Hold the pepper on my Summer Ale, if you please...

[PenPen]

Curse you, grains of paradise.

This, the "exotic" ingredient in Sam Adams Summer Ale clone (AHB) is overpowering my beer, now towards the end of secondary.

It's peppery; smacks of black liqourice. Not so tasty or refreshing as summer ales go. Any thoughts on how to the balance the taste and mellow that stuff out? I know time will mellow it to a degree, but I've never worked with the random adjunct and would appreciate anyone's advice on the matter. Would dry hopping help? I know it is just for aroma, so I almost retract that question, but I'd like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. Beer is a balance of opposing flavors, right? Malt vs. Hops. So what balances black liqourice?

BTW, I am fairly certain that it's not your run of the mill off flavor. The taste I'm referring to is about how the grains of paradise smelled before I added them to the boil. And all has gone well with the brew to date (sanitation, temp, target gravities, etc.).

Recipe:

Wheat LME 7.5
Specialty grains 2-row and wheat malt .5 lbs each

WL Belgium Wit

Hallertau for bitter, Spalt for flavor and aroma
.5oz grains of paradise
2tbs lemon zest

Danka.

 

[Rick91981]

I would wait a few weeks and see how it turns out. Straight from secondary it will have a stronger taste. I have made it but have not sampled it yet. It has been bottled for 1 week. Ill let you know how it is in 2 more weeks. (I have the self control to wait the full 3 weeks most times! lol)

 

[joshpooh]

How long did you boil your grains of paradise? I use them in a recipe based off of Summer Ale that I make occasionally, but only boil them for the last 15 minutes, and they're barely noticable. I use 2 grams which I just figured out converts to .7 ounces so I use even more than you and they're nothing like you described. Not that it helps now, but if you're boiling them for a long time maybe try only boiling them for 15 minutes next time.

 

[bradsul]

OP take this with a grain of salt but I would give it at least 3 or 4 weeks in secondary before you decide what - if anything - to do with the flavour. I'm also not sure what you could use to correct it, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in and help you out.

Edit: 2 grams is actually 0.07 ounces btw

 

[Filter]

i am starting my summer ale to night and here is mine, i have never used grains of paradise before but was going for the last 15 min for them and the lemon zest


.5 lbs. Belgian Cara-Pils
3 lbs. Liquid Wheat Extract
3 lbs. Liquid Light Extract
1 lbs. Wheat Flaked
1.5 oz. Hallertau (Pellets, 5.0 %AA) boiled 55 min.
.83 oz. Czech Saaz (Pellets, 3.0 %AA) boiled 5 min.
1 ounces lemon zest
3 grams grains of paradise
Yeast : White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale

 

[zoebisch01]

I will follow up what bradsul said. Early on you'll get some serious fluctuation in what stands out in the unconditioned beer. Ride it out and see what happens. As an aside this is the part of homebrewing that to me borders on the mysterious.

What I mean by this is that the changes beer goes through on the road from freshly collected wort to fully conditioned, bottled ale can be so extreme it may resemble something totally different than what you are expecting at various stages along the road.

The mysterious part is being able to gauge or have some handle on how things introduced at various stages in the process will effect the overall outcome. Even something as simple as adding the ingredients pre-boil vs. post boil can sometimes have a dramatic effect in the end.

So wait and see, and what ever you do don't intervene. You have already set the beer in motion to what it will become. :fro:

 

[PenPen]

How long did you boil your grains of paradise? I use them in a recipe based off of Summer Ale that I make occasionally, but only boil them for the last 15 minutes, and they're barely noticable. I use 2 grams which I just figured out converts to .7 ounces so I use even more than you and they're nothing like you described. Not that it helps now, but if you're boiling them for a long time maybe try only boiling them for 15 minutes next time.

Added during last 15 of boil. Should have stated from get go. Thanks.

 

[Raffie]

I have found that how a beer taste after 1 week and after 2+ months is very different.
I usually let beer age for 2 months, never less.

I'm a low level brewer, I got 8 5gal kegs I try to keep filled.

 

[Evan!]

How long did you boil your grains of paradise? I use them in a recipe based off of Summer Ale that I make occasionally, but only boil them for the last 15 minutes, and they're barely noticable. I use 2 grams which I just figured out converts to .7 ounces so I use even more than you and they're nothing like you described. Not that it helps now, but if you're boiling them for a long time maybe try only boiling them for 15 minutes next time.

QFT. I've used them twice, in the amount you did, and unless I knew they were used, I'd never guess they were in there.

 

[Cugel]

How long did you boil your grains of paradise? I use them in a recipe based off of Summer Ale that I make occasionally, but only boil them for the last 15 minutes, and they're barely noticable. I use 2 grams which I just figured out converts to .7 ounces so I use even more than you and they're nothing like you described. Not that it helps now, but if you're boiling them for a long time maybe try only boiling them for 15 minutes next time.

From google calc: 2 grams = 0.0705479239 ounces

Also, any receipe I've ever used paradise seeds in the amount was along the lines of 1/4 to maybe 1/2 a teaspoon. We're talking a small amount of seeds.