar, corn sugar, or other sweeteners aside from malt? That might be a source of your problem too. Also, does your yeast have a manufacturing/expiration date? I'm wondering if the yeast was old since it took nearly 2 days to get going. All things combined it seems like your yeast didn't multiply as heartily as it should have for some reason, and it may take significantly longer to work out the odor.

Again, I'm a total n00b, but I've poured a gallon of book knowledge and discussions with people who do homebrew into a pint-glass of a brain. I'm sure I've spilled some along the way.