1oz bad simcoe ruined 2 batches of beer

[staticfritz]

so I think i found the culprit after making two awful batches of ipa. Anyone have something like this?


first bad beer was a basic IPA, but a first time brew on a new EBIAB setup. since it was really just a 'test' beer, I used a bunch of hop cones I found and froze last year to dry hop. Keeping it cheap, I still had about half a pound of simcoe sealed in my freezer from 3 ish years ago, I figured that would work as a bittering hop. Smelled nice and piney out of the bag

first beer was awful. weird stanky/soapy bitterness, ugh
I figured it was the oddball backyard hop cones and a bunch of new equipment that may have still had some residues on it. no big deal, tossed all 5 gallons of beer down the drain

Got excited to do a big dry hop session with a bunch of vic secret i ordered. brew day went great. Didn't order any extra bittering hops, but threw a single oz of that same simcoe (still smells nice) in as an early bittering addition. fermentation went great, added about 6oz of vic secret between late addition/hop stand and dry hop. US05, fermentation went great, primary for a week, dry hop 3 days, cold crashed and kegged.

Excited to try it today. crystal clear, smells of mango and pineapple?
...




that same friggin bad taste. less dramatic, but still garbage beer. WTFFFF!!

the simcoe is the only thing i can imagine as being the same between batches with the potential to create such an awful flavor. (the new brew setup is all stainless except the CFC which is copper, and it's all been scrubbed twice now)

SO i throw a little DME/water in a saucepan on the stove and just do a 60min boil with some of that same simcoe, cool it and take a sip. YUCK! Took half of another beer just to get the taste out of my mouth.
so pissed off at 2 wasted batches of beer now

anyone have something like that happen???

 

[catdaddy66]

Simcoe is a hop I haven't used so I can't say personally, but at a beer tasting last summer I met a woman who was a member of the brew club in Columbia, SC. She could tell a beer with Simcoe in blind tastings because it had a soapy flavor. She said that the taste is a by product of genetics which a small %of people have.

Have you ever tasted simcoe without the soapiness?

I have no link to a supporting article, only an interesting anecdote overheard drinking beer last summer.

 

[staticfritz]

i used it previously without an issue, and my wife thought it was god awful too. i mean seriously, it's bad enough that i'm throwing away like 10+ gallons of beer now....

 

[Gibberoni]

Have a few other people drink it as well, and maybe let it mellow for a few weeks. I had a batch a few batches ago that I thought was horrible. Tasted like cardboard and wet napkins. I was about to throw it away but a buddy that helped me brew asked me to bring it to his house to try it. I brought it over and he and his family loved it. Thought it was great! I ended up bringing them a growler every time I went over and watched them drink it.

I ended up starting to drink it after a few weeks and it started to taste more grassy than papery.

Everyone has different tastes!

 

[FunkedOut]

Simcoe is a hop I haven't used so I can't say personally, but at a beer tasting last summer I met a woman who was a member of the brew club in Columbia, SC. She could tell a beer with Simcoe in blind tastings because it had a soapy flavor. She said that the taste is a by product of genetics which a small %of people have.

Have you ever tasted simcoe without the soapiness?

I have no link to a supporting article, only an interesting anecdote overheard drinking beer last summer.

Funny, I’ve heard the same genetic story said about cilantro tasting like soap.
I’m extremely happy my genes tell me cilantro is delicious.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Do you have a local homebrew club? Most of them have some BJCP certified judges that can really help diagnose off flavors in a beer.

 

[bigplunkett]

Ive never heard simco as soapy. Cat pee but not soap

 

[probablynotnick]

Could it be residual pbw/alkaline wash in a keg or beer lines? I've been fighting what sounds like a similar flavor in the last few batches that I've kegged. The flavor I get is this dank bitterness on the back of the tongue. It's happened on a light pale as well as a brown.

A huge bitter charge of hops in a tiny bit of wort could taste pretty awful in even the best situation.

Curious to hear if you find the culprit

 

[LarMoeCur]

Where these wet hops you just froze? or did you dry them out first before freezing? Freezing wet hops is not recommended.

I've never been a fan of wet hopped beers. They always have a vegetable off flavor to me. I like Simcoe in small doses as a late hop or dry hop only. An over Simcoe'd beer tastes Catty to me if you have ever owned a cat you know what Catty taste like.

 

[staticfritz]

regular dry pellets, bought a pound and used most of it 2 years ago
I doubt it's pbw given how much hot water I rinse through everything

new hops and grain purchased....hopefully not a waste