Hello all,
I brewed an AG stout in May of this year, and throughout fermentation and bulk aging it tasted fantastic. The recipe was for the most part the Kate the Great clone found on this site. I aged in on French oak for 2 months, and then bottle conditioned in late August. I consumed the first bottles in September, and they tasted good though a bit undercarbed. I have noticed though that bottles I open now have a very heavy nasty popcorn butter flavor and aroma- so much so that when I smell the beer it seems more like Chardonnay than stout.
So, any ideas on what caused this? The fermentation was NOT temp controlled, so the temperature could have easily climbed into the 70's. S-05 was used. This does not seem to be the culprit though as the beer was bulk aged for well over a month at the same temps, which should have taken care of any residual diacetyl. Also, the flavor was not detectable in bulk aged samples.
I have heard that excessive oxidation can cause diacetyl production- while my bottling was not out of the ordinary in any way I can think of, I'm thinking this was the point of introduction. If this is the case, can I realistically expect the diacetyl to age off? Should I cellar the stout for a year or two in hopes that it will turn into something great, or should I just trash it now and save myself the trouble?
Thanks to anyone who has some input!
I brewed an AG stout in May of this year, and throughout fermentation and bulk aging it tasted fantastic. The recipe was for the most part the Kate the Great clone found on this site. I aged in on French oak for 2 months, and then bottle conditioned in late August. I consumed the first bottles in September, and they tasted good though a bit undercarbed. I have noticed though that bottles I open now have a very heavy nasty popcorn butter flavor and aroma- so much so that when I smell the beer it seems more like Chardonnay than stout.
So, any ideas on what caused this? The fermentation was NOT temp controlled, so the temperature could have easily climbed into the 70's. S-05 was used. This does not seem to be the culprit though as the beer was bulk aged for well over a month at the same temps, which should have taken care of any residual diacetyl. Also, the flavor was not detectable in bulk aged samples.
I have heard that excessive oxidation can cause diacetyl production- while my bottling was not out of the ordinary in any way I can think of, I'm thinking this was the point of introduction. If this is the case, can I realistically expect the diacetyl to age off? Should I cellar the stout for a year or two in hopes that it will turn into something great, or should I just trash it now and save myself the trouble?
Thanks to anyone who has some input!