I think I actually ruined my first batch

[GroovePuppy]

Or at least consigned it to longer in bottles to condition than I had planned. The "off flavor" I've been getting is not diminished at 7 weeks old and 4 weeks in bottles. It's not undrinkable just a bad taste in the middle of the whole thing. I plan on giving a few bottles to friends who brew to see if they can diagnose what the flavor is.

I wonder if I burned the extract. It doesn't taste burned per se but I don't know what burnt extract tastes like. I know I didn't turn off the heat when I added the extract. I did it all myself, adding all the extract then stirring it in with heat applied the whole time. I marked the bottom of the pot although it didn't look burned. You can actually see it in the pic of my wort chiller.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes with age. On the other hand I'm so glad I added batch#2 to the pipeline. It already tastes good and even if my first batch gets steadily worse to become undrinkable eventually I'm not disheartened.

 

[Grinder12000]

I botched my first TWO batches - you are not alone - smooth sailing since then. Remember - every mistake is a opportunity to learn

 

[scinerd3000]

first extract batch saying that i scortched the extract would be an understatement. it was black on the bottom because i didint stir well enough. i just found a batch from 3+ years back and its damn good.....time heals almost anything

 

[telemarc]

You MUST remove the pot from the heat when adding extract! I scorched the bottom of my 1000mL flask when I added DME to make a yeast starter the same way. Doh!

 

[Tripod]

Remember - every mistake is a opportunity to learn

+1 to that. I'll bet time will help but most will recommend removing the wort from the heat source when adding extract for exactly that reason. Just learn from it. Good luck with future batches!

-Tripod

 

[carnevoodoo]

the few extract batches I did involved boiling water. I never thought about taking it off the flame. Good thing I went to all grain so fast.

 

[GroovePuppy]

Yeah, you guys are preaching to the choir on the whole "remove from heat while adding extract" bit. But +1000 on the learning experience. And time may fix it too.

 

[GroovePuppy]

I dropped by the store to grab some beer and the New Belgium Mothership Wit was on sale. So I pour a glass which I'm drinking now and it has THE EXACT SAME OFF FLAVOR AS MY FIRST BATCH!!!!!

It's a clove kind of flavor now that I can taste it clearly. Palmer suggests it's usually a reaction with chlorine based sanitizers but that can't be right in the Wit, and I sure didn't use any. Any thoughts.

Worst case here it seems like I have a dark Wit.

 

[Yooper]

I dropped by the store to grab some beer and the New Belgium Mothership Wit was on sale. So I pour a glass which I'm drinking now and it has THE EXACT SAME OFF FLAVOR AS MY FIRST BATCH!!!!!

It's a clove kind of flavor now that I can taste it clearly. Palmer suggests it's usually a reaction with chlorine based sanitizers but that can't be right in the Wit, and I sure didn't use any. Any thoughts.

Clove flavors are common in a wit. That's why I hate wits! Sometimes, you have clove and AND coriander in a wit. Gag!

In a wit, either "seasonings" are added, or it is a function of the yeast. Another example of this is a hefeweizen- they often have banana (esters) flavor or clove (if a cool fermentation). That is actually a desired benefit of the yeast!

 

[GroovePuppy]

So what did I do Yoop? I have no wheat, probably fermented around 70F for the most part, and I didn't add any spices or orange peel like the Wit has. All I had was amber DME some Caramel grains, Chinook and Goldings with Nottingham yeast.

It's odd that my brew hasn't improved but I'm much happier with it. It's not that it tasted bad before just that it tasted odd in a way I'd never tasted in a beer. I think I'll be able to RDWHAHB from now on.

 

[Yooper]

Do you have chlorine in your brew water? Chlorophenols can taste like cloves.

Chlorophenols can come from chlorine and yeast. "Phenols" would be the taste best described as "clove".

From howtobrew.com:
Medicinal
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.


In my experience, high fermentation temperatures can also cause some phenol tastes.

 

[GroovePuppy]

I used filtered water from the fridge and I never get a chlorine flavor from that. Used the same for the Nut Brown and it tasted fine. The taste was in the English Pale before bottling so it was bottle cleaning/contamination.

The primary bucket and glass secondary were a few years old but unused and I washed them thoroughly with TDC and sanitized with iodophor. Course all this is 7 weeks ago so I may have done something I forgot about but I know I didn't use chlorine bleach anywhere.

Anywho, I assume it's a flavor that won't change that much, but I consider the batch drinkable now. It's just the damnedest thing to suddenly stumble across the same flavor I just created in my own kitchen after 25 years of drinking beer.

 

[WBC]

Some hefeweizen yeast strains produce esters that taste like clove+bananna. Above 70F = more bananna and below 70F = more clove. White labs WLP300 German Hefeweizen yeast works this way. Fermentation temperatures play a big part of the flavor profile along with any chemicals like chlorine could make in the final beer and filtering out or boiling off will remove it. Be careful and read all you can when trying a new yeast so you know what to do and what to expect from it. I once made a Hefe and it had way too much bananna but we ended up drinking it all as it still was refreshing beer when cold but I do like it a lot better when fermented around 64F.