I think I want fuesels... or something... in my wheat beer...

Question first, details follow. Since first taste on friday, taste has actually "degraded" IMHO - though it's still a very good brew. The caramelly flavor (which I really dug) is gone, as is the off hoppy aftertaste. So the question: I assume the caramel was a fuesel - any way to keep the same or produce more? I'm glad the yeast cleaned up the weird hop aftertaste, but I wish they hadn't cleaned up the caramel...

Obviously the brew may improve with age (not that I'll find out ;-) but I want the caramel damnit!

Brewed up my first beer - Wicked Wanda's Wheat beer 11-8-08, Kegged 11-27-08

6# Wheat DME
1/2 Lb Carahell
1 oz cascade @ 60
1/2 Cascade @ 15

White Labs WLP 320. Fermented at 68 (water bath/ fish tank heater method)

19 days in primary. OG ~1.05, FG ~1.02 (likely made an error on one of the two...). Served and stored at "cellar" (carport) temperature (~45). Initial tasting good, orangy, caramelly, ritch, malty, low but balanced hop presence - somewhat unpleasant hoppy aftertaste.

Edit: Guess I better add beer porn ;-)

Alcoholic
A sharp flavor that can be mild and pleasant or hot and bothersome. When an alcohol taste detracts from a beer's flavor it can usually be traced to one of two causes. The first problem is often too high a fermentation temperature. At temperatures above 80°F, yeast can produce too much of the higher weight fusel alcohols which have lower taste thresholds than ethanol. These alcohols taste harsh to the tongue, not as bad as cheap tequila, but bad nonetheless.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Common Off-Flavors

^don't think you are looking for fusels

Is this a case of the desired flavor is gone or perhaps obscured by another stronger flavor that has developed in the beer as it matured?

yeah i doubt that caramel flavor was fusel alcohols. those generally taste hot (almost like you're drinking liquor) and give you nasty headaches and hangovers if you drink too much (or worse if you don't stop there).

i'd reserve judgement until it's been in the keg at least a week. without knowing more i couldn't tell you why the beer would lose a caramel type flavor, but many homebrewers make their own caramel syrup by mixing a little water in with some sugar and heating it on the stove until it's a very light brown. i'd try that instead, intentionally creating fusel alcohols is usually bad news. google "rotgut."

Ok - so drunk me (I'd allready had a couple pints when I posted that one...) thought it was fuesels, guess not...

It's possible that a stronger flavor has developed, but who knows...

Thats the problem with tastes - they're so damn hard to describe and measure objectively - so I may end up needing to experiment...

So here's a question -
What can I do to obtain a caramel flavor in beer?
How can I accentuate or further produce the lemon flavor that was initialy stronger tasting in this brew?
I'll hop less next time - as I have a feeling that part of this is hops overriding other weaker flavors - and I'm happy with the brew, just... parts of it tasted better the first time...

curtis97322 said:

Ok - so drunk me (I'd allready had a couple pints when I posted that one...) thought it was fuesels, guess not...

It's possible that a stronger flavor has developed, but who knows...

Thats the problem with tastes - they're so damn hard to describe and measure objectively - so I may end up needing to experiment...

So here's a question -
What can I do to obtain a caramel flavor in beer?
How can I accentuate or further produce the lemon flavor that was initialy stronger tasting in this brew?
I'll hop less next time - as I have a feeling that part of this is hops overriding other weaker flavors - and I'm happy with the brew, just... parts of it tasted better the first time...

Click to expand...

To add caramel flavor, try using caramel malt (40L would be good) instead of carahell. You could find a recipe, or simply add a pound or 1.5 pounds in the same recipe. I don't like too much caramel malt- it's too sweet for me in most styles, but in a wheat beer it might be exactly what you're looking for. (I dislike wheat beers, so I'm definitely no judge of wheat beers!). Lemon flavor? You could use hops that have a lemon taste, like sorachi hops, or add a slice of lemon at serving time.

Try using the flavor wheel.


http://www.weekendbrewer.com/images/flavorwheel.gif

Thanks for the chart and the hints for next time. I meant esters, not fuesels. Duh.

I'll probably try a less clean fermenting yeast, caramel malt (added or subbed...) and a more lemony hop next time. As the recipie stands, it'll be a repeat... but if I can make it better - why not right?

Though then again, edworts bavarian heff is likely next... I'll probably try doing BIAB in a way too small pot for doing it... may as well try jumping into AG - this extract crap is just too easy ;-)

Use WLP 300 or Wyeast 3068