Am I tasting tannins?

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JusBiz

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Hello. From time-to-time, I get an off taste. The best description is when you burp hours after eating burgers grilled on charcoal with too much lighter fluid. You know the taste? Most recently I brewed an American Wheat with a lot of citrus zest. This off flavor is very apparent. Because of the zest and the tannins in the pith, I'm guessing it is tannins. Any comments?
 
Hello. From time-to-time, I get an off taste. The best description is when you burp hours after eating burgers grilled on charcoal with too much lighter fluid. You know the taste? Most recently I brewed an American Wheat with a lot of citrus zest. This off flavor is very apparent. Because of the zest and the tannins in the pith, I'm guessing it is tannins. Any comments?

Tannins are more of a drying mouthfeel sensation that a flavor. It sounds like a lighter fluid burp is more of a phenolic taste from phenols, although bitterness in the pith could be a part as well. Normally, the pith is removed before using zest in cooking or in brewing.
 
Let er mellow some. See what happens. A hotness mixed with astrigent could be harsh and maybe what you are describing. Bottle conditioning and lagering can smooth things out,but sometimes you may need to condition longer if there were errors made in making beer.
 
Thanks all. I believe I used Wyeast 1010 for this one and I ferment in a swamp cooler with ice. I didn't monitor temperature so it may have gotten a bit high. Possibly it is fusel alcohols. The beer is in bottles and with this off flavor it will be no problem letting it age. Hopefully she'll age gracefully!
 
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