Cream ale tastes similar to wine

Underpitch or old yeast, maybe? (Acetaldehyde)
Maybe try lagering for awhile...?

 

´No starter´, i guess that´s the problem

 

I'm going with some type of infection. Cream ale taste similar to a American Lager Clean

 

I respectfully disagree. A fresh (two weeks old) Activator Pack into an OG 1.049 beer should be OK based upon my personal homebrewing experience (assuming proper sanitation was observed).

Cheers!

 

Although the OP underpitched, I agree that the wine flavor probably did not result from that.

 

Underpitched? OG was 1.049. A single packet of US-05 can do that with both hands tied behind its back. FG was awfully high, though. That should have finished well under 1.010 even without the corn sugar, suggesting some kind of fermentation issue. What was the mash temp? How old was the yeast? How was it stored?

 

OP used Wyeast 1056, not US-05. 'Same' strain, but different cell count.

 

I tend to think of these as the same yeast. But you're right about the cell count. I would also not consider a single pack in 5 gallons of 1.049 beer to be underpitching, despite what MrMalty says (I suspect it assumes worst case conditions).

 

Experience with US-05 (close enough). Indeed, I just kegged a Cream Ale that US-05 took from 1.063 to 1.000. Mash temp was 149. I used 3# flaked maize and 1# table sugar. This was a ten gallon batch. If I had known it was going to finish that low, I would have skipped the sugar.

hmmm... sounds like you did everything right. Not sure what might be going on here. You said you've never had a Cream Ale. It seems unlikely, but maybe the dryness is simply confusing your taste buds?

 

I suffer from the same problem.

Pinot Grigio can have a tart fruit flavor so we could just go with saying it's acetaldehyde due to it being a bit young still. Give it another week. Do you plan on bottling?

 

Is that a typo? 1.000??

 

And was it from the bottle that you tasted them?

 

Now I'm definitely going to lean towards young beer (at least for now). Though carbonation may be complete, the refermentation can actually reintroduce acetaldehyde. 2-3 weeks to condition is recommended.

 

No, that was not a typo. I routinely get US-05 to finish under 1.005-ish. I still haven't developed a good technique for setting a consistent mash temp, so it tends to end up low - frequently in the high 140's. That, combined with the sugar and absence of any Crystal malts was enough to dry the hell out of this beer. I wanted it dry, but i think I may have overdone it.