2 batches, both have a woody flavor

Conan · 05-27-2008, 11:18 AM

Hi all. As the title suggests I've brewed 2 batches and both have a woody flavor. The first was a kit beer, the Midwest Nite Cap cherry stout. Followed directions exactly, very conscience of cleanliness. Brewed over an electric stove in a 32 qt. aluminum turkey fryer. It used dry yeast and was at or near 66 degrees the entire fermentation and in secondary. The second I just bottled yesterday and it was my own recipe. I used AHS ingredients: 6lb. amber LME, 5 oz. Rauch and 5 oz. Carafa III. 1oz. Simcoe for 50 mins, 1oz. Challenger for 10 minutes. Yeast was Munton's Gold dry, and my SG was 1.110. At bottling I believe (due to my scale reading) the FG was 1.270. When I tasted this batch it wasnt' bad, just had that woody flavor. Not at all as severe as the first batch was at the same point, though. Anybody have any ideas? Used priming sugar from Midwest on the first batch, AHS on the second. Kyle

**FlyingHorse** · 07-11-2008, 05:45 PM

I suppose some extracted tannins might give a "woody" taste. What temp and how long did you steep your grains?

Also, there's something wrong with those gravity readings on your second batch...based on your ingredients, your OG should have been ~1.042 (5 gallons, fully dilted and mixed in the fermenter) and your FG should have been in the 1.008-1.012 range.

carnevoodoo · 07-11-2008, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conan

Hi all. As the title suggests I've brewed 2 batches and both have a woody flavor. The first was a kit beer, the Midwest Nite Cap cherry stout. Followed directions exactly, very conscience of cleanliness. Brewed over an electric stove in a 32 qt. aluminum turkey fryer. It used dry yeast and was at or near 66 degrees the entire fermentation and in secondary. The second I just bottled yesterday and it was my own recipe. I used AHS ingredients: 6lb. amber LME, 5 oz. Rauch and 5 oz. Carafa III. 1oz. Simcoe for 50 mins, 1oz. Challenger for 10 minutes. Yeast was Munton's Gold dry, and my SG was 1.110. At bottling I believe (due to my scale reading) the FG was 1.270. When I tasted this batch it wasnt' bad, just had that woody flavor. Not at all as severe as the first batch was at the same point, though. Anybody have any ideas? Used priming sugar from Midwest on the first batch, AHS on the second. Kyle

I would first take a look at how you're measuring your gravity. Those numbers are all wrong, unless you're using some sort of scale I've never seen before. Final gravity should be lower than starting gravity though.

As for a woody flavor, I don't know what was in your first kit, but I could see the rauch malt and carafa giving a woody flavor. Is it a specific taste that has happened on both beers, or just something you're noticing?

Hoosierbrewer · 07-11-2008, 05:55 PM

What type of water?