All my attempts have the same off-flavor

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lorenz

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It's hard for me to explain this, but I will try my best to explain the problem.

I've brewed about 5 batches of beer now. Except for a wheat beer I only made a gallon of, my beers all seem to have one pervasive flavor, despite their varied recipes. The only way I can explain the taste is to refer to two commercial brews with a similar flavor: New Belgium's Abbey (a Belgian Dubbel), and New Belgium's Trippel (a Belgian Trippel). It's been a while since trying them, but the one bottle of each which I tried seemed to have a similar taste to them.

I don't usually take a taste of my brews until bottling, but at that point the flavor has certainly been present. It lasts for quite a while, although I've noticed (in beers which have been aging for at least 3 months) that it tends to perhaps mellow out into a flavor I can only describe as bitter.

I experienced it first in my first brew, an Irish Red kit; when I took it into the brewshop, they thought it tasted quite green, and suggested I keep my beers in secondary much longer next time (for my first attempt, I was in secondary for about 2.5 weeks). My latest brew (Cheesefood's Caramel cream ale) was in secondary for about 6 weeks. It's since been bottled for about a month, but I still can't taste anything except for this off-flavor.

I know it's hard to diagnose without a bottle or a view into my brewing style, but do any of you have any ideas? I suppose it's possible it's an infection, although I try to be rather stringent with my cleaning with bleach and one-step (not at the same time, of course). Are there any other ideas?

Thanks a ton for all the help, guys... I've learned so much about brewing from these forums, and now I just need to get past this recurring problem so I can put all the knowledge to use.
 
Here are the Brewer's Association descriptions of Belgian-Styles. If you can associate the flavor you have with terms in these descriptions, we can probably help.

Belgian-Style Dubbel
This medium- to full-bodied, dark amber to brown-colored ale has a malty sweetness and nutty, chocolate-like, and roast malt aroma. Flavor and aroma may also have a raisin-like cocoa character. A faint hop aroma is acceptable. Dubbels are also characterized by low bitterness and no hop flavor. Very small quantities of diacetyl are acceptable. Yeast-generated fruity esters (especially banana) are appropriate at low levels. Head retention is dense and mousse like. Chill haze is acceptable at low serving temperatures.

Belgian-Style Tripel
Tripels are often characterized by a complex, spicy, phenolic flavor. Yeast-generated fruity banana esters are also common, but not necessary. These pale/light-colored ales may finish sweet, though any sweet finish can be light on the palate. The beer is characteristically medium to full bodied with a neutral hop/malt balance. Brewing sugar may be used to lighten the perception of body. Its sweetness will come from very pale malts. There should not be character from any roasted or dark malts. Very low hop flavor is okay. Alcohol strength and flavor should be perceived as evident. Head retention is dense and mousse like. Chill haze is acceptable at low serving temperatures.
 
If you're getting it across recipes with different ingredients, I'd try looking at things that have been common in all of them.

The first thing that comes to mind is water. Get a water report from your village and check Palmer's book to see if you have anything that can be adjusted. Or, try bottled water next time and see if you get the same off taste
 
Just throwing a guess out there, it's probably esters or phenols, from a too high fermentation temp. Belgians are known for certain elements of those tastes. Also, those flavors are associated with wheat beers, which would explain why they're not as noticeable; they "fit" the style better.
 
Torchiest said:
Just throwing a guess out there, it's probably esters or phenols, from a too high fermentation temp. Belgians are known for certain elements of those tastes. Also, those flavors are associated with wheat beers, which would explain why they're not as noticeable; they "fit" the style better.

I agree. That was my first thought as well.
 
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