Slight Acetaldehyde flavour after first Fermentation

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ulysses1

New Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2021
Messages
5
Reaction score
2
This is my first home brew attempt so I'm after some advice. I believe I may have made a mistake during first fermentation. My beer when testing after taking the SG reading tastes like it's got an Acetaldehyde type of flavour. I believe this has happened as I wrapped the Fermenter to keep it warm without realising I'd wrapped the top and stopped the Krausen Kollar from working correctly and hence creating a bit of a flavour issue.

I have now bottled, added carbonation drops and plan on letting it sit for around 5 weeks before trying it as I will be away from home for work.

Is there any chance these flavours subside during the second fermentation in bottle or is my brew all but ruined?

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Acetaldehyde is an intermediate product in the conversion of glucose to alcohol. Normally, a healthy batch of yeast in a well oxygenated wort will clean it all up towards the end of fermentation. It can also be produced as an oxidation product on the way to producing vinegar.
Hopefully in the first case, the yeast will continue its cleanup in the bottle.
In the second case, now it's bottled, it won't get any worse as the process requires oxygen. Pouring a well carbonated beer will often drive off any slight vinegar smells.
It might take a bit more than 5 weeks, though.
 
My very first brew some 8 years ago suffered from the green apple taste.

Like most people starting out I was quick to sample the beers after bottling and in early samples the flavour was quite evident....over a period of weeks the intensity of the flavour dropped and by the time I polished off the 40th bottle I'd say it was non existent....but as noted above....this was maybe three or four months after bottling.

So, no, your brew is not ruined, but it might take time to clean up.
 
It's amazing the wonders a good bottle conditioning can do to a beer, I've had beers tasting like the devil's hot **** straight out of the fermenter but after 3 or 4 weeks they clear right up and taste great.

The hardest part about homebrewing is patience, let the yeast do it's thing and it'll be grand.
 
Back
Top