Smoky flavor in Belgian Tripel

[JRuined]

Hey all,

I have Northern Brewers Belgian Tripel extract kit rolling in primary right now. It didn't seem like the yeasts were doing their thing, but I followed the advice (repeated ad nauseum ad for good reason) of many people on the board and was patient with it for about two weeks. I saw activity well before the 72 hour mark but today I took a sample for hahas and to see what this stuff tastes like as it comes to fruition.

I noticed a very strong smoky flavor. Is there anything that might account for this or is just the yeast beast letting off flavors as it works?

It's a similar question to many of those I see in here but I'm curious. Oh yeah, and the smoky flavor isn't unpleasant, just unexpected.

Thanks ahead of time.


-j.

 

[coreyk67]

i'm not sure why the smokey flavor but i have tried a few hefeweizens and thought ... wow this is good and it tastes like oak smoke. Maybe it's the hop that adds that flavor?? just my 2 cent worth.

By the way ... that art on your site is really cool.

 

[android]

you didn't scorch any extract on the bottom of the pot did you? i've had that happen to be before and it contributed a "burnt, smoky" off flavor.

 

[JRuined]

No scorching that I know of. Nothing crusty on the bottom and after I'd gotten the batch into primary I had to taste the dregs in the pot, and I didn't get any scorched flavor.

It's not something I'm going to worry about, like I said it's not unpleasant just unexpected. I'll see what happens in a few months after it gets a chance to relax in the bottle. Mainly I was curious if anyone else had experienced this.


Corey: Thanks for the compliment on the artwork.

 

[flyangler18]

Smoke is a phenol - and one possible cause of phenolic character where they are unexpected is a wild yeast or bacterial contamination. I'm not diagnosing your beer as infected at this stage, but it is something to consider. The four day lag time suggests you underpitched your yeast, which could have allowed some wild yeast an opportunity to take hold.

What strain did you use to ferment this batch?

 

[JRuined]

Wyeast #3787 Trappist High Gravity. I didn't use a starter, because I went tra la la and followed the directions with the kit, as opposed to coming here for info before I started brewing. My in-laws are heading back to the Phillipines soon, and my dad wanted to see the process since they wouldn't be back for a year or so, and I kind of rushed into the batch rather than researching like I usually do.

Hopefully no infection. Looking at the carboy, I'm not seeing anything funky happening as of yet, but that really doesn't mean squat, does it?