Wrong Taste

[Brendandrage]

Hi all,I just kegged my 3rd brew on sunday and gave it the test run tonight, i am happy to say it is carbinated well, smells great looks great tastes weird kinda lemony or citrusy im not sure.
Anyway the kit was a morgans amber ale with dark malt from my LHBS, i asked for a darker brew!
Any ideas on what i idid wrong or how i might fix it?

 

[loikar]

More info please.

All we have is:

You Keg
Tastes lemony or citrusy
morgans amber ale with dark malt

What did you clean your kegs\fermenter\equipment with?
what was your process?
what yeast?
what temp?
how long?

Citrus\Lemon can be a desired flavour in beer, but I'm guessing it's not a nice flavour.

Citrus and Lemon doesn't sound like an infection, more of a contamination from an introduced product.

BF (Now in Coopers Extract flavour)

 

[Brendandrage]

Cleaned and sanitised with the Sodium percabinate from the local LHBS @ 30grams per5 litresProcess was as per packet instructions nothing different, used boiled water and tap waterYeast was packet mix that came with the tinTemp was 22-24 as this was the first use of the heat pad and this is what it holds the wort at.In a primary for 9 days and kegged after 3 days of constant gravity readings.
I havnt been taking notes so i know the info is vague but will try my best to answer any questions, i thought maybe some time to mature? i also thought maybe bottle a sample and taking it back to the LHBS for analysis?

 

[homebrewkid]

what area are you in im sure someone around here would taste it for you and see what can be found?

cheers: HBK

 

[Brendandrage]

what area are you in im sure someone around here would taste it for you and see what can be found?

cheers: HBK

That would be great im in echuca and travel to bendigo most days and shep every other week!

 

[loikar]

i also thought maybe bottle a sample and taking it back to the LHBS for analysis?

Probably your best bet.

 

[manticle]

High temps (222-24) is high + underpitched yeast (as the amount in the kit isn't large and hasn't been subjected to the best conditions) + beer that was taken from the yeast cake too early (bang FG whack it in the keg) might lead to fruity flavours.

Not sure about lemony but then I don't know if your description of the same thing would sound like my description.

Next time, use a better yeast (try safale US05 and make sure the shop has kept it in the fridge and it's in date), ferment around 18-20 for an average ale and leave it for another three days minimum after getting your stable gravity.

 

[Brendandrage]

Thanks heaps guys i know it was simple info but my learning curve since this brew went down has been dramatic mostly thanks to this site and john palmer :icon_cheers:

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

nanticle might be on to it, would you say tart like green apple? can't remember what that's a sign of but some more time on the yeast cake and they would have more than likely cleaned that up.

 

[bum]

tastes weird kinda lemony or citrusy im not sure.

The time I had a brew infected with acetobacter it first presented as a bit vinegary/lemony - that sound much like what you're getting?

I hope it is ultimately more green apple/general fuity as per posts above.

Good luck with it.

 

[benno1973]

As mentioned, acetobacter can be a vinegary taste, but not really citrussy, although it's sometimes hard to tell the difference when all the smells are coming at you.

Another thing - I find some yeasts have a tart taste, which goes away when the yeast drops out of suspension. US-05 does this for me all the time. Wait till the beer has been chilled a while and it drops out, and then see if the taste remains?

 

[Brendandrage]

nanticle might be on to it, would you say tart like green apple? can't remember what that's a sign of but some more time on the yeast cake and they would have more than likely cleaned that up.

I have had a second opinion on the taste and maybe green apple with a citrus twist.Hopefully get to the LHBS tomorrow and see whats what.
Question though if more time on the yeast cake would have fixed it what could i do now? And also how can i tell how long to leave it in the primary? Not that im rackng it anyway i but thought up to 2 weeks or after 3 days of stable sg was the go?

 

[manticle]

If it is acetaldehyde and you kegged it without filtering you could

A. leave it. It will probably improve with time as there will still be some active yeast around to reabsorb

OR

B. Add some active yeast (like a starter) to the keg and again, leave it for a while.

As for how long - my rule of thumb is stable FG then leave a week, then cold condition another week. You could reduce both weeks to 3 days if you were in a hurry but first and foremost - taste. I've had beers that tasted like acetaldehyde (green apple) after a week post FG. I left them longer. It dissipated. Then I cold conditioned. Final product had no apples.

 

[glenwal]

i but thought up to 2 weeks or after 3 days of stable sg was the go?

Generally stable gravity readings over 3 days (no need to test each day, just the 1st then 2 days later), then another week to help clean up.

edit: beaten by Manticle.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

As a rule, 14 days on the yeast cake for an ale is about right IMHO.

If that is your issue and not infection you should be looking at how you handle your yeast, do you hydrate, temperature control etc. Acetylaldehyde is caused from yeast stress from what I've read, so addressing some of these things may fix your issue. I started hydrating 12 months into my brewing experience and haven't really had any dried yeast issues since, fluke or resolved, who knows......

 

[hoppy2B]

I got a bad metallic taste when I used a couple of cans of Black Rock dark malt. Could be that giving you a problem. Keep it as cool as possible and leave it for a few months is the only thing that will fix it if it is.

 

[Yob]

Stop chewing on the can hoppy

 

[hoppy2B]

Stop chewing on the can hoppy

Well how else are you supposed to get the last bit of malt out of the bottom? :blink:

 

[bum]

As mentioned, acetobacter can be a vinegary taste, but not really citrussy

For sure, but my early impression (aka - green beer) was lemon-ish salad-dressing. The lemon-ish whatever disappeared as soon as the infection really took hold. Then it was proper vinegar. Just putting the idea out there to see if it rings true for him. Obviously, fingers crossed it is completely irrelevant.

I've just recalled I've got quite a few bottles of that brew under the house still because I couldn't be bothered tipping them out because I had no intention of re-using infected bottles. I really should get SWMBO to try one and get her to tell me what a 3 year old infected beer tastes like.

 

[Dunkelbrau]

I've just recalled I've got quite a few bottles of that brew under the house still because I couldn't be bothered tipping them out because I had no intention of re-using infected bottles. I really should get SWMBO to try one and get her to tell me what a 3 year old infected beer tastes like.

h34r:
:lol:


Let us know how that one goes!