My beer smells like apricots

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jlmcgrath

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Need Help.
Brewed a rogue dead guy ale kit using a Wyeast Irish Ale Yeast that was recommended to me for this beer. I slapped the pack about 4 hours before we started brewing. We brewed the beer according to the directions and added the yeast at 76F.
It Sat for a few days before it started to bubble at all. let it sit for 14days in the primary and then transfered to a secondary 1 week ago. question now is why does it taste like apricots? It is sweet, cloudy with sediment.
What did we do wrong?
Thanks in advance
 
You pitched at 76F. At what temp did you ferment the beer? High pitching temperature (above 70) and warm fermentation will cause fruity esters, including, but not limited to apricot.

It also seems you are rushing the beer. Let it sit in the secondary for another 3ish weeks. That will give it time to clear more, and hopefully age out some of the esters.
 
You pitched at 76F. At what temp did you ferment the beer? High pitching temperature (above 70) and warm fermentation will cause fruity esters, including, but not limited to apricot.

It also seems you are rushing the beer. Let it sit in the secondary for another 3ish weeks. That will give it time to clear more, and hopefully age out some of the esters.

I would agree, and add that if you didn't do a starter, you also grossly underpitched the beer. (Any beer over about 1.040 can benefit from a starter, but one over 1.060 needs one). Underpitching can definitely cause some esters (fruity flavors).

Also, that is a very strange yeast for a "clean" beer. Irish ale yeast is noted to be a particularly fruity yeast, especially above 65 degrees.
From Wyeast's website:
This yeast ferments well in dark roast worts. Beers fermented in the lower temperature range produce dry and crisp beers to fruity beers with nice complexity in the upper range. Ester production is enhanced with fermentation temperatures above 64 degrees F (18 C). Flocculation is low to moderate with filtration typically required.

Origin:
Flocculation: Medium
Attenuation: 71-75%
Temperature Range: 62-72F, 16-22C
Alcohol Tolerance: 10% ABV


Styles:
American Barleywine
Baltic Porter
Dry Stout
Foreign Extra Stout
Imperial IPA
Irish Red Ale
Oatmeal Stout
Other Smoked Beer
Robust Porter
Scottish Export 80/-
Scottish Heavy 70/-
Scottish Light 60/-
Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
Strong Scotch Ale
Sweet Stout
Wood-Aged Beer



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Dead Guy is a very "clean" beer, with no fruitiness or esters at all. I'm surprised anybody would recommend that yeast for that beer. A much better choice would have been a clean well attenuating American ale yeast, like Wyeast 1056.

Since it's a low flocculating yeast, I'd expect it to be cloudy without filtering.
 
so at what temperature should i be fermenting at? It was in my basement and I thought it might be to cold.
 
We fermented the beer at 60 F and it has been in the secondary for 3 weeks and now tastes worse than before. Still smells and tastes like apricot, is cloudy and slightly sour. My guess is an infection. Is there anything i can do?
 
Kind of sounds like lacto. If you can spare the fermenter and space, stash it away and forget about it for a year. Its not going to be Dead Guy, but it might turn out to be an interesting sour.
 
Each yeast has its own recommended temperature for fermentation, but usually they go 64 - 70° or so.
 
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