May Finally Have to Dump A Run (Soy Taste in porter) :(

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Roughster

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I brewed a batch of the Black Pearl Porter on 08/08/13 (followed to the "T" nothing weird happened) and used a water bath with about 1' layer plus fan to keep cool during fermentation. It may have got a bit warmer than 74 ish, but not by much for sure. I didn't taste it coming out of the kettle so I have no idea if "the soy taste" started then, but after being in the primary for 2 weeks I transferred to secondary and it definitely had a soy smell. I didn't worry and let it sit for another 2 weeks, then kegged. Waited a week and tried it and it is like a mouthful of soy sauce. I was really disappointed :(

I plugged it back into a caroby and added some vanilla beans and some bourbon to try and save it. That was over a month ago, tried it again today, soy sauce with a subtle vanilla / bourbon background.

It has been 8 weeks, is it a lost batch or should I sit on it for a few more weeks/months? Really bummed about this as I was hoping to have it on tap for an upcoming party.
 
I had a beer do this to me. One possibility is that you took it off of the year to soon and it didn't give the yeast a chance to clean up after themselves. For me it was autolysys due to high alcohol and long time on the yeast.

I was able to fix it by pitching some champagne yeast. It will dry it out but can help clean it up. Otherwise make a yeast starter and pitch at high krausen. It may take more time and depending upon when you need it ready by you might not have it in time.

Good luck.
 
I got some weird smells from my traditional stout wort a lil while ago. when I finished sparging & put it on to boil,it smelled like roasted shrimp in a dark rich sauce with toasted sesame oil. After it boiled a couple minutes,it then smelled like stout with a wonderful roasted coffee smell as well. Boy,does that make the house smell good. But I think it's a combination of the yeast used & higher ferment temps.
 
I have had a similar issue and I bottled it after MONTHS of bulk aging. After about 3-4 months in a bottle it subsided to the point where it was drinkable and 3-4 after that was really good.

GL
 
OK so I am going repitch some yeast, I'll use Red Star Champagne, and let it sit for another month or two. Thanks guys. I was bummed about it not being ready for the party, but sad about having brewed my first "dump", Hopefully more yeast and more time aging will clear it up!
 
Checked it today. It is like drinking soy and sour yuk. It will go down the drain if I taste it after the first and it is still the same.

/Sad Panda 😞
 
I am going to reboil this for 30 mins, then cool down and rack onto the top of a fresh batch of lees. Anyone think this may be a bad idea?
 
Yooper: Just straight up dump then?

I honestly couldn't stand the thought of drinking this. It is not "sorta soy" but like taking swigs straight from a Kikomans Bottle. Its been conditioning for 4 months with no improvement. Is it even worth bottling given no noticeable improvement in 4 months?

Are there any flavors that I could overpower soy with? How about 6-10 vanilla pods? Add some liquid smoke for a smoked porter? Obviously I am really struggling with the idea of dumping.

Do I just need to cut my loses?
 
Roughster said:
Yooper: Just straight up dump then?

I honestly couldn't stand the thought of drinking this. It is not "sorta soy" but like taking swigs straight from a Kikomans Bottle. Its been conditioning for 4 months with no improvement. Is it even worth bottling given no noticeable improvement in 4 months?

Are there any flavors that I could overpower soy with? How about 6-10 vanilla pods? Add some liquid smoke for a smoked porter? Obviously I am really struggling with the idea of dumping.

Do I just need to cut my loses?

I wouldn't keep putting additives in it, especially expensive ones like vanilla beans.

Some of these big stouts need 6-12 months aging. Might be worth following up on a thread dedicated to the recipe, or calling the vendor if this was a kit.

If you have bottles to burn, I'd say bottle it and wait two more months. Beer tastes a lot different after bottle aging, especially once it's carbonated.
 
Yooper, thanks for the tough love, though I don't want to hear it. I do have bottles to spare, so...into the bottles and some dark corner of the garage it goes.
 
Just a follow up on this thread. After 7 months, I tasted it again tonight. All Soy! It went down the bath tub.

The good news I rebrewed a Porter Recipe a little over a month ago and put it in the keg tonight. It tastes spot on and I am super excited about it! What was interesting is the soy smell was also prevalent in the mash tun, but it boiled off and really smelled like a porter near the end.

So, if it still smells like soy coming out of the boil, guess what? It is probably going to stay that way!

/Lesson Learned :mug:
 
Just a follow up on this thread. After 7 months, I tasted it again tonight. All Soy! It went down the bath tub.

The good news I rebrewed a Porter Recipe a little over a month ago and put it in the keg tonight. It tastes spot on and I am super excited about it! What was interesting is the soy smell was also prevalent in the mash tun, but it boiled off and really smelled like a porter near the end.

So, if it still smells like soy coming out of the boil, guess what? It is probably going to stay that way!

/Lesson Learned :mug:

I'm really sorry to hear that. I was really hoping I was wrong. :(
 
My Asian graff has a soy aroma that is definitely something that showed up prior to fermentation. I opened a bottle of save wort and had the same aroma, fortunately it wasn't in the flavour and not overpowering aroma.




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