drinking infected beer

[surf21]

i made some home brew 2 weeks ago and when i tasted it, it tasted like apples. I understand why it does cause i believe i brewed it at too high a temperature.My questions are; is it ok to drink and if it is ok to drink, does it contain alcohol content which in turn does it make it worth drinking???

 

[Rev2010]

Sounds like it's still just too young. Give it more time. I'm not sure why you titled the thread "infected beer" as nothing you said indicates infection. My young beer I brewed three weeks ago still has an apple kinda taste going on but it's getting less and less as time goes on. I tasted it one week ago and again today, and today it's tasting much closer to regular beer but still has a bit to go time wise.


Rev.

 

[snowveil]

if it's only 2 weeks old it is GOING to taste like apples (due to Acetaldehyde). This is known as beer being "green" (or young) and will clear up. It is simply a byproduct of fermentation that the yeast will naturally take care of.

This doesn't mean your beer is infected! 2 weeks is a very short amount of time to wait until a beer is ready to drink, so give it some time.

 

[Revvy]

More than likel6y if it tastes like apples AND it'[s only 2 weeks it ain't infected, it's just waaaay green. Put it aside for a few more weeks, and then you are going to feel like a total idiot and come back and post about how great the beer tastes now.

 

[jonmohno]

Im not shure about the green thing it could be. But I pitched my first two brews one at 80 and the other like 75. Using safale 04 for one and a whitbread for my wheat. Its been over 2 months and Ive actually saved a few from my one gallon batch then moved up to 2 gallons. The apple is still there but way less than after the 3 week mark.
I made a pumkin and i made a consience effort to pitch at below 70. But my thermometer was all over the place and i think i did that one at 75 after stirring with the thermometer. I noticed that the yeast started immediatly and seen stuff falling down from the top at light speed. Fast fermentation and the jar was pretty warm. I tested this one after 2 weeks and that apple taste is there just like the other two.
At that point i was determined to get rid of this taste and shure enough i pitched a maple vanilla brown @65 and since then i pulled a bottle after a 1 1/2 weeks and there is no apple taste. So check your pitching temps too and fermenting temps.
The tast will mellow but it may not go away also.Maybe after 4+ months it may go away but i only made a one gallon and the beers may not last that long for you to wait. I have two left of my first batch and have to give my dad a sampler of each and im deciding how long i want that one left to hang on too, ha. But it will get better after a few months. If you dont like it just check 1 a week until you want to drink them in the mean time brew some more so you dont have to think about them.
Just dont pitch yeast too high. I made a honey biscuit ale and before botteling my girlfriend wanted to drink the whole sample but i needed it to check the final gravity because i broke a hydrometer, it was that good- no apple taste and i pitched the yeast at 64

 

[surf21]

Thanks Jonmohno,
I appriciate the info, because this is my first batch made with"MR BEER" it gave no indication about Pitching Temps ( im not surprised) so im going to go get a thermometer and try to make the next batch a little better.
Thanks again =)

 

[jonmohno]

Thanks Jonmohno,
I appriciate the info, because this is my first batch made with"MR BEER" it gave no indication about Pitching Temps ( im not surprised) so im going to go get a thermometer and try to make the next batch a little better.
Thanks again =)

No problem i was deeply annoyed by the wine-like taste. I thought of everything old hops?,old dme? water, i was about to think homebrew sucks with extract or something. Although i started out experimenting instead of kits, learn the hard way sometimes .
I think its confusing with the apple taste . I think some think the green is green apples. Mine wasnt it was a sweet fruity apple/smell/taste. Im not shure if they are referring to a sour apple taste.Like a granny smith.
Im not shure if the green is just a "young/immature" taste or referred also with green apples

 

[likwidbliss]

Green meaning not ripe, referring to immature beer that hasn't aged long enough. I associate a green (not ripe) beer with an apple taste. I have had the green taste because I was impatient. I still open a bottle at 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks to get get the feel for the aging process.

Give your beer some time and it will surely taste better. You can be sure about that.

 

[davesrose]

Infected beer is pretty easy to diagnose: it's basically beer that is not drinkable at all. I've had two batches in my whole brewing experience that have been infected. Off flavors are a common occurance if you don't ferment at optimal temperatures. For off flavors, most will mellow out with age.

 

[Mustangj]

What's your FG?

 

[jonmohno]

Infected beer is pretty easy to diagnose: it's basically beer that is not drinkable at all. I've had two batches in my whole brewing experience that have been infected. Off flavors are a common occurance if you don't ferment at optimal temperatures. For off flavors, most will mellow out with age.

Im growing to not like the term "infected" are not belgian beers and lambics openely infected beers? Some belgian and trappist beers are what turned me on to where i am today. I understand they may be unitentinal in a regular ale- but undrinkable? I would say overlycharacterized maybe before undrinkable, am i missing something here?

 

[stevedasleeve]

Sounds like it's still just too young. Give it more time.

Sounds like YOU are too young! Give yourself more time and you will eventually realize that even sh!te beer is...



beer


...!

Sds

 

[jonmohno]

Unless the beer has a red wound with pus coming out of it and herpes or hepatitus ill keep drinking some Belgians.

 

[davesrose]

Im growing to not like the term "infected" are not belgian beers and lambics openely infected beers?

No, because they're drinkable I am not a huge Belgian drinker, but I like me some extra foriegn stout. I like souring a small unformented batch, which seems to grow with lactobacillus. I then boil that to kill whatever bacteria is left, and then put that in my fermented beer. It's a "controlled" infection...and oh, so good! :rockin:

 

[surf21]

im 29 years old dude! im just new to the process.....................

 

[surf21]

I just want to thank the people that actually posted some helpful info and for the rest of you, go drink some brew and post amongst yourselves.

 

[Rev2010]

Sounds like YOU are too young! Give yourself more time and you will eventually realize that even sh!te beer is...

What?? Please tell me this is a joke because it comes across as an insult but I don't know why you'd insult me as I didn't say anything stupid. And by the way, I'm 37 and while I'm new to homebrewing I've been beer connoisseuring for over 12 years.


Rev.

 

[Horseshoot]

I think it was a joke guys. Let's all drink one, and be friends!

 

[surf21]

Sounds like it's still just too young. Give it more time. I'm not sure why you titled the thread "infected beer" as nothing you said indicates infection. My young beer I brewed three weeks ago still has an apple kinda taste going on but it's getting less and less as time goes on. I tasted it one week ago and again today, and today it's tasting much closer to regular beer but still has a bit to go time wise.


Rev.

i didnt mean you dude

 

[Rev2010]

i didnt mean you dude

Nah I know, I was responding to Steve's post which I thought was directed at me since he quoted me. Then I figured he probably was replying to you. Either way, doesn't matter, I was just a bit taken aback by his post and wasn't sure what to make of it.


Rev.

 

[Wyrmwood]

if it's only 2 weeks old it is GOING to taste like apples (due to Acetaldehyde). This is known as beer being "green" (or young) and will clear up. It is simply a byproduct of fermentation that the yeast will naturally take care of.

Really? I'm pretty green myself - I've only brewed three batches, but after I test the gravity, I drink the sample (rather than return it - more convenience that anything since I sample through a spigot). It is normally flat, but otherwise tastes exactly like the finished product. Why is that?

 

[Rev2010]

It is normally flat, but otherwise tastes exactly like the finished product. Why is that?

I'm not the guy you're replying to but I can't see how it can taste "exactly like the finished product". That's impossible since after fermentation there's been much change. Sure it may taste somewhat similar, but it's not just the same beer flat.


Rev.

 

[Wyrmwood]

I'm not the guy you're replying to but I can't see how it can taste "exactly like the finished product". That's impossible since after fermentation there's been much change. Sure it may taste somewhat similar, but it's not just the same beer flat.


Rev.

I'm not sure I follow your answer, but yes, the sample I test on day 1 is a bit different - sweet, not alcoholic - but the sample I take on days 5, 6 and 7 taste no different to me than the sample on day 14-17 prior to bottling. 2 weeks later, again it tastes the same, only fizzy Perhaps my taste buds are not refined enough to tell the difference?

 

[stevedasleeve]

Hey you all take this sh!te too seriously - lighten up & have a beer mon. The process, if you really want to paraphrase it, is simple:

brew-make mistakes-worry-brew again-make less mistakes-worry less-brew...

But IMHO the most important thing is to make sure you have a sense of humor or else you may as well be at work. Know what I mean?!

Cheers!

Steve da sleeve

 

[Mustangj]

But IMHO the most important thing is to make sure you have a sense of humor or else you may as well be at work. Know what I mean?!

Cheers!

Steve da sleeve

Exactly!!

What was the FG?