WorryWort

Recipes 

So I shared my beer with a few brewers last nite and a beer journalist from the UK. (pretty cool experience)

But on the downside my Saison was described as having a slight butyric acid quality on the nose (old cheesy, rancid fat, etc...)

Everyone had seconds, so it wasn't a huge detractor from the beer, nor my experience of sharing it. But I'm still wondering what I can do.

Sanitation is my first focus, as I've read that this is possibly due to some bacteria. But there were no other noticeable flaws.

As anyone every had this? Thoughts?

-Cheers

__________________
In Process - Russian Imperial Stout, Nelson Sauvin Rye IPA, Mild No.3

In Kegs - Barley Wine, Apfelwein, Wild BlackBerry Wheat, Coffee Oatmeal Porter

Gone - so many :(

DRoyLenz

Recipes 

That must've been a really cool experience. I'm not nearly to the point where I would feel comfortable having experts critique my beers, but I also don't need them to, I already have a laundry list of things I know I need to fix before I begin to nit-pick. I'd think that this would be really educational.

__________________
D

All-Grain Brewing with Extract Brewing Equipment

k1v1116

Recipes 

Butyric acid is the characteristic scent in Parmesan cheese it can be produced by other microorganisms but if it wasnt butyric acid just a general meaty/cheesy odor then it might be autolysis. Old hops can have a somewhat cheesy quality too.
I guess if you want a checklist, make sure ingredients are fresh, clean and sanitize thoroughly, and finally keep the yeast happy.

WorryWort

Recipes 

It could very well be yeast derived, as that was sort of the goal with my saison right - get a lot of flavour out of the yeast by stressing it somewhat. I am pretty confident it was not autloysis, as one of the brewers I was drinking with taught me what autolysis is and he surely would have commented on it. Although that yeast had really been through a lot! (67F to 75F to 80F to 86F, over a month, etc....).

I actually wondered about the hops. They'd been in my freezer for about 3 or 4 months before I used them. But they shouldn't be too bad, right? I mean hops are only harvested once a year, so most everybody is relegated to some storage. I am going to pay more attention to this though.

__________________
In Process - Russian Imperial Stout, Nelson Sauvin Rye IPA, Mild No.3

In Kegs - Barley Wine, Apfelwein, Wild BlackBerry Wheat, Coffee Oatmeal Porter

Gone - so many :(

WorryWort

Recipes 

Yeh, I can agree. I certainly didn't do it to 'show off', I just really want informed criticism and competitions are tough to enter in vancouver without spending $100 at FedEx.

I think it's really valuable to get that level of feedback, though for sensitive people or even really new brewers it could be discouraging. I can confidently say I have some issues, but I can make some pretty good beer, and this feedback really helps me make sure the process is good.


I just found this too:

The other organism of minor significance is the gram-negative coccus, Megasphaera, which imparts cloudiness and an unpleasant puke-like odour to the beer. These characteristics are primarily due to the production of butyric acid during fermentation.


http://www.draymans.com/articles/arts/08.html

__________________
In Process - Russian Imperial Stout, Nelson Sauvin Rye IPA, Mild No.3

In Kegs - Barley Wine, Apfelwein, Wild BlackBerry Wheat, Coffee Oatmeal Porter

Gone - so many :(