Extract Brewing vs Commercial off flavors

[jmkratt]

Not sure if that title made sense so I will try to explain my question:

Found a few bottles of Odells Red (Spring seasonal) in the back of the fridge last night...score! I proceeded to drink all 4 of them and it was lovely. I then poured myself a pint of my extract brewed West Coast Blaster which I thought was pretty damn good. As it is a similar style to Odells Red I wanted to taste the differences. Well after 4 Odells my West Coast Blaster tasted awful - like cough syrup. I have researched the chlorine issue and am not sure if that's the problem. I again tried the West Coast Blaster the next night and didn't pick up the off-flavors and thought it was tasty.

Does this make any sense?

Should my homebrew taste that much worse than the Odells? Perhaps I so have a chlorine problem and I only notice it after drinking non-chlorinated brews? Is the issue with extract?

Just curious. If anyone has any information I'd love to hear it!

 

[carnevoodoo]

Is cough syrup the best descriptor you can use? Is it something more specific? How do you control your temperatures? Do you pitch enough yeast? Are you using good quality extract?

There's so much that could be going wrong, we'd need more information. Yes, chlorine can make for some awful flavors. But so can many other things.

 

[COLObrewer]

There are some brews that I have found taste different to me on different days, it matters not if it's commercial or homebrew, I think it depends on my attitude and the alignment of the stars?

 

[FreeM80s]

do you leave the lid on the pot when you boil? I read about this a few weeks ago and it blew my mind

 

[fatmoose]

do you leave the lid on the pot when you boil? I read about this a few weeks ago and it blew my mind

For an all extract brew this shouldn't really matter. As I understand it most of the bad stuff that normally gets expelled during the boil gets cooked off during the extract producing process.

 

[JJL]

I've got to be honest, I don't know that I would trust my taste buds after drinking 4 of the same beers. Your taste buds are likely fatigued, and your senses in general dulled somewhat from the alcohol.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I think he means a cloying sweetness by the cough syrup thing.

I can't help, as I don't remember much at all about extract brewing.

 

[rcreveli]

I really like my Irish Red and I get a ton on compliments on the brew so on my birthday I was on my back deck with a Macanudo cigar and I popped open one of those delicious Irish reds...

I was Ghastly, Bitter and Horrific, sipping it made me nauseous.

The cigar had that large of an effect on my palate, not a perfect comparison but it's still what I think happened to you.

 

[jmkratt]

Is cough syrup the best descriptor you can use? Is it something more specific? How do you control your temperatures? Do you pitch enough yeast? Are you using good quality extract?

There's so much that could be going wrong, we'd need more information. Yes, chlorine can make for some awful flavors. But so can many other things.

Cough syrup is exactly what it tasted like, there is nothing else to describe it. I control my temperatures with a ranco unit attached to a heater in a shower in the basement so the temperature really doesn't fluctuate more then 2*.

I am not as concerned with the quality of the brew, as I said I liked it, except after the other similar brews. The taste drastically changed, at least to my palette, and I was curious if anyone else experienced this?

There are some brews that I have found taste different to me on different days, it matters not if it's commercial or homebrew, I think it depends on my attitude and the alignment of the stars?

Yeah I understand what you mean, I get that too.

I've got to be honest, I don't know that I would trust my taste buds after drinking 4 of the same beers. Your taste buds are likely fatigued, and your senses in general dulled somewhat from the alcohol.

That's what I was thinking too. So much of 1 type of beer and then another, its bound to be affected. I mean when I do brewery tours beers taste completely different as the beers ahead of it on the tour change the flavor...does that make sense?

I think he means a cloying sweetness by the cough syrup thing.

I can't help, as I don't remember much at all about extract brewing.

Right.

 

[TRainH2o]

When I think of how cough syrup tastes, sickening sweet and alcohol comes to mind. If that is what you are talking about, then the following may be going on.

Sweet could be from incomplete fermentation or an over production of esters from the yeast. You would have to had taken a starting and and ending gravity to judge incomplete fermentation. Esters usually get out of control if you have stressed yeast or high fermentation temperature. Stressed yeast can come from under pitching or yeast past its prime.

Alcohol bite can come, again, from high fermentation temperature. For example, if your ambient temperature where your fermentation is going on is 65˚ F, the temp in your primary could easily be 10˚ higher. You could also experience a bite taste from chlorine or other minerals in your water. When I extract brew, I find that I have the best results from distilled water or water that has been run through a reverse osmosis filter.

Just a few things that I have experienced.

 

[SteveM]

Extract brewing does not inherently produce any particular characteristic in a beer. There are so many process and ingredient variables that it will be very difficult to know what went wrong with any given brew, but the water is a good place to start.

Note that I am much more an intuitive that formulaic brewer, though my processes are very carefully controlled. In my opinion, a good general rule about the water you use is that if it tastes good when you drink it, it will make good beers.

Try a side by side tasting of bottled spring waters (not distilled) compared to tap waters. If your tap water is comparable in taste, then don't waste the money on spring water, but if it isn't, then spending a few dollars on spring water is not a bad idea.

My local tap water is perfectly safe to drink but the taste is nowhere near as good as bottled water, so that's what I use.

 

[HollywoodMX]

Old thread, but I found my extract brews improved in quality from several important factors. I started using filtered water and I started adding the extract at the last 15 min of the boil (w/a steeping mash prior).

I found liquid extract to be a total fail on several occasions adding off flavors to the beer and I found Briess dry malt extract to be better quality then the hombrew stores house extract.