Tom Caxton Real Ale; Acetaldehyde

[coatesg]

Hi all,

I'm a newcomer to this board (hello!) and a relative newcomer to home brewing and haven't come up against this yet so looking for a bit of advice here...

I've just brewed up a batch of Tom Caxton's Real Ale using half and half Tate and Lyle and Dark Spraymalt using the kit yeast. It's been sitting in the primary for 9 days at about 20 degrees and had a gravity of 1.008 for the last three days (from an OG of 1.040). I've just barrelled it (priming with 85g sugar), but tried a taste in the process and it had a clear apple flavour which I guess is most likely to be acetaldehyde (though it didn't taste vinegary at all).

Looking for some advice on "removing" the apples from this one - I know that it's a by-product of fermentation and leaving it for a while could well remove it as the yeast does its thing, but will it make a difference now I have racked it from the primary into the bottle (leaving the trub behind in the process)?

I'm inclined to just leave it in the barrel at room temp for two weeks and then place it into the cold garage for a month, but just wanted to know if there are is anything recommended above and beyond this that will help the acetaldehyde be removed from the beer, and at what point I should consider doing anything above just leaving it?

Thanks in advance - hoping to not have to ditch this lot after 6 weeks or so!

Cheers,

Graeme

[vacant]

Geordie Beerkit Enhancer is "Spray-Dried Malt Extract (Malted Barley, Water), Spray-Dried Dextrose (Dextrose, Water)".

Take extra care if you decide to use only 500g as the contents are NOT mixed. In the two I've got in stock I can clearly see the white dextrose occupying the bottom 1/4 or 1/3 of the packet and the beige DME on the top. You need to thoroughly mix the whole packet before using 500g.

Geordie stuff is definitely way less than 50% dextrose.

[mysterio]

Apparently stale extract can cause acetaldehyde too, so it's worth checking the date on the beer kit.

[coatesg]

Thanks for the replies (and welcome!)

The kit was well in date, so I'm guessing it's the 50% sugar - I'd already reduced the sugar added to the kit to improve the flavour, so going to 100% now seems like a sensible move to avoid problems like this.

Think I'll leave this in the barrel for a month or few to let it condition up as best as it will (hopefully the acetaldehyde will be reduced a bit over time) - if it's still not great later, I'll tip it or use it to trap slugs and snails or something...

Cheers,

GC

[coatesg]

Update on this one - after even a week, the acetaldehyde has reduced massively (must have caught it at a bad time I guess..) - it's more than drinkable even now, though needs some time to clear properly. By New Year, I reckon this will be more than ready for the masses!

[vacant]

Glad it's working out OK. In you're sig, you've got a brew buddy kit conditioning. I've got one in stock, I was think of adding the other half of the Tom Caxton's hop sachet to it but if you get a reasonable result maybe you could let me know and I'll keep it standard.

[coatesg]

In you're sig, you've got a brew buddy kit conditioning. I've got one in stock, I was think of adding the other half of the Tom Caxton's hop sachet to it but if you get a reasonable result maybe you could let me know and I'll keep it standard.

The Brew Buddy is actually turning out fairly well, and it's progressed into the drinking stage . It's come out fairly well (used 50:50 sugar to medium spraymalt) - I was pleased given this is one of my first stabs at brewing - it has a nice bitter flavour to it and has come out fairly clear (it gets chill haze if it's cold), but it tastes better warmer anyhow.

Using half of the Caxton packet would probably give quite a nice result, but it's more than drinkable as is

Here's the finished product in bottle (I like the Spitfire bottles for bottling - very easy to see the finished result, easy to see they are clean and look good once you get the labels off!)

Cheers,

GC

[vacant]

Looking good. Thanks for the advice.