Pappa_Bjorn
Novice
I've gotten the same off flavour/scent in two brews; one mead, one gose. It's highly reminiscent of paint solvent/mineral spirits, and describable somewhat like combusted diesel, machine grease, non-ferric/ferrous minerals/metals (or dust of these), being mildly peppery, flat and greasy in taste yet with no texture, being not sour/tangy, and being associated by me with metros, mechanic workshops, old machinery in museums, etc. Thus I suspect it's fusel alcohol(s), though I haven't gotten the privilege of smelling foul moonshine for a proper comparison yet.
Both brews share...
What differs in these two vs. the failed ones is that...
B) If so, what of the above likely caused the fusels in the gose/mead, but not in the two ales?
(Made a similar thread for gose only before both brews were finished but I'm re-making for clarity/reduced clutter/added info. Apologies if considered spam)
Both brews share...
- ...US-05 yeast,
- ...initial ferment temp @18°C/65°F,
- ...ferment temp raised to 23.5°C/74°F @t+10d,
- ...low pH must/wort (caused by grapefruit juice in must, and acid malt mash in wort),
- ...added citrus zest (which smelled very fusel-y in the hop bag w. lemon zest from the mead carboy),
- ...longer bottle conditioning @ high temp. sliiightly reducing off-taste presence.
What differs in these two vs. the failed ones is that...
- ...the ales fermented only @23.5°C/74°F - no cold-to-hot transfer,
- ...due to higher temp. the ales fermented faster and more violently,
- ...the ales did not have a lower-than-avg. pH wort/must,
- ...the ales did not have citrus zest (with citrus oils still inside),
- ...the ales had a lot more hops.
B) If so, what of the above likely caused the fusels in the gose/mead, but not in the two ales?
(Made a similar thread for gose only before both brews were finished but I'm re-making for clarity/reduced clutter/added info. Apologies if considered spam)