onipar
Well-Known Member
I'm having a hard time figuring out where a strong flavor that has occurred in two very different beers is coming from.
I'm not even sure it's an "off" flavor to be perfectly honest. I can't seem to match it with any of the off flavor charts I've looked at. It's hard to explain exactly what it tastes like. It sort of reminds me of the way my bucket smells after I rack a beer off of it...that residual hop aroma you sometimes get.
I'm hesitant to say there a very slight plastic/rubber taste that comes along with it. "Hesitant" because it's not quite right, but It's as close as I can explain.
I've tried to identify the source of this flavor, and therein lies the problem.
First of all, one was an American Wheat, and the second was a Cream Ale. They had NO INGREDIENTS in common except that they both used US-05 Yeast.
The American Wheat was all DME. The Cream ale was a partial mash.
They both used the same water source, but it is well water which has no chlorine, and I've used this same water with every other beer I've made thus far with no problems whatsoever.
The fermenting buckets used were different for each beer.
The smell/flavor appeared BEFORE racking into bottles (I tasted in the hydro readings), so it wasn't anything from those pieces of equipment.
You can see why I'm having trouble deciding what might be causing this. Today, when my brother also noted that the cream ale tasted like the American Wheat, he suggested perhaps it was from the yeast, but the flavor is so predominant, I didn't think it was the case.
The American wheat admittedly could have had better temp control
(never higher then 68 degrees though), but the cream ale was perfect temp control. A steady 63 degrees the whole time.
So that's why I'm posting. Could it actually be the yeast? Did I miss anything else, any ideas?
I'm planning on sending a couple bottles out to other brewers to see what they say, but for now, I thought I'd ask HBT!
EDIT: Also, I'm planning on making a tasting video of the cream ale tomorrow, and I'll try to better explain what it tastes like in that. I'll post it here tomorrow.
I'm not even sure it's an "off" flavor to be perfectly honest. I can't seem to match it with any of the off flavor charts I've looked at. It's hard to explain exactly what it tastes like. It sort of reminds me of the way my bucket smells after I rack a beer off of it...that residual hop aroma you sometimes get.
I'm hesitant to say there a very slight plastic/rubber taste that comes along with it. "Hesitant" because it's not quite right, but It's as close as I can explain.
I've tried to identify the source of this flavor, and therein lies the problem.
First of all, one was an American Wheat, and the second was a Cream Ale. They had NO INGREDIENTS in common except that they both used US-05 Yeast.
The American Wheat was all DME. The Cream ale was a partial mash.
They both used the same water source, but it is well water which has no chlorine, and I've used this same water with every other beer I've made thus far with no problems whatsoever.
The fermenting buckets used were different for each beer.
The smell/flavor appeared BEFORE racking into bottles (I tasted in the hydro readings), so it wasn't anything from those pieces of equipment.
You can see why I'm having trouble deciding what might be causing this. Today, when my brother also noted that the cream ale tasted like the American Wheat, he suggested perhaps it was from the yeast, but the flavor is so predominant, I didn't think it was the case.
The American wheat admittedly could have had better temp control
(never higher then 68 degrees though), but the cream ale was perfect temp control. A steady 63 degrees the whole time.
So that's why I'm posting. Could it actually be the yeast? Did I miss anything else, any ideas?
I'm planning on sending a couple bottles out to other brewers to see what they say, but for now, I thought I'd ask HBT!
EDIT: Also, I'm planning on making a tasting video of the cream ale tomorrow, and I'll try to better explain what it tastes like in that. I'll post it here tomorrow.