Is my cream ale suppose to taste citrus-y?

Hello all,

This weekend I finally tried my 3rd brew which was a Cream Ale (ingredients below). My question is, given the ingredients used is it suppose to taste citrusy/lemony? I'm not sure if this is the style/ingredients or if I've made an error when I pitched the yeast? I rehydrated my yeast before pitching and left it in the primary fermentor for about 10 days. While in primary the fermentation was so vigorous I had to put a blow off tube in. It was also still "bubbling" for over a week. I did transfer to a seconday carboy mostly because I wanted to start a second batch of beer and because I didn't have a whirlfloc tablet or irish moss and wanted it to be clearer (hoped this would help). It was in the secondary for about 10 days before bottling, I let it condition in the bottles for 2 weeks. The carbonation was good, though head retention was not that great.

Cream Ale Kit:

3lbs Gold LME
3lbs Pilsen LME
1lbs Corn Sugar
1oz Saaz
1pkg Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast

Any tips/advice would be much appreciated as I really would like to continue brewing and improve.

Thanks!!!

 

What temperature did you pitch at?

 

None of those ingredients are inherently citrusy.

My guess would be you fermented too warm (that would explain the vigorous fermentation), or you were given the wrong hops.

 

If I remember correctly, I think I pitched at about 75 degrees, was this too warm? Also I live in a condo, my place is fairly cool and I generally cover my primary with a towel/hoodie, it is hard for me to completely control the temperature as I use my study to ferment in. No direct light hits the beer but there is a window in the room. Any suggestions on how to keep the temperature constant/lower? I was thinking of using damp towels changed twice a day for the first 5 days in the primary.

Thoughts?

 

newbie here myself, but my first impression, as with the other guys, was too warm of fermentation. this can cause off flavors, typically described as fruity. haven't heard of citrus flavors coming from it, but I suppose it's not too much of a stretch.

easiest thing is to simply build a fermentation chamber, but it does cost some money. there are ready to go, plug and play temperature controllers for around $50 that you just plug a fridge into and let it go. if you are a bit more handy, you can pick up an STC-1000 from eBay for like $15 and wire it up yourself.

there are other ways, involving towels and cool water... I've seen people use Styrofoam coolers with dry ice... lots of options. these are the cheaper but not so easy methods.

edit:
and yes, i would say pitching at 75 is too warm, especially with no real temperature control. recommended fermentation temps is upper 60's to lower 70's. for a cream ale, you're going to want to be at the lower part of that range. keep in mind fermentation creates heat which has to be constantly removed to keep it at a good temp. so I'm guessing if you pitched at 75, you might have ended up fermenting in the upper 70's

 

too warm is my vote.