I needed to get a brew done before my holidays last month so I did what was supposed to be a basic pale ale. 3.7k Pale malt, 230g crystal and a touch of black. Prime bittering hop was target (28g) and I whacked in 57g of East Kent Goldings for the last 10 minutes.
Yeast was Safale S-04.
However, this was during the heatwave we had in July and the ambient temp where I ferment was in the high 20's. Probably between 25 and 28 at times.
It ended up fermenting for 3 weeks before I managed to keg and bottle it and it's now coming up to 3 weeks conditioning.
I've just had a bottle of this and it is not what I expected. It has cleared well and carbed up nicely but it does not taste like a pale ale. It is more like a Leffe blonde. There is a definate clove flavour there, possibly a bit of banana but I might be imagining that.
It's not unpleasant, it's actually quite nice but not a beer you would have more than one of at once.
Now, I know that you can get clove and banana flavours from high fermentation temperatures so I am hoping that's all it is, but could this taste be down to an infection? I've got a keg full but not sure if I could finish it all before an infection took proper hold. I've no temperature control for fermenting or conditioning (next on the list!)
Opinions?
KG
Yeast was Safale S-04.
However, this was during the heatwave we had in July and the ambient temp where I ferment was in the high 20's. Probably between 25 and 28 at times.
It ended up fermenting for 3 weeks before I managed to keg and bottle it and it's now coming up to 3 weeks conditioning.
I've just had a bottle of this and it is not what I expected. It has cleared well and carbed up nicely but it does not taste like a pale ale. It is more like a Leffe blonde. There is a definate clove flavour there, possibly a bit of banana but I might be imagining that.
It's not unpleasant, it's actually quite nice but not a beer you would have more than one of at once.
Now, I know that you can get clove and banana flavours from high fermentation temperatures so I am hoping that's all it is, but could this taste be down to an infection? I've got a keg full but not sure if I could finish it all before an infection took proper hold. I've no temperature control for fermenting or conditioning (next on the list!)
Opinions?
KG