severe dissapointment

My hopeless beer did not turn out well at all. I don't know if it was infected or if the recipe was just not designed well. It ended up very alcoholic and oddly enough smelled like apples and had the taste/carbonation of champagne
Not bad...just not what I expected. But ill try some more boxed kits and try this experiments at a later date.

Hopless Lager

For the last year I have made several different styles of beer. All of them met with equal amount of praise and criticism as is natural. However there is one project that I have been putting on the back burner for quite some time. That is the attempt at making a beer without hops. This project started with a thought I had about the origins of beer in ancient civilizations such as Egypt. Hops have only been used in beer for a few hundred years and those early civilizations used other herbs to flavor their beers. The reason as to why the beer market switched to hops for bittering and flavoring purposes instead of other methods is going to be a discussion reserved for another time because it is a very interesting one. However a hopless beer in the style of those ancient people is something that I have always wanted to create and after my wife and a friend have been urging me to create this beer I have finally decided to do so. The recipe is listed below. I have used Belgian specialty grains to add a distinct flavor and sweetness to the brew and a small amount of roasted barley to add a little bit of a bitterness and color. The brew is now fermenting and after I taste the first bottle I will post my thoughts.
8 lbs. Light DME
8 oz. Belgian Caravienne
4 oz. Belgian caramelpils
4 oz Roasted Barley
1 ¾ cup Brown sugar (1 cup in brew and 3/4 cup for priming)
1 packet SAF Lager S-23 Yeast