Horrible aftertaste - Apricot IPA

[LabradorDad]

I brewed an Apricot IPA partial mash recipe about 4 weeks ago. After 5 days in primary I transferred to secondary and noted beer tasted extremely tart. The guys at my local brew shop recommended giving it a few extra weeks in the secondary before bottling. I taste the beer now and and the tartness is nearly gone, which is great but unfortunately it has a horrible aftertaste.

I can drink almost anything but I wouldn't be able to handle this brew at all. It doesn't taste sour, or like vinegar as I've heard some people describe in a beer that got infected. It is a difficult flavor to describe, a little musty maybe and it lingers for a while. The beer is perfectly clear. From what I've read some infections cause the beer to cloud.

I've had a couple of Apricot ales and enjoyed them quite a bit so I thought adding apricot puree to an IPA recipe would be a good idea. So my question is does this sound like an infected brew, or something common with using apricot puree or was the recipe I came up with just bad form the start? Any help would be much appreciated and I apologize for the long winded explanation.

The only thing I noticed odd about the entire process so far was my final specific gravity. It got all the way down to 1.005 which is a fair bit lower than I've gotten any other kit.

Here is the recipe
300g Pilsner
300g Medium crystal

3.5kg LME
1kg honey

1.5 oz amarillo @30minute
1.5oz amarillo @8minute
3.0 oz amarillo @1minute

1.0oz amarillo dry hop (2 weeks/secondary)

Notthingham ale yeast

 

[drainbamage]

Could you have just added too much apricot puree? I've never brewed with apricots before though, so I can't recommend an appropriate amount.

 

[LabradorDad]

It's possible, the guys at my local brew shop told me the 3lb can was quote "the perfect amount to use" I picked the amarillo hops as they are sometimes described as having fruit, almost apricot type flavor. Though I assumed with 6oz the apricot would barely be noted in the background.

Could you have just added too much apricot puree? I've never brewed with apricots before though, so I can't recommend an appropriate amount.

 

[BostonianBrewer]

3 lb is heavy but doesn't seem to be overdoing it. I would lean towards and infection because extract rarely gets below 1.010 in my experiences. How did this beer do overtime ?

 

[Hello]

I had a raspberry chocolate beer that was brewed using raspberry puree. It was horrible. It tasted like medicine and it turns out, overdoing the puree could lead to that issue. My guess is 3 pounds of puree was slightly too much for the beer. Also, if hops say they'll have a slight flavor, like apricot, then don't really expect a whole lot of that flavor. You may not even detect it.

I could be wrong, but maybe that is the issue. perhaps a couple more weeks in the bottle will help mellow it.

 

[bigdaddybrew]

With the amount of honey and fruit pruree I'm not surprised it dried out to 1.005. Some fruits turn sour when fermented. Not sure about apricot pruree. I usually leave my beers on the yeast cake at least 2 weeks allowing them to warm up that second week to let the yeast clean up off flavors. I know the opinions vary but there is no doubt that even careful racking increases oxidation and risk of infection. Was there a special reason to use a secondary? A dirty can opener is a common source of food spoilage. Did you sanitize it and the can's lid or did you boil the puree with the wort?