Fusel alcohol flavor on initial pour but disappears

[universalfrost]

Brewed a red-x malt smash with Cascade whole leaf and wyeast 1056 American ale.

Hit my sg and fg and kept the temps within range in the fermenter ( fermentasaurus) and dumped the trub off and harvested the yeast after a couple of weeks so no worries about off flavors from trub or old yeast.

Sat in the fermenter for 3.5 weeks.

I kegged and let carb at 14psi for two weeks.

On all my pours from the keg the initial smell and taste has a strong aroma and flavor forward of fusel alcohol.

I almost dumped the keg but today I let a glass of the beer sit and I came back after a few minutes and the fusel alcohol flavor and aroma is gone... The beer still could lager for a few weeks to let the flavor mature ( it's already improved in last week).

Any ideas on what is going on with the non typical fusel alcohol flavor and aroma that's temporary... ( I already thought about it just evaporating )

Edit....it's not the co2 source..I've got a cider and a Belgian Whit on the same co2 without any of the fusel alcohol flavor or aroma.

 

[bpgreen]

From what I've read, fusel alcohol doesn't condition out.

14 PSI seems a bit high. Are you sue it's not just the carbonic acid bite you're detecting? That would dissipate when you leave it sitting in the glass for a bit.

 

[universalfrost]

Not the "bite" from the gas as it's never been there in fusel alcohol form in any of my other brews and this is on the same gas supply as two other beers and a cider...

14psi is what I run my main lines on for my brews ( I have secondary regulators that I can set lower if needed) to ensure a proper pour out of the tap on my kegerator setup with my length of lines, type of faucets and the elevation and temps I'm dealing with.. my kegerator setup is dialed in at 14psi off the main regulator for most of my beers and ciders...

 

[universalfrost]

Also I forgot to mention that I did a 1 liter starter for the yeast before pitching.

And I dry hopped on whole leaf Cascade hops.

I did have extra headspace in the fermenter but purged with co2 the only time I opened it up to add the dry hops.

 

[RM-MN]

Hit my sg and fg and kept the temps within range in the fermenter ( fermentasaurus) and dumped the trub off and harvested the yeast after a couple of weeks so no worries about off flavors from trub or old yeast.

What was the temperature during fermentation and how did you keep the temperature within range?

Using a big starter and active control still might have pushed the beer temp above the proper range for part of the fermentation as the starter could have gotten the fermentation really rocking.

 

[universalfrost]

temp was low 60's the entire time.. temp was controlled by a thermo well with the temp probe and a brew jacket and brew belt for cooling/heating.

the wyeast 1056 has a temp range of 60-72F so this was within range...

 

[bpgreen]

I thought fusel alcohol was a byproduct of fermenting too hot, but I just rechecked howtobrew and Palmer also lists letting the beer sit too long on the trub (which you've already addressed) and overpitching as possible sources. How much yeast did you pitch?

I still wonder if you're tasting something other than fusel alcohol. Everything I've read says that it doesn't condition out, although it can diminish over long periods of time (but not the few minutes or a week that you're seeing).

 

[universalfrost]

It's definitely a fusel alcohol flavor..

I've possibly over pitched , but that's the only thing I can think of , but ive used this yeast variety many times and at same pitch rate without having any ill effects on the brews...

I'll let this sit in the keg another few weeks but if it still doesn't improve it's gonna be dumped to make room for other brews I have fermenting.