RBlagojevich
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2008
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Hi everyone,
I have been a homebrewer for many years. I moved to new york recently, and since the move all of my beers taste "off". I would describe the unwanted flavor compound as sort of grainy, husky, and sometimes cabbagey.
I immediately blamed the problem on DMS, and have taken the following steps to get rid of the problem:
-moved to 2-hour boil times
-using maris otter instead of american 2-row as my base malt in all beers
-restricting mash time to no more than 60min
Still, the off flavor persists. Are there any suggestions about how to remedy the problem?
Here are some possibilities about what could be going wrong:
a. I have some kind of bacterial infection
b. there's something new/weird about the NYC water supply that's bringing out different flavors than I'm used to
c. My new local homebrew supply shop (brooklyn homebrew) has a weird grain mill that's grinding the barley up too finely and adding husky characteristics.
Here's a possible clue:
My first batch after moving to new york, a session-strength scotch ale, was brewed in early november. My first impression was that it had a ton of DMS in it. After several months of aging in the bottle, however, that flavor has mostly subsided and it's now quite clean and pleasant. To me, this points toward c.
After all, real DMS doesn't age out... and if it was a bacterial infection it would be getting worse over time rather than better, am i right?
I have been a homebrewer for many years. I moved to new york recently, and since the move all of my beers taste "off". I would describe the unwanted flavor compound as sort of grainy, husky, and sometimes cabbagey.
I immediately blamed the problem on DMS, and have taken the following steps to get rid of the problem:
-moved to 2-hour boil times
-using maris otter instead of american 2-row as my base malt in all beers
-restricting mash time to no more than 60min
Still, the off flavor persists. Are there any suggestions about how to remedy the problem?
Here are some possibilities about what could be going wrong:
a. I have some kind of bacterial infection
b. there's something new/weird about the NYC water supply that's bringing out different flavors than I'm used to
c. My new local homebrew supply shop (brooklyn homebrew) has a weird grain mill that's grinding the barley up too finely and adding husky characteristics.
Here's a possible clue:
My first batch after moving to new york, a session-strength scotch ale, was brewed in early november. My first impression was that it had a ton of DMS in it. After several months of aging in the bottle, however, that flavor has mostly subsided and it's now quite clean and pleasant. To me, this points toward c.
After all, real DMS doesn't age out... and if it was a bacterial infection it would be getting worse over time rather than better, am i right?