Sour taste in my peach wheat

[thepicklebrewer]

I have read through many posts and am still not satisfied with an answer to this question. I recently brewed a peach wheat beer and the first bottle I had of it tasted fine. Not great, but like a basic wheat beer. You really couldn't taste any peach till the beer warmed up a bit, but once it did it came through quite a bit. The second bottle I had was a flip top style and was very very cold. When I opened it there was a very small pop and I immediately thought "oh no it didn't carb" however when I poured it despite being no head it had lots of bubbles. When I tasted it I was not disgusted but not pleased. There was a very distinct sour taste to the beer. I wouldn't put any other description on it other than sour. It was gross, but as the beer warmed the flavor faded. Was this carbonic acid? The beer was very very cold which could help explain why it had no head and had no pop bc most of the carbonation was dissolved in the liquid. When the beer warmed up I poured more and got a head and a less sour flavor. It was still there but just barely.

I was also thinking the flavor could be from over sparging. I tend to worlof or whatever it is called a little more than I should. Or a sour taste from the peaches themselves that will fade with time. The beer also might need some more time to really meld together. The fermentation may have also ran warm around 72 degrees with SO-5 which could also contribute. I kept it in a primary for 2 weeks and then added the peaches directly to the primary for another 2 weeks then bottled and waited 2 weeks to carb. Either way I'm going to wait and see how it turns out over the next month or so, but am trying to identify what that really sour flavor may have been.

 

[RPh_Guy]

There is definitely some acid from the peaches.

Might be acid/off-flavor from the yeast. US-05 works best around 65°F (beer temperature, not ambient) in my experience. It definitely tastes off to my palate fermented higher.

Might be acid from a bacterial or yeast contamination. Did you sanitize the peaches (sulfite/heat) or use a pasteurized product?

This is all grain? Did you add acid to it?

Unmalted wheat I think can add a touch of tartness.

I don't think of carbonation as adding an acidic taste, so I doubt it's that.
Over-sparging shouldn't make it sour. It does make it harsh and astringent.

As a new brewer, making complex beers makes it difficult to identify off-flavors.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

Ye

I did do all grain and no acid was added. I also have to consider that I haven't tested my water, but know it is very hard which has an effect of pH

 

[Dland]

My sad experience is that when a decent tasting beer starts to go sour over a short time, it has been infected with something. I'd check it out next week to see if it gets worse. If not, your probably OK and sourness is something else.

If infection comes from bottle, so maybe its not all bad. If infected, watch out for bottle bombs.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

My sad experience is that when a decent tasting beer starts to go sour over a short time, it has been infected with something. I'd check it out next week to see if it gets worse. If not, your probably OK and sourness is something else.

If infection comes from bottle, so maybe its not all bad. If infected, watch out for bottle bombs.

God I hope not. I was super anal about my sterilization. I should also mention that it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get my temps down to pitch and I did pitch a little warm about 80 degrees. infection is possible or maybe even something wild got into it while I was cooling.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

Update. I just opened another bottle and the taste isn't as sour as it was. It was more tangy. It also has a almost fresh taste to it. Almost like water with too much lemon and some kind of fresh fruit. Even with the sourness it isn't bad to drink now. Just not the best. Thanks for everyone's responses. I. Going to wait to drink most of it for another 2 or 3 weeks and I'll update then

 

[Dland]

I'd crash it and leave it at 33-34F for a few weeks, glad you may have not had a bad batch.

 

[RM-MN]

Acetaldehyde, an intermediate product of fermentation, will give beer a slight sour taste, often described as "green apple" but your taste senses might not describe it as such. It will be sour immediately but usually decrease with time. Leave the bottles warm for a few more days as that will allow the yeast to clean it up. If the sourness gets worse with time it could be an acetobacter infection but those usually take more time to develop.

 

[S-Met]

Or it could be the peaches. Is it anything like an under-ripe fruit taste? Once you ferment the fructose, the remainder of peach may be tart.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

Or it could be the peaches. Is it anything like an under-ripe fruit taste? Once you ferment the fructose, the remainder of peach may be tart.

It very well could be. The tartness should mellow with age though right?

 

[S-Met]

It very well could be. The tartness should mellow with age though right?

I defer to someone with more experience. I'm not sure what acids are present in peaches to make them tart and how it changes over time.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Did you pasteurize your peaches before adding them to the secondary?

 

[thepicklebrewer]

Did you pasteurize your peaches before adding them to the secondary?

I did. I froze them for 3 days. Thawed them and then did a water bath till they hit pasturization temp and then held it there.

 

[thehaze]

Fruit will drop the pH of the beer, making for a more tart/sour beer than you would expect, which is why fruit beers are tart/very tart. Next time you can try adding some lactose to counteract the added sourness of the fruit.

But I am also curious how is your beer a wheat, when you have used US-05, which is a very clean american ale yeast?

 

[chickypad]

It's an American wheat, a common choice for fruiting as the yeast doesn't interfere with the flavors of the fruit. OP IME if the tartness is the fruit and not an infection it does mellow. I've got a passionfruit wheat in the keg that was pretty mouth puckering on initial tap, it's easier drinking now after another week.

1D. American Wheat Beer
Characteristic Ingredients: Clean American ale or lager yeast (German weissbier yeast is inappropriate). Large proportion of wheat malt (often 30–50%, which is lower than is typical in German weissbiers). American, German, or New World hops are typical.

 

[Lefou]

Acetaldehyde, an intermediate product of fermentation, will give beer a slight sour taste, often described as "green apple" but your taste senses might not describe it as such. It will be sour immediately but usually decrease with time. Leave the bottles warm for a few more days as that will allow the yeast to clean it up. If the sourness gets worse with time it could be an acetobacter infection but those usually take more time to develop.

An acetobacter infection will eventually turn your soured beer into a thin malt vinegar that isn't worth drinking. At least one of my batches turned out this way and it all got dumped.

 

[Dland]

Acetaldehyde, an intermediate product of fermentation, will give beer a slight sour taste, often described as "green apple" but your taste senses might not describe it as such. It will be sour immediately but usually decrease with time. Leave the bottles warm for a few more days as that will allow the yeast to clean it up. If the sourness gets worse with time it could be an acetobacter infection but those usually take more time to develop.

I forgot about the "sour apple effect" I just had a batch with some of that. Usually I can ferment at cooler temps, mostly brew in winter, never happens them.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

So just an update. With age the sourness has really mellowed out. It still has a little punch to it, but it tastes really good now. There is a weird flavor to it still, but it honestly might be the peach bc it kind of tastes like a bruised peach. Gonna give it more time and see what happens, but I have received some pretty good reviews on the few people I have let try it. Sometimes you really are your own worst critic. Thanks for the advice and knowledge.