I brewed my first Oktoberfest the second week of July, it was an all grain batch, a recipe that Yooper posted several years back. Brew day went great all temps/quantities went well. I nailed the OG and felt really good about the process. I pitched the yeast and put the bad boy in a cool dark corner and covered it with a towel to reduce the chance of off flavors from light exposure.
I bottled this batch last weekend and tasted it for the first time.
I can definitely taste the malt on the front end. The hops were a little more mild than I thought they would be but so far so good. It had a decent mouth-feel and finished with a slight alcohol heat.
The problem: I'm getting a kind of fruity banana flavor on the back end. This was unexpected and frankly it puts me off a little.
Observations:
1.) I didn't lager this at a lower temp (partially due to the fact that I was moving and my keezer was down and also because I've heard that some lager yeasts can ferment at slightly higher temps and still make a great beer).
2.) I let this batch sit on the cake a lot longer than I have any other batches I've made. (Probably 6 weeks post primary fermentation)
3.) I only racked it once before bottling, though it was pretty clear.
I realize that bottling and carbonation may change the flavor profile a bit, but is this baby ruined? I'm thinking my higher fermentation temps caused the fruity back end flavors??? I imagine i made several mistakes here, but the fruity stuff I don't want to replicate in a beer like this. Any thoughts?
I bottled this batch last weekend and tasted it for the first time.
I can definitely taste the malt on the front end. The hops were a little more mild than I thought they would be but so far so good. It had a decent mouth-feel and finished with a slight alcohol heat.
The problem: I'm getting a kind of fruity banana flavor on the back end. This was unexpected and frankly it puts me off a little.
Observations:
1.) I didn't lager this at a lower temp (partially due to the fact that I was moving and my keezer was down and also because I've heard that some lager yeasts can ferment at slightly higher temps and still make a great beer).
2.) I let this batch sit on the cake a lot longer than I have any other batches I've made. (Probably 6 weeks post primary fermentation)
3.) I only racked it once before bottling, though it was pretty clear.
I realize that bottling and carbonation may change the flavor profile a bit, but is this baby ruined? I'm thinking my higher fermentation temps caused the fruity back end flavors??? I imagine i made several mistakes here, but the fruity stuff I don't want to replicate in a beer like this. Any thoughts?