My beer tastes like green apples.

Question

I brewed a blonde ale with extract a little over a month ago. I fermented in primary for three weeks and have been bottle-conditioning for two weeks. I didn't take an OG, but the final gravity before bottling was 1.011 (exactly what the recipe called for). I cracked one open this morning to give it a taste, and while it's good, it has a distinct, syrupy taste similar to green apples. Any ideas what might have caused this? Is this a taste which will likely mellow out with time?

Ugh I've had this in 2 of my beers as well, but both of them were kegged. Give it time and hopefully it will mellow out. — GHP, Apr 19 '11 at 19:25

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 14 '10 at 19:26

10

Green apple flavor is called Acetaldehyde. It's one of the off-flavors that can dissipate over time, though it can be caused from a bacteria that won't go away.

I would certainly wait awhile to see if the flavor dissipates.

(Sources here)

answered Nov 14 '10 at 19:26

sgwill

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Yup, give it another month and it should be all right. – Nick Nov 14 '10 at 23:54

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 14 '10 at 19:27

1

Green apple taste can be caused by acetaldehyde, which will generally mellow out over time. Iirc, it's a middle-compound between sugar and alcohol that the yeast still needs to work on.

answered Nov 14 '10 at 19:27

Fishtoaster

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My beer tastes like green apples.

2 Answers2