[greatplainsbrewer]

I have a friend ( no it isn't actually me who brewed an older kit of brewers best English brown ale.  The beer tastes strongly of dried fruit and he's worried.  It isn't a particularly bad taste but I've never run across an English brown with really pronounced dried fruit tastes.  Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Joe Sr.]

Old LME?  Older LME will give you off flavors.  It also darkens as it ages.

IIRC, over pitching helps reduce the old flavors.

[greatplainsbrewer]

My understanding was that it was lme-I'm not actually familiar with the kit.  I thought old lme would be more of an oxidized flavor

[tschmidlin]

Oxidized flavors can be like dried fruit, depending on the malt bill.  But it could also be the recipe, dark crystal comes across as dried fruit too.

[erockrph]

But it could also be the recipe, dark crystal comes across as dried fruit too.

+1 - especially the darker English crystal malts. Personally, that plummy/toffee note is a flavor I really enjoy. I'm always sneaking some Extra Dark English Crystal into my malty English beers whenever I can (including my browns).