Help me troubleshoot please!

[mthelm85]

Hey Guys,

So I bottled my 3rd AG batch 1 week ago (a Saison) and, of course, decided to try a small glass. At the time it was pretty damn good, the smell was heavenly, smelled just like Ommegang's Hennepin.

I decided to crack open a bottle yesterday (I know, it's not mature yet) just to see how it was coming along and now I'm pretty disappointed. It seems to be fully carbonated and the smell hasn't changed one bit but there is this strong aftertaste that wasn't noticeable at all before bottling. I really can't describe it at all, it's like nothing I've ever tasted. When I first sipped the beer I got the citrusy, fruity notes that you would expect from a Saison but as I swallowed this really rough, harsh aftertaste overwhelmed my palate and it lingered for quite a while. Every time I would exhale I could taste this indescribable flavor that really turns me off.

I am hoping that this is just the indescribable "green beer" flavor that has been talked about on this forum over and over but I guess I need some reassurance from some more experienced brewers. I've read about all of the typical off flavors in beer and what I'm tasting doesn't match any of them at all.

Here's the recipe:

10 lbs. Belgian Pale Malt (Dingemans)
.75 lbs. Caramel 20 (Briess)
2.5 oz. Hersbrucker (2.4%AA) 60 mins
.5 oz. Hersbrucker (2.4%AA) 10 mins.
Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes

Mashed at 149 for 60 mins, started fermentation at 74, then ramped it up to 82 and bottled after 2 weeks (early, I know). Fermentation was fast and vigorous but I got 80% attenuation in just 1 week so I let it sit for 1 more week before bottling.

What do you guys think? Is this harsh, rough aftertaste likely just greenness or could it be something else?

 

[SD-SLIM]

My guess is that your beer wasnt finished fermenting...you bottled and it continued to ferment, at this point your bottles may not have been stored at proper fermentation temps....which resulted in a fully carbed beer that had a harsh after taste....just my guess!

 

[Pappers_]

If the best description you can find is 'rough' and 'harsh' then yes, I think it's possibly a young beer flavor that will mellow with age.

 

[mthelm85]

I'm sure it was finished, I took 2 gravity readings 3 days apart and it hadn't changed. I got 80% attenuation out of the Belgian Ardennes yeast and Wyeast says the attenuation range is 72% - 76% so I don't think that's the issue.

 

[mthelm85]

If the best description you can find is 'rough' and 'harsh' then yes, I think it's possibly a young beer flavor that will mellow with age.

That's really the only way I can describe it...I've never tasted it before so it's extremely difficult to say that it tastes like anything....it's just a rough or harsh aftertaste that lingers on my palate and is stronger when I exhale. It's really strange.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Well I hope you figure it out....as a rule of thumb, I never keg/bottle for less than 3 weeks...2 weeks for fermentation, 1 week for conditioning and then 1 week in keg or 3 weeks in a bottle.
One other note, my experience with 3522 is that it takes almost 4 weeks to get just right...and if I ferment at its low range, the maltiness stands out in the beer, while at the high range the fruitness/pepper taste comes forward. Just my thoughts!

 

[mthelm85]

Well I hope you figure it out....as a rule of thumb, I never keg/bottle for less than 3 weeks...2 weeks for fermentation, 1 week for conditioning and then 1 week in keg or 3 weeks in a bottle.
One other note, my experience with 3522 is that it takes almost 4 weeks to get just right...and if I ferment at its low range, the maltiness stands out in the beer, while at the high range the fruitness/pepper taste comes forward. Just my thoughts!

I appreciate the help. I planned to transfer it to secondary for another week or two but it completely fermented in 5 or 6 days (I had rapid airlock movement within 3 hours after pitching) so I decided to go ahead and bottle it up as my supply of my previous brew was dwindling to less than a case.

My past beers improved significantly after 6 weeks in the bottle and I'm sure this one will do the same but I never noticed any really undesirable flavors in past beers that I also tried after just 1 week in the bottle. They weren't that good after just 1 week but I never had any aftertaste like this that just overwhelmed my palate.

I carbed this beer to 3.0 volumes of CO2 and I know high levels of carbonation bring out different flavors but whatever flavor this is that the carbonation brought out really sucks.

 

[mthelm85]

UPDATE: After another week in the bottle the aftertaste I described has really mellowed out. I think that confirms it's just green and needs a few more weeks in the bottle to really mature and develop into a great beer.