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Olive Taste and Smell in my beer?

Discussion in 'Beginners Beer Brewing Forum' started by Bobcat, May 5, 2018.

 

  1. #1
    Bobcat

    Member

    Posted May 5, 2018
    Hey, I tried looking around for an explanation is similar threads, but the only useful answer I could find was possible oxidization... One person said old hops, but I doubt that's the case for me at least. Another said that it may have come out of primary too early. Does anyone else have any other ideas? Maybe infected?

    I tried making a double IPA, Chinook, Citra, Cascade, and Amarillo (I was just messing around and hoping to get something fruity, floral, and hoppy). I had it in primary for 11 days. Bottles for 3 and a half weeks.
    When finally done and I cracked one open and I got the bitter, a pinch of fruity, and also like I just stuck my nose into a jar of manzanilla green olives... It tastes like a very bitter IPA, with quite a bit of olive juice in it, and a tiny pinch of pineapple.

    My hops and yeast are fresh from brauen.de (they are pretty well known, so I doubt they sent me a bad product).

    Any ideas?
     
    Lefou likes this.
  2. #2
    Yooper

    Ale's What Cures You! Staff Member  

    Posted May 6, 2018
    Green olive small and taste is pretty common as an off flavor, believe it or not. It's more common in stouts and dark beers, and I can't remember ever noticing it in IPAs before, but I assume it's the same issue.

    This is one of the groups of flavors called "esters". Some are fruity, bubblegum, etc, but there are some that are green apple and even green olive in aroma and flavor. This is generally a sign of poor yeast health- either stressed yeast or a too-high fermentation temperature. So check that and see if you pitched enough yeast for a DIPA (generally a huge starter), and held it at a low enough temperature during fermentation. That's the most likely cause.
     
    Bobcat and RPh_Guy like this.
  3. #3
    gunhaus

    Supporting Member  

    Posted May 6, 2018
    AS usual Yooper is spot on - I would add that I had this happen with SO-4 and SO-5 with wide fluctuations in fermentation temp as well. I am sure other yeast fall victim the same. I experienced this where I had a chamber i thought was stable, but it turned out it was bouncing up and down from 60 to 74 or so degrees.
     
    Bobcat likes this.
  4. #4
    thehaze

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 8, 2018
    I too noticed that once or twice, but was really not bothersome at all. There were other aromas and flavours which were more potent.
     
  5. #5
    Bobcat

    Member

    Posted May 9, 2018
    I think this may be the issue. I put about the same amount of yeast in as I did for a previous Pale Ale, I thought that should be adequate. (I'm fairly new to home brewing)
    On top of this, it's recently become summer and every day is about 25° C, and my apartment is quite warm. I'm not sure where I could find a cooler location to store my beer... :/
    Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it and I'll definitely be thinking about this with my next batch! :D
     
  6. #6
    thehaze

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 9, 2018
    You can somewhat control the fermentation temperature by putting the fermenting into an ince bath... or put a T-shirt on the fermenter and keep it wet with cold water, while the bottom of the fermenter is sitting in cold/ice water... Maybe.
     
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