So i brewed up a double IPA around sept 3rd and just cracked open the first bottle tonight (carbed up nicely) and I am getting an initial cidery taste. Do you think this could just be some leftover Acetaldehyde and/or green beer? How long does it take to bottle condition a good double IPA from those of you who are experienced brewing a big beer?
very possibly infected, try another bottle to make sure it isn’t just an infected bottle.
2 bottles, both with a slight cidery initial taste, otherwise the beer is really good…hope it’s not infected, i was very meticulous with my sanitization (star san).
Acetaldehyde (assuming that’s what it is) usually comes from stress on the yeast. If you fermented too cold, or didn’t pitch enough yeast, or used very old yeast, it can occasionally cause this. Be nice to the yeast.
If that ain’t it, then I would have to taste the beer myself to understand what’s going on.
If you aren’t happy with it there is no reason not to age it more. That said I prefer to drink IPAs sooner not later before the hops can fade any. Almost 2.5 months should do it unless it was a huge OG.
What was the OG and did you use any adjunct sugars to boost it?
It was the 115th hop dream extract kit
- 6 lbs Amber malt syrup (60 min)
- 6 lbs Gold malt syrup late addition (15 min)
- 2 lbs Corn sugar late addition (0 min
OG was 1.086
FG was 1.018
I’m guessing you fermented too warm, with a big beer its hard to keep the temp down since the rapid ferment generates a lot of extra heat.
kept the temps between 62 - 68 with a swamp cooler, so i figure that the temps were fine. Tasted fine before bottling albeit a little green. The cidery type taste isn’t overwhelming, but very slight…maybe i’m just being anal and need to let it condition more?
Dare I bring up the concept of “extract twang”? Make sure your extract is fresh. If you’re not sure, then next time buy your extract from a different supplier and see if the results change.
It should get better in six months.
The rule of thumb with sugar is to keep it less than 20% of the grain bill, in this case extract. If my math is correct it is certainly under that. So I also would think warm ferment could be the cause. If you have a temp gauge like those stick on ones, it is amazing to see how much a rapid fermentation increases the temp.
I have this problem with a 12 gallon conical. No fridge large enough to put it in so the best I can do is have it in front of a window air conditioner in summer months and hope for the best. Belgian styles that are normally fermented at higher temps work in July/August.
