Oktoberfest Has Sweet Apple Taste?

[ThatGeekGuy]

Made a True Brew Oktoberfest kit back in mid-September. Used a Cool Brewing bag to keep the fermenting bucket in, and kept temps between 62-67F. Stayed in the bag for about a month, then cold-crashed in the bucket at 40F in a freezer for a few more weeks.

Kegged and and carbed about a week ago (no priming sugar), and immediately noticed a sweetness and apple-style flavor. This being my first batch of homebrew I've made in three decades, I'm not sure what to think. However, I am suffering through it.

OG and FG were right on the money at 1.042 and 1.012.

Ingredients were as follows:
•Unhopped Amber Malt Extract – 1 can
•Light Dried Malt Extract – 2 lbs
•Melanoidin Grain – 8 oz
•Hop Pellets – 2 oz
•Ale Yeast – 1 pack

I did stray from the instructions a bit.
- I used 2.5 gallons of water for grain steeping rather than the 1-1.5 recommended.
- I boiled for 60min instead of the 20-30min recommended.
- Directions said to add all 2oz of hops at same time as LME and DME (at start of boil), I added 1oz at 30 min and 1oz at 45min.

I suspect some of the sweetness is due to not adding all the hops at the beginning of the boil, the directions said it was only 6.0 HBU at finishing. Someone also told me that I had way too much water for steeping the small amount of grain in the kit. Don't know if the extended boil contributed at all, and never could get a hard boil.

So I'm pretty sure some (most) of this is due to my taking creative license with what were probably tried and true directions. I'm just trying to get an understanding of all the factors and interactions so I don't hose things up in the future. TIA for helping an old noob....

P.S. - Any suggestions for anything I could do to it in the cornie (dry hop, etc) to make it less sweet and apple-y? Or just pull up my big boy panties and keep drinking?

 

[ETCS]

Check out this link.

That is a good place to look at what causes "Off-Flavors" for example:

Cidery
Cidery flavors can have several causes but are often the result of adding too much cane or corn sugar to a recipe. One component of a cidery flavor is acetaldehyde which has a green-apple character. It is a common fermentation byproduct and different yeasts will produce different levels of it depending on the recipe and temperature. Cidery flavors are encouraged by warmer than normal temperatures and can be decreased by lagering.

If it is caused by aceto bacteria, then there is nothing to be done about it. Keep the fruit flies away from the fermentor next time.

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

Thanks, I'll give it a look. No additional sugars added, just the LME & DME, and no fruit flies to be found.

 

[duboman]

Acetaldehyde is the off flavor you are getting as sweet apples and it is a sign the beer is just too young. It needs more to condition and carbonate and it should improve. BTW, 3 weeks at 70F is the general recommendation for bottle conditioning and carbonating. If you kegged, it just needs more time to condition

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

Dubo,
Thanks for the info. This sat in the primary for a month, and crashed for weeks after that. I would have thought that would have been long enough. You said 70F, does that mean I should pull the keg our of the kegerator and let it age for a while at a higher temp?

The new issue of eZymurgy has an article that says Acetaldehyde could be related to yeast issues as well. I'm sooo confused

RDWHAHB.....