Acetone Flavor

[McKBrew]

Just made my third batch of homebrew. Currently in the bottle about a week and a half into conditioning. I sampled early and noted a light acetone aftertaste. I am thinking it could be the a high temperature/constant temperature problem as I am using a MR. Beer keg as my fermenter, sitting in my kitchen.

I live in Hawaii, and even with central air, the temperature changes alot in the house due to the door being open, etc... Another cause I have heard is if corn is used in the process, and this recipe did call for some of that.

I guess my big question is whether or not others have had this problem and if it is possible that this flavor will go away the longer the bottles condition. I am not going to cry much if I have to pour this batch out, since I am moving up to a five gallon system soon, but I'd hate to waste the beer.

Thanks for you help.

 

[Schlenkerla]

McKBrew,

I made a rauchbier that was very strong in liquid smoke. It has since then disipated to a very subtle aroma. Most of my house guests don't notice it unless I tell them.

Don't pitch it, you need to wait at least 2 weeks just for carbonation even though MRB says 7 days. I condition 2-3 months!!! There is a mighty big difference 1.5 weeks to 4 and even better after 2 months. Be patient and wait it out you will be surprised on how much better it gets with waiting.

If I were you I would use a cooler. Put the Mr Beer Keg in the cooler. You can add frozen water bottles to it every so often. I've used 4 qrt sized bottles, cycling them in and out of the cooler & freezer. Try to keep the cooler closed as much as possible.

I would buy a battery operated wal-mart thermometer that has the min/max feature. My local wal-mart has them with fridge thermometers. You don't want see it anything over 76'F. In fact you want to have the least amount of fluctuation.

I still do both, MRB & 5 gallon. I use the mini-keg for seasonal specials or anything where I don't want 2+ cases of beer. I don't drink alot and value having a variety in my basement fridge.

 

[david_42]

Acetone flavor & high fermentation temps, sounds like fusal alcohols. There isn't any way to get rid of them, but wait another month, just in case it was something else.

 

[McKBrew]

Let them set for awhile longer. Almost two weeks with no change in flavor. Also the bottles gushed like crazy from the bottom up (warm and cold both). I also had a decent layer of yeast at the bottom of some bottles.

My thought is maybe the batch wasn't done fermenting. I didn't do hydrometer measurements before bottling, because I used the small Mr. Beer as the fermenter and didn't want to waste it all for sampling.

Hopefully I won't have this problem again. I have just ordered my five-gallon kit from Northern Brewer and will be doing primary and secondary fermentation as well as hydrometer readings. Will also be brewing in a more stable temperature spot next time as well.

Just thought I'd see what you all thought I may have done wrong, as I really don't want to pour out another case for the same exact reason.

 

[Beer Weevel]

What does acetone taste like? Has anyone ever tasted it?confused:

 

[Bobby_M]

I think when we tried to make analogies to things no one would dare sample taste, we're really relating it to the aroma. I think the pickled ginger you get at a sushi bar tastes like lemon scented Pledge, but no, I haven't tasted it. It's just what I would imagine it would taste like.

 

[McKBrew]

I can't really say what acetone tastes like either, but like Bobby M taste seems to correlate to smell.

The only positive thing I can say about the whole thing was that my dishwasher drain line which feeds into my sink was clogged and after pouring about 12 bottles of nasty, foaming homebrew down the garbage disposal my diswasher drains the right way now. Don't know if that's what fixed it or not, but I'd like to believe my Cream Ale did serve a righteous purpose in the end.