Hot, Alcohol Flavor in 7% beer - how long before it mellows in keg?

[scottvin]

My last recipe was the following:

12 lbs 8.0 oz 	Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) 
4.0 oz 	        Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 	
4.0 oz 	        Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 	
4.0 oz 	        Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) 	
2.1 oz 	        Aromatic Malt (Briess) (20.0 SRM) 	
1.8 oz 	        Goldings, B.C. [5.0%] - Boil 60 min 	
0.2 oz 	        Goldings, B.C. [5.0%] - Boil 15 min 	
1 pkgs 	        SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04)

Brewed - 5/12/12 .. 1.068
Kegged - 6/25/12 .. 1.014
ABV 7.1%

I finally got all my kegging equipment and I know it was just kegged a few days ago but I had to have a taste. The beer has a nice flavor but the heat really kicks in and overpowers the beer. Since this is the highest alcohol beer that I have brewed - is this gonna take a month or two to mellow out?
I assume it is still considered "green" beer.

Thanks!

 

[jchudon]

It has probably more to do with the temperature at which you have fermented the beer...
It should mellow a little bit in a month though.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I've had beers take as long as 9 months to lose the "burn" of higher alcohols and become palatable... and some that never really did get good. Newer brewers get the impression somewhere that a flawed beer will "clean itself up" in a month or two. Usually not, though I'm sometimes happily surprised after six months or more.

 

[scottvin]

I fermented the beer at 65 degrees for the first 4+ weeks and I personally don't think the beer is flawed from fermentation temps.

 

[Pilgarlic]

"Higher Alcohols", or "fusel" alcohols would more likely be the souce of alcohol "burn" in a 7.1% beer than good old ethanol. Higher alcohols can come from other kinds of yeast stresses. In any event, if it's a 7.1% beer and you have a pronounced alcohol burn, it's likely fusels and they take some time to mellow. If it's burning now, it'll likely be burning in a couple of months.

 

[scottvin]

"Higher Alcohols", or "fusel" alcohols would more likely be the souce of alcohol "burn" in a 7.1% beer than good old ethanol. Higher alcohols can come from other kinds of yeast stresses. In any event, if it's a 7.1% beer and you have a pronounced alcohol burn, it's likely fusels and they take some time to mellow. If it's burning now, it'll likely be burning in a couple of months.

Well, I guess I don't means it's burning but rather the alcohol taste takes over. Or is that the same thing?

 

[homebrewdad]

I recently bottled an 8.4% ABV Belgian blonde. I wouldn't say that mine burned, but after four weeks in bottles, I could definitely detect the alcohol, and felt that it lended some real harshness to the beer.

It was better after week six.

After week eight, the beer was excellent, with no detectible harshness.

I'd vote for just giving it some time.

 

[homebrewdad]

Newer brewers get the impression somewhere that a flawed beer will "clean itself up" in a month or two.

I'm not saying that all flaws can be fixed by time, but there is a huge thread here about this very issue. Who can forget Revvy's bubblegum beer?

See my illustration above (the Belgian blonde). At four weeks, I had alcohol harshness plus some strong bitterness. The malty sweetness and fruity esters I were expecting were nowhere to be found. At six weeks, the beer was better. At eight weeks, it was amazing.

My brown ale was good at three weeks and very good at six, where it leveled out. I went a few weeks without drinking any (I was sampling some other beers), and cracked a bottle open around four months... holy camole, this beer was outstanding!


Time may not help every style, and it certainly can't help every flaw (oxidation only gets worse), but a LOT of issues do improve over time.

 

[Pilgarlic]

Well, I guess I don't means it's burning but rather the alcohol taste takes over. Or is that the same thing?

There's a balance for you to find here. You don't want to imagine flaws, and you don't want to wish them away. Your beer will have flaws (most of mine are flawed and it's my job to find and identify the flaws so I can fix them going forward) and this seems to be one. That being the likely case, I suggest that you give the beer some time to forgive you, then look to your fermentation management for the culprit. Pitching rate, temp, temp consistency, aeration (not an issue with the dry yeast you pitched here), available nutrients.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I'm not saying that all flaws can be fixed by time, but there is a huge thread here about this very issue. Who can forget Revvy's bubblegum beer?

See my illustration above (the Belgian blonde). At four weeks, I had alcohol harshness plus some strong bitterness. The malty sweetness and fruity esters I were expecting were nowhere to be found. At six weeks, the beer was better. At eight weeks, it was amazing.

My brown ale was good at three weeks and very good at six, where it leveled out. I went a few weeks without drinking any (I was sampling some other beers), and cracked a bottle open around four months... holy camole, this beer was outstanding!


Time may not help every style, and it certainly can't help every flaw (oxidation only gets worse), but a LOT of issues do improve over time.

No disagreement here. I was pointing out the fallacy that most flawed beers will clean themselves up in a month or two. Most flaws a) won't be cured by time and b) if they are, it usually takes much more than a month or two. Mind you, I'm not talking about normal conditioning, here, but self-correction of flaws.

Many flawed beers WILL forgive us, given time and we should feel very lucky for that.

 

[HopJuicer]

I had a belgian bottled and for the first year it tasted like banana rocket fuel. At 2 years it was a completely a different beer, very good and no longer ditectable. There is no timeframe as you can see. Hope yours gets better much faster!

 

[scottvin]

I realize that I am a new brewer and also that I make mistakes... a lot. However, I feel that I fermented low enough not to cause fusel alcohol issues. I also pitched the yeast at about 65F - which seems right in line.

I guess I will leave it sit for a month or so - time to get another keg!

 

[kwingert]

When you say you fermented at 65F, was the beer at 65F or was the air temperature 65F? The reason I ask is during fermentation the temp of the beer will rise 5-10 degrees above ambient temperature depending on how vigorous the fermentation is. With the fairly high O.G. you had, its possible the internal temp of the beer rose to 75F which would explain the hot alcohols.

As far as mellowing, I think it takes a long time for the fusel alcohols to smooth out.

 

[Pilgarlic]

OP, let me then send it back to you: You asked whether your hot, alcoholic beer would mellow in the keg, and how long it would take. You got some good, reasonable answers, but you're sure that it can't be higher (fusel) alcohols because you executed your fermentation too well for that to be possible. What do YOU feel has created the hot alcohol taste? Or have you just decided "never mind, it's not hot"? And, if it is hot, what kind of answer do you want other than "Don't worry, it's normal" (it's not)?

 

[Yooper]

I realize that I am a new brewer and also that I make mistakes... a lot. However, I feel that I fermented low enough not to cause fusel alcohol issues. I also pitched the yeast at about 65F - which seems right in line.

I guess I will leave it sit for a month or so - time to get another keg!

If you pitched at 65 degrees, and then reduced the temperature to the low 60s, it should have been ok. Most often, the yeast will start reproducing right away and the temperature will climb before the desired fermentation temperature is reached. In my experience, a beer pitched at 65 degrees does ok in ambient temperatures no higher than about 64 degrees. But if the ambient was higher, I would guess that yeast reproduction occurred quickly and that could be a cause of some of the "hot" alcohol flavors. Of course, underpitching would great increase that flavor, so that could be something to look at as well, although in a 1.068 beer that's not underpitching by much.

One of the things I've noticed about S04 is that it's awesome at 62 degrees. At 64, it's "ok". At 68+, it's got a weird estery taste. I never use it if my fermentation temperature is above 63 or so.