Muntons bitter apple taste?

[meni0n]

Good day,

I brewed up a Muntons premium bitter kit with 500g amber dme, 500g dextrose and 250g maltodextrine. I also used Nottingham yeast instead of the kit yeast. It's been in the primary for about two weeks, I just took a gravity reading and it's at around 1.018. I also tasted it and it has a slight apple taste to it and I also do not detect any bitterness at all. Might this be due to the Nottingham yeast?

 

[RM-MN]

The apple taste is from acetaldehyde, one of the intermediate products of fermentation and it simple means that the yeast aren't done yet. Give the beer a bit more time and that flavor should go away. You might not notice bitterness until your beer is carbonated. Adding CO2 changes the flavor a great deal.

Oh, this is an English bitter? They really aren't bitter unless you compare then against an English mild.

 

[unionrdr]

Acetaldahyde is a natural by product of fermentation. A less than healthy yeast pitch can be to blame. I think combining that with high initial ferment (pitch) temps can aid this process. But extra time in primary after FG is reached can start turning them into alcohol,say 3-7 days on average. bottle time,I've noticed,can also help clean up & settle out these things.

 

[meni0n]

I looked up my calendar and I made the mistake thinking it's been two weeks. It's been in the primary for only a week which might explain why the fermentation is not done yet. I'm leaving it there for another two weeks before bottling so here's hoping it turns out good.

 

[RM-MN]

Make sure to use your hydrometer to verify that the ferment is really over. The batch I bottled today had reached its projected FG at two weeks so since I had the lid open I put the dry hops in thinking I would bottle in about 5 days. That kicked off another round of fermentation that lasted another 2 weeks and took my beer from 1.016 to 1.002. Wow was it good tasting and the aroma of the dry hops filled the whole house and didn't dissipate for a couple hours after I had cleaned up everything.

 

[meni0n]

So it's been almost two weeks and I think I made quiet a mistake. My SG was at 1.040 but I didn't take into account that the maltodextrine will add to the gravity. I took a reading yesterday and it was at 1.018 which would yield me a 3% beer. I am theorizing that it's due to the maltodextrine. I fermented at 66-68 and right now it's sitting at 68. I am now thinking of putting maybe another 500g of dextrose to add another 1% to final ABV. Is this feasible at two weeks?

 

[unionrdr]

It might not be done yet. Give it a few more days & check it to see if it's going down anymore. The Maltodextrine wouldn't leave an Fg that high unless you added a lot of it.