Another case of apple taste

[beer_30]

There are quite a few threads on the subject, most just say let it condition longer. Couldn't find any real solid "this is why"

I did 3 weeks in fermentation and 3 conditioning..

Wondering if it's my temperatures? Maybe I fermented at little too cold?

It's just a light beer and I'm using the Mr. Beer kit. Might be conditioning a little too cool also.

Fermentation ambient temps was average of about 65, conditioning ambient temps average about 68ish..


I'm going to let it keep conditioning for some time more, just wondering how this can be avoided in the future.

Thanks

 

[Pie_Man]

The apple taste in beer is called acetaldehyde. The causes of acetaldehyde are prematurely removing the beer from the yeast, or premature yeast flocculation. Basically, the yeast produce the apple flavor during fermenation and typically clean up the flavor towards the end of fermenation. If the beer is racked from the primary too early, or the yeast flocculate (settle at the bottom and go dormant) too early, there may not be enough viable yeast to clean up all the apple flavors. Additional causes include not aerating well enough (which can cause premature flocculation), bacterial contamination, or oxidation.

I hope this helps. Many find that aging/conditioning the beer longer will clear up this flavor.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Here is the bit on Acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde
A flavor of green apples or freshly cut pumpkin; it is an intermediate compound in the formation of alcohol. Some yeast strains produce more than others, but generally it's presence indicates that the beer is too young and needs more time to condition.

 

[BadBeagleBrew]

Had this happen to a couple brews, I used yeast that was sitting out of the fridge for prob a month, beer fermented fine. On bottling day I brewed another beer and threw in some yeast from the first brew, before I knew that the first one tasted like green apple crap. Ended up with 2 batches of Green apple beer that I ended up dumping after a few months. Sometimes time just can't fix unhealthy yeast.

 

[CadillacAndy]

I've had good luck fixing both acetaldehyde and diacetyl by pitching a starter of actively fermenting yeast back in to the beer at slightly warmer than normal fermentation temperatures. I usually try to use the same strain I used for the primary ferment. I get a 1L starter going on my stir plate and once I see some activity, I pitch the full starter in to the keg or carboy and keep it in the upper 60's for a couple of days.

The idea with this process is that you're adding some active, healthy yeast cells, along with some additional unfermented sugar and the yeast will clean up what wasn't cleaned up in primary.

Acetaldehyde can also be caused by oxidation of alcohol. I usually describe this flavor as more of a fake green apple aroma with a slight rich, caramel-like aroma. Imagine if there was such a thing as caramel apple jelly beans. Something along those lines. I've never had much luck cleaning up this type of acetaldehyde and, to be honest, I'm not sure if they're totally the same compounds or not. If it doesn't smell or taste like green apple when you keg or bottle, but it shows up after some time, it's most likely oxidation. Please correct me if I'm wrong with any of this...

I have a more detailed write up about the process over on my blog if anyone is interested - http://onlinebeerscores.com/blog/how-to-fix-diacetyl/

 

[macbeer43]

You can let it ride in the lbk for a month or so if your not sure...hydrometer can tell if it's done fermenting. That and mb light beer kit on the thin side..but it's beer.

 

[jethro55]

I had the same problem in my first several batches. The recommendations seemed to point to the yeast - not enough or it was too old.

But I was also not being careful about wort temperature when pitching yeast. I

I started pitching at 68 deg F and using fresh yeast packs (double the amount of kit recipe) - the apple flavors are long gone. I did a number of yeast starters also to eliminate that double cost for yeast - that works very well also.

 

[barnaclebob]

i just had a beer from a local brewery that had a distinct but not overpowering apple taste. I really liked it actually.