Smokey Fermentation problem

[Floydmeister]

Not too long ago I brewed an Irish Stout. Jamils recipe, pretty basic. I split my batch and tried US-05 in one and Wyeast 1084 in the other. I use temp control and set the temp at 65*F. They both showed activity after a day or two and then virtually all the krausen was gone within a day or two of it showing up. I had guessed this was due to the low gravity so I bumped the temp up to 70 and gave it a full two weeks. I under attenuated, hitting only 1.020 in both batches and they both have a very smokey flavor and aroma. It overpowers the beer. Is this something related to a poor fermentation or is it more likely I screwed something up in the mash/boil? I brewed a light style right after and have no smokiness. Not sure what to do about it. I'd like to revisit this style but I don't want another smoke bomb. Has anyone else had this problem? This is just 2 row, English roast and flaked barley.

 

[Pappers_]

That's a puzzle. We're drinking the same beer, same grains, at home now. We used Nottingham.

Often, smokey flavors are classified as an off-flavor in the phenolic category. Other phenols include medicinal, spices, and plastic flavors. It could be water related - if your brew and sparge water had significant chlorine in it. Sparging with water at too high a temp is said to lead to phenol development. A slow-developing bacterial presence might also be a factor.

All that being said, smokey phenols are less common than other phenols, in my tasting experience. Glad whatever it was seems not to have impacted your next beer!

 

[kh54s10]

Any chance the English Roast was mixed up with Smoked malt?

 

[Floydmeister]

That's a puzzle. We're drinking the same beer, same grains, at home now. We used Nottingham.

Often, smokey flavors are classified as an off-flavor in the phenolic category. Other phenols include medicinal, spices, and plastic flavors. It could be water related - if your brew and sparge water had significant chlorine in it. Sparging with water at too high a temp is said to lead to phenol development. A slow-developing bacterial presence might also be a factor.

All that being said, smokey phenols are less common than other phenols, in my tasting experience. Glad whatever it was seems not to have impacted your next beer!

My pH was in line at 5.46 and my water should have been good. I use filtered tap water but I drop a whole campden tablet in for a 10 gallon batch. The fact that it's smokey is concerning though. I've heard of e-Brewers getting the flavor from their element burning wort but I'm on propane.

Any chance the English Roast was mixed up with Smoked malt?

That I'm not sure of. I've got some of the malt here and it tastes like I think it should. Very coffee like.

 

[Pappers_]

Well, maybe a sanitation-related phenolic, then.

 

[Floydmeister]

So this is an interesting update...

I have had the 1084 on tap and haven't been drinking it because of the smokiness, and the US-05 keg has been room temp for the last 3 weeks under about 30psi. I purged it a bit this morning just to confirm that it has the same smokey aroma... and it doesn't. I put it in my keezer in place of the 1084 keg and after a line cleaning I pulled a small sample of warm, very foamy beer. Not only do I not get any smokiness but it's pretty damn good warm and flat. It tastes like, well, an Irish Stout! The body is noticeably different. It feels thin and slick like a guinness draught. Now, I kegged after two weeks so maybe I jumped the gun on this one and my US-05 batch was allowed to finish up in the keg. Is there any way to check gravity again now that it's carbed? Further, is it more likely that I got my palate mixed up and the smokiness I detected on the 1084 sample led me to believe the US-05 was smoky too? Or is it possible that the smokiness was cleaned up by the yeast? Either way, I'm happy that one of my kegs is going to be good. I'm going to let the 1084 keg sit at room temp for a month and see what happens, might be too late at this point but I've got room to spare.