Help Me Fix My Apricot-Ale Gone Wrong...

[moconno1]

Brew-Miesters,

I recently brewed an Apricot Ale that was a variation of a Charlie Papizan recipe that included Lager Malt, Wheat, Honey, Halleuter and Simcoe Hops, 1 oz. Apricot Flavoring, 3 Lbs. Apricot Puree (in Secondary), and American Ale Yeast. Because I wanted a nice hop to Apricot balance, I decided it would be OK to reuse the hop-infused American Ale yeast from the IPA I just made. After one week of fermentation, I racked the beer to a secondary and added the 3 lbs. of Apricot Puree.

After tasting the wort, I think re-using the IPA yeast might have been a mistake... the IPA (which turned out GREAT) was hopped and dry-hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Simcoe, and Glacier whole hops, which gave it a VERY EARTHY flavor. The wort from the Apricot Ale had an even more earthy flavor, which, when combined with the Apricot, gave a harsh earthy taste with a tangy after-taste (THINK of TANG with a bit of dirt... OK, perhaps this is a bit dramatic, but you get the idea).

Further complicating matters are the suddenly increased temperatures in my apartment (up to 80 degrees), and the slight fluctuations that are beyond my control (temperatures range from 64 - 80 within my apartment since fermentation began).

To try to remedy my beer, I decided to dry-hop my 5 Gallon batch with 1/2 oz Cascade and 1 oz. more of Apricot Flavoring (which is a bit sweeter smelling/tasting than actual apricot). Both seem to have had positive effects on the wort's aromatics and flavor. I was thinking of adding another .5 oz of Cascade and 2 more oz. of Apricot Flavoring, but wanted to see if anyone here had any other suggestions. Would you recommend dry hopping with any other hops or using different amounts? Any other recommendations? I'm all ears...

 

[gregger]

Let it sit without any added "stuff" at this point. Taste after 14-20 days. When something like this happens to me where I've convinced myself that my beer doesn't taste right, I start adding MORE stuff to it in hopes of improving it. After awhile it kind of turns into "desperately seeing what works" or a "magic potion experiment" of some kind.

Several occasions I've added things to my fermenters to try improve it, and other times I've decided to let it sit. I do have to tell you the times where I just "let it sit" was the best thing I did, and I regret not doing it every time.

Not sure if it's your best solution, but you should give it a try first.

 

[moconno1]

Good advice. After a few more days of sitting, the beer seems to settling into itself a lot better, and the flavor has improved significantly (in fact, it's got almost too much of the Apricot flavoring... I'm glad I didn't double it). I think the small additions I made helped curb the off flavors, but I'm glad I didn't add anything more yet...