weirdboy

Recipes 

OK, well we will just have to disagree then, because I have had several big beers where that stuff smoothed out nicely over time.

JeepDiver

Recipes 

Maybe they do, not sure, but there is a difference in a hot alcohol taste, vs fusels. The hottness will fade over time.

weirdboy

Recipes 

Everything I have ever studied on the subject says hot alcohol is from fusels. Please point me to a credible source that says otherwise.

Irrenarzt

Recipes 

Fusels definitely do not fade. Hot alcohol character will fade in time, but fusel is something that will never go away unless you distill or pass the beer through an activated carbon column.

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In Queue: Sour Blonde, Kriek, DIPA, Wee Heavy, Dubbel, Double Nelson, Milk Stout

Fermenting/Crashing: Session Porter, BDG, Cream Ale, Cider, Munich Helles, Baltic Porter, Wheat Wine, Sour Quad, Apricot pLambic

Kegged/Bottled: Flanders Red, Hopped-Up Saison, Brett Saison, Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged on Montmorencies Quad, Tripel, Raspberry Melomel, Rye Barleywine

Irrenarzt

Recipes 

I do not think hot alcohol and fusels are the same flavor. I do not have a source but I think they are separate as I have had beers that taste hot but do not taste fusel-ey...

I brewed an IPA once that got out of control during fermentation so I know what fusels are like. Awful flavor profile. I can't have a beer that has any fusels without nearly gagging anymore but I judged barleywines recently and had a few examples that were hot but not fuseled.

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In Queue: Sour Blonde, Kriek, DIPA, Wee Heavy, Dubbel, Double Nelson, Milk Stout

Fermenting/Crashing: Session Porter, BDG, Cream Ale, Cider, Munich Helles, Baltic Porter, Wheat Wine, Sour Quad, Apricot pLambic

Kegged/Bottled: Flanders Red, Hopped-Up Saison, Brett Saison, Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout, Bourbon Barrel-Aged on Montmorencies Quad, Tripel, Raspberry Melomel, Rye Barleywine

JeepDiver

Recipes 

Also fusels will give me an almost instant headache. On mobile so can't get a source but fusels have a different molecular structure than ethnaol

tedclev

Recipes 

Basically, this is a question of degree... How bad is it? It could be just young hotness, or it could be fusels. If it's just young, then aging will definitely take care of it. If fusels, it is a matter of how fuselly? Mild fusels are worth aging out; they can deteriorate into esters via (R1)OH + (R2)COOH ---> (R2)COO(R1) + H2O. However, the beer in which this occurs will make a difference- how acidic is it? are there yeast or enzymes available? And it's a very very very slow process.

I can specifically recall a Belgain Quad that I let get out of control and it ended up with some higher fusel alcohols. It would pretty much give me a headache after one or two. I bottled it and let it bottle condition. Two years later, delicious, and no more headache. NOTE!!!!, however, that it was not intolerable to begin with. If I had a $hit ton of fusels and it tasted like paint thinner, I would have just dumped it, or used it to kill weeds

iambeer

Recipes 

Yeah-huh.. Or like, rooting out unsightly holes in the golf course. In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, au revoir, gopher.

anokiernan

Recipes 

In my limited experience, Wee Heavy's benefit tremendously from the aging process. My drank my first batch of Wee Heavy over the course of about 9 months (roughly 13 months from brew day). The flavor profile changed radically throughout that time period, constantly becoming more smooth the older that it became. As others have said I would bottle/keg it and let it age atleast 2 months after it has left the carboy. Usually my Wee Heavy's have been roughly 3 weeks in primary and 2 months in secondary, then another 6 weeks minimum in bottles/kegs. It's well worth the wait

kkimmes

Recipes 

WOW WOW WOW
This is my first experience in long aging and a complete change in beer.

When I originally started this thread, it was after 8 weeks of aging my Wee Heavy and it was still undrinkable.

I had some today and it was awesome. Complete change in flavor profile. Very sweet with a hint of alcohol (what I would expect a wee heavy to taste like).

Thanks to everyone that convinced me to hang on and see how it ages. I am happy about how it ended up.

Cheers!!
Kevin

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On Tap : Dead Read APA
In Primary: Blue Moon Clone, Moose Knuckle Brown Ale
On Deck: Wee Heavy