"Cidery" taste in homebrews?

[cyanide]

Well, I finally went out and got some basic equipment and a kit. I noticed the recipe that came with it even mentioned ways to avoid the 'cidery' taste.

I've seen this mentioned many times before and ways of adding things to your beer to avoid it. Since I want to make this operation simple, I will go along with the basic instructions.

How bad is this 'cidery' taste usually? I've never had beer made from kits before, so I have no idea what to expect. It's not going to be too bad is it?

[paul84043]

I'm not exactly sure what they mean, it's probably aso been deccribed as Estery or tart which is a byproduct of warmer temperature fermentations. Ales are really expected to have this taste, lagers will not due to the cool, very slow fermentation.

Just follow thier directions as best you can and keep things clean, you will still end up with beer that is far superiour to anything you can get off the shelf at the store.
You'll have to decide for yourself what tastes you like and don't like, it's a highly individualized thing...

as I make more and more batches I find myself worrying about certain steps less and less. I still do them, but I have just found that if I do things in the right order alot of it takes care of itself.

For example, If I preboil my water and let it cool to room temp, I know that I need to cool my wort down to about 78, then when I add my top off water the temp is right on. I adjust my cool temp accordingly and it has always turned out perfect.

You'll start to build in little shortcuts that save you time, or at least make it so you don't even have to think about that step again.

It takes 4 or 5 batches, but you begin to get comfortable with the process and it just sort of "makes itself..."
Just keep sanitation foremost in your process, you cannot relax on that it will kill yor beer if you do.
On the other hand, you might actually like the sour tart flavor of infected beer, there is a style called a lambic that is infected intentionally just to get that flavor!
To each their own...

[fuji6100]

Using table sugar will give you the "cidery taste" they describe and even using refined Corn Sugar will give you some. (A lot of beer kits say to add 1 KG of corn sugar)

If you want to save money on supplies but don't want that taste, try making your first batch with 1/2 KG corn sugar and 1/2 KG malt extract. It won't be the highest quality, but you will still get pretty good beer.

I noticed a big difference, however, when I brewed with all malt extract (and I typically add about 3 pounds to my 5 gallon beer kits).

Hope this helps!

[yonkersbrewer]

Two thoughts -

The "cidery" taste is just that, the taste that fermented fresh cider tastes like. If you have a source for unprocessed cider let some of it go for a week in the bottle. You will go through natural fermentation. Cool it down and have a small taste. That is the cidery taste. Its what you get when you make certain kinds of hard ciders that is ok there but not good in beer.

For more on cidery taste go to the current issues of Homebrew Digest (I think it is within the last three days or so) and check out John Palmers post on cidery tastes.

[YamahaXS]

There are two different 'cidery' tastes that you might get. 1 if from using too much corn sugar, or heaven forbid, cane or regular sugar. This effect is noticable in almost all mass produced beers, such as miller, etc... The flavor comes at the end of a sip, as you are swallowing the beer, and it starts on the back of your tounge and sorts hangs around for a while. If you are used to drinking cheap beer then you may not notice it.

The second cidery taste comes from getting wild yeast and or other junk in your beer. This flavor is UNMISTAKABLY non-beer. You will sip your beer and know that what you are drinking is NOT beer. It is strong, and hits your palate right away. Prevention is sanitation.

Don't worry, anything you make at home (short of a bacteria infested beer) will be as good or better than the store bought beers.

Cheers and Beers!