Kaybee Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Hey everyone, Just a novice looking for some help! We are new to brewing and seem to be having quite some difficulty getting a successful batch! Any help or advice would be appreciated! So far we've tried : Coopers Lager, Coopers Canadian Blonde & Coopers draught. We have always used the Coopers Brew Enhancers in place of sugar, and have followed the instructions to a tee. We've ensured the temperature maintains within the specified range, and measured OG, SG and FG very carefully before bottling, but every batch has turned out tasting like a cider, and has little alcoholic value! (never tasted sour or smelled funny.. only a sweet cidery taste) I've returned to my local brew supplier for tips and troubleshooting, and he insists that we must be using too much sugar, and doesn't seem to be willing to troubleshoot with us further. I feel this can't be the problem, as we are using pre-measured LME and brew enhancer kits. Could anything else be causing these problems.. perhaps the yeast isn't consuming and converting the sugar? Should we try more yeast? Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated! I hope to one day malt our own barley but thus far LME's are exceeding me!! [crying] Kaitlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Welcome to the forum Kaitlin. The best thing to do is to change one thing at a time to work out the cause. The first change I would make is to use light dry malt or liquid malt instead of the brew enhancers. It could be the dextrose in the brew enhancers giving the cidery taste. Try a kit (like the Draught) with 1kg LDM and see how it goes. Later you can start adding hops and specialty grains to produce a more flavoured beer. Also, have a read through the forum and should find a wealth of information to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 What temperature are you maintaining your brews at? What temperature are you pitching your yeast at? If you can provide a recipe for an example of exactly what you are doing, we will find it a bit easier to help. I know you said you follow the recipe to a tee but if I recall correctly, most of the recipes say to ferment between 21C & 27C. If you are at the high end of this scale then this will likely be your problem. Try fermenting at 18C-20C. Please post exactly what you are doing and we should be able to advise. BTW: Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Welcome Kailin, I found when I have a cidery taste in my beers it was either due to high temperatures or old ingredients. Check your temperature and if you can keep it around the 20C mark it would be better then following the ingredients (they are there to help you make the beer, not make it taste any good). Also have a look at the use by dates on the cans of extract that you are using, use cans that are as far away from the date as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I know you said you follow the recipe to a tee but if I recall correctly' date=' most of the recipes say to ferment between 21C & 27C.[/quote'] Yeah, I forgot about that part. It has been a while since I have looked at the instructions with the kit. In the end you should be: - Using fresh, good quality ingredients - More malt and less dextrose - pitching sufficient healthy yeast - Fermenting at the correct temp for that yeast - Giving the beer sufficient time in the fermenter to finish fermenting and to clean up - And importantly, proper sanitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Another thing that you could do is just to give it more time in the bottle. The cider taste could be actually acetylaldehyde which is basically caused by the yeast not having sufficient time to clean up after itself. Let it sit for a little longer and then see what it tastes like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 ...and has little alcoholic value! (never tasted sour or smelled funny.. only a sweet cidery taste) ... Kaitlin, what were your SG values? You can try using IanH's spreadsheet to estimate what your OG and FG should - and the alcomohol content then. Anyone here could probably get that to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Here is a link to the spreadsheet mentioned by AdamH: IanH's Kit and Extract Beer Spreadsheet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I'd agree with sugar+temp When I make apple wine i use loads of table sugar and ferment at about 26C to specifically get a more cidery taste. Get any ale kit, try with 1kg LDM (and 300g dextrose optional), ferment at about 18C for 2 weeks, bottle for minimum 2 weeks. I've never had a cidery taste from any ales i've made like this [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savagedavid Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I feel mainly temperature and insufficient time in the FV cause the problems. I had exactly the same issues with cidery taste and initially thought it was the sugar. Now I only brew under 20 degrees C and leave in the FV for a minimum of 14 days (and often up to a month) and have had no recent cider taste issues. I used to use a secondary FV as well but more research indicates it is not necessary unless you want to dry hop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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