Bubble Gum Taste

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DtownRiot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
100
Reaction score
0
Location
Pa
I remember awhile back (3 months or so), someone had said that they tasted a slight bubble gum taste in their beer. This struck me as odd, and unfortunately, the taste has struck my last batch. It really does sort of have a bubble gum taste to it. It was an extract recipe, five gallons, honey pale ale. I used about a pound of honey in the last ten mins of the boil. The o.g. was around 1.040, the final was around 1.020. I let it ferment for 33 days. It has conditioned now for 13 days. Any ideas on why this happened, and how to avoid it in the future?

Thanks people
 
If the OG was 40 and the FG is 20... there is more wrong than the bubble gum flavor. That is only 50% attenuation... is it bottled? Id be worried about them exploding, that is very little attenuation, especially considering honey is almost 75% fermentable.

If your OG was 1.040 and you used a pound of honey... how much extract did you use?

My calculations show that you could not have used more then 4.5lbs of DME, and 1 pound of honey if your OG was 1.040. The thing is the honey was 25% of the fermentables and is 75% fermentable there is something awry here.
 
Some yeast purposefully produce bubblegum flavors, some do it as a product of too high of a fermentation temp...But at only 13 days in the bottle it is still too early to worry about it...more than likely it is just a product of it still being green...and will more than likely dissapear in a couple of weeks...

Or longer in this case...But it did go away..
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

rememebr though..don't stress out about a flavor in the beer if it has been under three to six weeks...you gotta let the process finish out.

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Of_Patience_and_Bottle_Conditioning/
 
Im not really sure what attentuation is b/c ive only been at thia for about three months. But those numbers that I got on the gravity, seem to be what ive always got on my other batches and they tasted fine. And this is the longest I have conditioned before drinking. As for recipe specs, im at work and don't have my notes with me. I will post when I leave here.
 
See I love bubble gum. I wish my beer would have that kind of off flavor sometimes. Bubble gum tastes better then astrigency / grain husk / litter box any ol day of the week.
 
Attenuation is the ammount of sugar that the yeast eat up...

Generally you are looking at 70-75% of the OG sugar being eaten up by the yeasties. Each yeast is different.

Meaning that a 1.040 beer should be finishing around 1.010 - 1.012. 1.020 is really high, and 50% attenuation across several brews is an oddity.

This is how you compute attenuation (it is important so that you dont bottle too early and make bombs)

OG (40) minus FG (20) = 20
20 divided by OG (40) = 50%

Normally youd see
Og (40) minus FG (12) = 28
28 divided by OG (40) = 70%

That extra residual sugar when placed with some yeast in a sealed glass bottle can ferment out, causing too much pressure and KAPOW!! Exploding glass all over.
What yeast did you use?
 
I believe it was saf-ale. It comes in a light blue packet. How would I get my attenuation to go down? I feel like 33 days in the primary should have been enough. I did take readings, but my hydrometer is hard to read. I need a digital one.
 
Not if you're always bottling too soon...;)


HB99, you are a wacky guy!

Well, sounds like you used S-04... 50% is really low, S-04 can attenuate up to 75%, more typically 65-70% maybe, but 50% is really low. I dont know why that would be.... could be aeration issues, ferment temps etc. Either way, sumpin is going on that is not quite right.
 
Slimy mouthfeel? Bad diacetyl can come across as oily mouthfeel. Diacetyl is produced in very low ferment temps. Guess another symptom of too low fermentation temps? A very low attenuation.
 
*jinx*

So we were writing this at exactly the same time???? Great minds!!!

:mug:


LOL! I was confused at first.

(I also forgot this was the bubblegum flavor thread so I am stumped. Diacetyl and high esters?!? Very weird.)
 
LOL! I was confused at first.

(I also forgot this was the bubblegum flavor thread so I am stumped. Diacetyl and high esters?!? Very weird.)

Well, I always have helpd that taste is subjective....one person's bubblegum, could be another person's popcorn, especially if the person hasn't ever tasted "controls" like they use for Bjcp training...SO another person may say it's more butterscotch than bubblegum...so who really knows...but I betcha given time it will mellow out.
 
Well, I always have helpd that taste is subjective....one person's bubblegum, could be another person's popcorn, especially if the person hasn't ever tasted "controls" like they use for Bjcp training...SO another person may say it's more butterscotch than bubblegum...so who really knows...but I betcha given time it will mellow out.


True, and they do make different flavors of bubblegum. This might be that new Bubble Yum Butter flavor bubblegum. Yumm! :)

Yeah, I vote bottle it and forget it. Keep a handle on temps more closely from now on. I also thought that it might be possible to pitch too warm, get some esters, and then go too cold to produce some diacetyl. Just a thought. Same solution though.
 
True, and they do make different flavors of bubblegum. This might be that new Bubble Yum Butter flavor bubblegum. Yumm! :)

Yeah, I vote bottle it and forget it. Keep a handle on temps more closely from now on. I also thought that it might be possible to pitch too warm, get some esters, and then go too cold to produce some diacetyl. Just a thought. Same solution though.


I thought by "conditioned" for 13 days, he meant bottle conditioned....and I didn't see how long it's been fermenting, i mean I've only been helping 30 or 40 other folks today, and I occasionally miss something ;), I missed the 33 days aspect...I thought he already bottled it, and someone (Hb99) said something about moving it too soon...

If it isn't bottled, I think he should, and if it is, I still believe he should wait it out...I mean, my "bad beer" in the don't nump thread was very bubblegummy...and I figured that was from warm fermentation...but it did go away and the beer turned out to be one of the best I had made by then.....
 
Back
Top