Identifying a particular flavor

There's a flavor that I find difficult to identify and describe to others. I don't particularly like it and it's definitely stronger/more noticable in hefeweisens. I refer to it as a "smoky" flavor. What's the proper identifier for this flavor and what causes it?

Well, in hefeweisens, I notice mostly esters and phenols. Esters are fruity (bubblegum, banana) and phenols are spicy (cloves, medicinal, even band-aidy tasting). Those don't sound like smokey, though.

It also seems that if I drink a few IPA's beforehand, the IPA's saturate my taste buds and make a lot of other beers taste "smoky" as well. I really don't know any other way to describe it. It's sort of a "spicy" taste, if I had to assign it, I guess..

I wonder what the recipe and the yeast was? Maybe you don't like wheat.

businesstime said:

It's sort of a "spicy" taste, if I had to assign it, I guess..

Click to expand...

A spicy flavor, as Yooper said, could be attributed to phenols. It could also be attributed to hops. Hefe's are usually more on the banana side with very little hop flavor.

businesstime said:

It also seems that if I drink a few IPA's beforehand, the IPA's saturate my taste buds and make a lot of other beers taste "smoky" as well. I really don't know any other way to describe it. It's sort of a "spicy" taste, if I had to assign it, I guess..

Click to expand...

Maybe "smoky" is acidic. I'm not a fan of wheat beers since they have those kind of esters that Yooper describes. A big American IPA can have citrusy bitterness: that I also think might be perceived as acidic in a way....but it's a different kind of acidity: I'm not a fan of the sour sort of phenols that Belgian beers can have, but the more aroma and bitterness in an American IPA, the better!

Conroe said:

I wonder what the recipe and the yeast was? Maybe you don't like wheat.

Click to expand...

Well, I don't perceive the same taste in a lot of commercial belgian-wheat beers like your blue moon or shock-top (the citrusy belgian wheats). Maybe they just overwhelm the wheat flavor?

Well, Blue Moon and Shock Top aren't really good examples of wits. Calling Blue Moon a Belgian Wit is like calling Miller Lite a pilsner. Possibly technically true, but nothing like an authentic version.

Having just opened Heavy Seas "Red Sky At Night", a Saison Ale, I'm reminded of this very flavor. I proceeded to open a small container of ground cloves to compare. There are some similarities. The perceived spiciness/smokiness in the Saison ale is much more mild than ground cloves, but they both have the same "numbing" sensation, so perhaps that is what I've been trying to describe.

Definitely not a fan- thanks for helping me identify this taste. I think I'll just stay away from most wheats (with the exception of crappy, fruity commercial ones