apricot heff extract gone bad

[Christafer11]

I just put 5gal of heff in keg and added apricot extract. I sampled the heff before I added seemed to be what I expected good flavor a little fruity. After I added the apricot extract and added the co2 line and waited about 3 hours I poured a sample ....HORRIBLE.....has anyone added apricot extract or know if the taste will get better with some time my plan was for Dec 18 Xmas party.

 

[XxonValdez]

Horrible how? Tasted like a dump truck of apricots landed in your mouth or did it have an off flavor? Also how much extract did you add and where/how was the extract obtained (home made with vodka or store bought...etc)?

 

[Christafer11]

Hahaha didn't quit taste like a dump truck but close. Like I said heff seemed to be normal after adding tasted bad almost like really green beer not apricot flavored really at all. Extract was purchased from on line store and liquid form I think was 5oz it did say for a 5gal batch. I added the extract then started filling the keg once full I hooked up to co2 shook the keg a little bled off and let it sit a few hours then poured it.

 

[Christafer11]

Over one month and BLAAAAHAHAA still taste like crap. So here goes my first dump At the end I have learned don't use extracts for flavor as I know this is what gave the beer a retchid taste. (It was apricot extract from midwest) not that it was their fault the service was great and that's what I purchased. Just letting people know not to use that exact extract. It taste of medicine not apricot's.

 

[chasper]

I actually bottled an apricot wheat using the same extract in my secondary. Will check out the taste of it this weekend and let you know how my turned out.

 

[Christafer11]

Good luck I hope yours turns out good.Mine has been in keg over a month and still as bad as the day I kegged it. I know it was the extract due to the fact that I sampled some straight from the racking tube and was good and resampled after I added the extract and carbed for a few hours and just rottin. The one thing that we did different is you put in secondary I put in keg.

 

[anchorage42]

I thought 2 ounces for a 5 gallon batch was the standard recommendation. That's nuts. I'm sorry your beer is ruined

 

[Christafer11]

It's not the amount it was the flavor tastes nothing like apricot. Smells like medicine and taste like it too. I would be ok with an overly apricot but this has NO apricot flavor at all just taste like crap.

 

[Christafer11]

Chasper don't forget about the taste test and up date please.

 

[Christafer11]

Did you try any of that heff chasper?

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

i just tried apricot extract for the first time with a honey hef. I used about 2.5 oz in a 5 gallon batch and you're dead on- the stuff is terrible and mediciney. maybe it evens itself out over time?

 

[Utmustang]

I brewed the Apricot Wheat extract kit from AHS. It ended up with a very strong medicinal taste like cough syrup. It was only my second batch, so I thought that I had messed it up.

 

[Seven]

I've heard the extracts can have hit or miss results like this.

I'm planning to make my hefe using apricot puree instead of extract.

 

[mikelikesit2000]

Glad I ran across this thread. I am a week away from adding apricot extract to a hef for Superbowl. Don't think I will now. Is there another way to get that fruit flavor?

 

[Seven]

Glad I ran across this thread. I am a week away from adding apricot extract to a hef for Superbowl. Don't think I will now. Is there another way to get that fruit flavor?

Yes.

For a 5-gal batch: Brew your hefe like you normally would, do a primary fermentation, then just when primary fermentation begins to slow down, rack it to a secondary fermentor that contains about 3-pounds of pure apricot puree. Use a blowoff tube because fermentation will start again once the yeast start to consume the sugars in the apricot puree. Leave the beer in the secondary for a week or two.

I got this idea from the book Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.

 

[Christafer11]

From all the reading I have done after my beer went bad says to use real fruit/puree. Most extracts don't taste good from what I have read. I have brewed 10 gal of heff and split after boil 5&5 primary is done and I racked to secondary on monday 1/24. I put 5gal on a bed of black berry and 5 on a bed of peaches. I have read that it's best to freeze the fruit before use also to help break down cell wall's. Now it's the waiting game to see how it turns out.

 

[mikelikesit2000]

Yes.

For a 5-gal batch: Brew your hefe like you normally would, do a primary fermentation, then just when primary fermentation begins to slow down, rack it to a secondary fermentor that contains about 3-pounds of pure apricot puree. Use a blowoff tube because fermentation will start again once the yeast start to consume the sugars in the apricot puree. Leave the beer in the secondary for a week or two.

I got this idea from the book Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.

That is what I will do then. Thx

 

[smf]

I made an IPA...added approx. 3 oz of apricot extract to the keg and transferred on top of it. Force carbed it and a few days later, tasted pretty good, but still "green". A month later, bottled a few and took over to my LHBS, got a couple of compliments on it...one even said it seemed very close to Magic Hat #9 (which was my goal). If I do it again, I'll scale back to 2 oz, it is a little stronger than I wanted.

I tasted the extract straight from the container and it is so concentrated that I would definitely categorize it as medicinal. I could easily see that too much could cause an off/unexpected taste. For what it's worth, my extract was produced by LD Carlson..no idea that makes a difference. My first experience with a fruit extract, it wasn't a bad one, but now I'm a little hesitant to try another. I'd like to try a fruit/wheat for the summer, maybe I'll try actual fruit or puree as described above....doing it this way would make it more "my beer" rather than a flavor created in a lab.

As with any batch gone bad...please accept my condolences.

 

[Seven]

Here's more information I found today on brewing with fruit:

Brewing Fruit Beers at Home Part 1
Brewing Fruit Beers at Home Part 2

 

[tippetsnapper]

+1 for using the puree in the secondary. I did a half ESB, half peach cider brew on top of peach puree that turned out great. Having said that, I also brewed a saison with 2-3 oz of black currant extract. The currant flavor ended up overpowering, but after 6 months it was perfect. You may want to just let your beer sit awhile.

 

[Christafer11]

The black berry turned Out GREAT!!!! Peach good/ok. Here is a pic of the black berry great color and taste.

 

[Christafer11]

Another of the black berry

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Well my apricot hef has been in the bottle for a couple months now...the mediciney aroma/flavor has evened out somewhat, but it is definitely still there and unpleasant. Au naturale from now on, for me.

 

[Christafer11]

I dumped the extract a while ago to put some beer in the keg.

 

[Rivenin]

i've used apricot extract with great success. Not sure why that had happened

 

[jfrog]

I used some Apricot Extract on an American Wheat that I've brewed many times with success. The bottle called for 4-7 oz per 5gal batch so I used 4oz at secondary. I kegged it and let it sit for 2 months. I just tried it after I noticed this thread....with trepidation. And it tastes like apricot cough syrup. Does anyone know if this will mellow? I seriously doubt it, but hold out hope. Maybe some girls will like it.......