Commercial Diacetyl Calibration Beer

[jamest22]

Anyone know of a commercial beer that is known to exhibit noticeable diacetyl character?

I want to try a beer that contains lots of diacetyl to get a better idea of what it smells and tastes like.

 

[Demfer]

Step one is to go to the grocery store and purchase a bottle of imitation butter flavor (found in the spice section) and two cans of light-tasting beer (Coors Light works quite particularly well). The beer used for this lesson should be packaged in cans to ensure that it has not been exposed to light, which causes beer to skunk.

Step two is to chill the beers to about 45 °F. Open each, pour them into separate glasses, and add about six drops of the imitation butter flavor to one of the beers. Now smell both beers. If you cannot easily detect the difference in the aromas, add butter flavoring three drops at a time until you clearly discern the diacetyl character.

It is important to spike the flavoring chemical into beer rather than water so that you can learn how to distinguish it from the other beer characteristics. At first, it is good to use a light beer for this lesson because the rich flavors that occur in bold beers will confound your senses.

It is easy for the novice beer evaluator to confuse the buttery flavor of diacetyl with the caramel flavor of certain malts and the toffee-like character of beers that have gone stale. Practice with spiking different types of beer and drinking with experienced tasters will quickly reveal the differences.

 

[jamest22]

Thanks. I will do that.

Are there any commercial beers that stick out in your mind as exhibiting diacetyl off flavors/aromas?

 

[Revvy]

I've picked it up in Killian's red...often on tap in bars that take a shoddy approach to cleanliness of their lines...but occasionally in bottles too.

I also have noticed it in 12 ounce bottles of Rogue Dead Guy...not so much in the bombers, but I have had it come up in the 12 ouncers. Maybe look for some bottles that have been on the shelves for awhile....As they go down hill, it may be that it comes to the forefront more.

 

[KingBrianI]

Thanks. I will do that.

Are there any commercial beers that stick out in your mind as exhibiting diacetyl off flavors/aromas?

Diacetyl isn't always an off flavor and can be very nice in the right amounts in certain styles. For commercial beers, try any of Shipyards beers. Their IPA displays lots of diacetyl (in a good way).

 

[beeber]

Sam Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale. It has plenty of diacetyl and it's appropriate for this style.

 

[mb2696]

red hook ESB:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/Diacetyl_Time_Line.pdf (bottom of page 3)

 

[Demfer]

Thanks. I will do that.

Are there any commercial beers that stick out in your mind as exhibiting diacetyl off flavors/aromas?

Thats a tough one for a few reasons.

1) Some brewing create Diacetyl in their beer because it adds some desired flavors for some styles. But it is never so much to become overwhelming.

2) Some batches just sometimes have too much Diacetyl, while not intended it happends and can vary so its hard for me to point you to a particular offering.

3) Storage, shelf life, shipping, and other things may impact the presence of diacetyl, it may be a great beer that didn't have the best care.

Many Breweries, as part of their quality control spike various samples out of their brite tanks prior to approval and release with many different off-flavors. This is the best way to identify off flavors and keep your palate calibrated.

 

[jamest22]

red hook ESB:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/Diacetyl_Time_Line.pdf (bottom of page 3)

Thanks for the link. That White Labs document is very informative. They recommend bottling with some yeast still in suspension to minimize diacetyl development in the bottle during storage.

I will pick up some Red Hook ESB. I've had it before and enjoy it. I wasn't looking for diacetyl when I was drinking it. I know that diacetyl can be a desired component of a beer, I want to sharpen my tasting skills to better identify it.

Like someone said earlier, sometimes I am confused as to whether I am smelling/tasting caramel/butterscotch from caramel malts and caramelization, or diacetyl.

I'm also going to spike a Coor's Light and give that a try.

 

[remilard]

red hook ESB:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/Diacetyl_Time_Line.pdf (bottom of page 3)

+1

Pilsner Urquell if you want to see if you can detect a non-absurd level.

 

[curlyfat]

If I still had a bottle of my last failed attempt at a lager I would send you some. LOL! That d*** thing screamed diacetyl. Just try brewing a lager and assume it's easy and forgiving. You'll probably get to taste it!

 

[Gremlyn]

Most Scottish-style beers have some diacetyl, though it may be difficult for the untrai9ned palette to pick it out from everything else. It adds a butterscotch-like note to the Scottish style.