Covering up scorched flavour

[bob3000]

I have posted recently about my APA that tastes like someone has emptied an ash tray into it. It seems likely that scorching is the culprit as my heater elements are black with burnt wort.

The batch before this one was a stout and i got to thinking maybe the roasty flavours covered up some of the scorched flavour. So....

Could i try and save this brew by steeping a load of black, chocolate or brown malt. And add it to the secondary, maybe with some extra yeast. Also i could go further my making it a spiced stout and adding liquorice, clove, corriander ect.

Anyone tried something similar? Any potential drawbacks? I'm assuming i need to boil the steeped wort for a while, maybe 15mins?

 

[david_42]

NO black malt! That will only make the problem worse. Unfortunately, the flavors common in stouts and porters don't play well with hoppy beers. If the beer isn't very hoppy, then steep some chocolate and a dark caramel (about 250 gm each) in a liter of water. Boil to sanitize and add to the beer. You shouldn't need any extra yeast.

 

[samc]

Potential drawback = wasting time & ingredients.

 

[bob3000]

Potential drawback = wasting time & ingredients.

True

 

[bob3000]

NO black malt! That will only make the problem worse.

I guess the idea was to fight fire with fire. i thought maybe the best way to mask the flavour would be to incorperate it some how.

 

[wyzazz]

I scorched two batchches (HWD Elements) and attempted to use gelatine to fine it out. It didn't work, I ended up dumping them. I applaud your efforts and thoughts in trying to cover up this flavor, hopefully my experience will keep you from wasting your time with finings.

 

[bob3000]

I scorched two batchches (HWD Elements) and attempted to use gelatine to fine it out. It didn't work, I ended up dumping them. I applaud your efforts and thoughts in trying to cover up this flavor, hopefully my experience will keep you from wasting your time with finings.

Ha! too late i'm afraid. Already fined; did nothing, but did make the beer cyrstal clear, might start using finings in all my beers.

i think I'll steep some dark malt and add a load of spices and see what happens. won't cost much.

 

[bob3000]

Just to update. I used 1lb of black malt and 1/2 a pound each of chocolate and brown malt. i chucked in 5 or so different spiced about a half teaspoon each and some sticks of liquorice.
I seems to have worked mostly in covering up scorched flavour. But... the resulting beer is pretty foul. Really dry and acrid with spices on top.

Still not sure if i should bother bottling this one up and seeing what happens.

 

[IffyG]

Dump it, the flavor isn't going away. I scorched some grain in an oatmeal stout and kegged it and it sat around for 6 months before I got rid of it because the same burnt flavor was overwhelming the rest of the beer. Dump it, brew something else and move on.

 

[wyzazz]

Dump it, the flavor isn't going away. I scorched some grain in an oatmeal stout and kegged it and it sat around for 6 months before I got rid of it because the same burnt flavor was overwhelming the rest of the beer. Dump it, brew something else and move on.

Agreed. Granted I didn't give my batches much time to let the flavor settle out but It didn't fade at all in the time that I did let it sit. For me the scorched beer was taking up valuable fermenter real estate, it had to go!

 

[samc]

Isn't distillation legal in the UK ?

 

[bob3000]

Dump it, the flavor isn't going away. I scorched some grain in an oatmeal stout and kegged it and it sat around for 6 months before I got rid of it because the same burnt flavor was overwhelming the rest of the beer. Dump it, brew something else and move on.

I gave a friend a sample today and after seeing the look on his face i think it might have to go.

 

[MNDan]

The only beer I've tossed in my entire career was a scorched IPA that I made this spring. Got through the first keg, but just couldn't stand it so the second one went down the drain. Even after aging for 5 months it barely mellowed.