Is dank the same thing as slightly skunky?

[z-bob]

I'm drinking a cream ale I brewed a few weeks ago, using Columbus hops. (1/2 oz to 4 gallons) It tastes okay, but if I sniff it I smell skunk; it's not strong but it's definitely there. The beer is not light-struck. Is that the "dank" everyone goes on and on about? (I've never tried pot, so I have nothing to compare on that front) I suppose it could be worse, it could smell like cat piss.

 

[SanPancho]

you never smelled someone smoking pot nearby? i think dank and skunky are adjacent ballparks, but not exactly the same. columbus to me can be a bit harsh, which i think could come off as skunky in a sense. if you're also getting the citrus and pine then its the hops. if you're mostly just getting skunk then theres something else going on.

never been a huge CTZ fan so hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Columbus is definitely weed-y, which is one hallmark (though not the only) of "dank". I wouldn't describe it as skunky, definitely not anything resembling light struck beer as the term "skunky" is usually applied to. But as said they're adjacent enough that I don't see it out of the realm of possibility.

But if you're getting that Heineken-Corona skunk character, it's probably sunlight. Doesn't take much.

 

[z-bob]

you never smelled someone smoking pot nearby? i think dank and skunky are adjacent ballparks, but not exactly the same. columbus to me can be a bit harsh, which i think could come off as skunky in a sense. if you're also getting the citrus and pine then its the hops. if you're mostly just getting skunk then there's something else going on.

never been a huge CTZ fan so hopefully someone else can chime in.

Not that I know of. I don't smell any citrus or pine, but the smell isn't exactly skunk either -- but it's close. I just did a single addition of Columbus at 30 minutes. Next time I will use it at 60 minutes and add something nice for aroma. (Sterling, Mt. Hood, Willamette, etc)

 

[Bramling Cross]

Like the others, I can see how the one might be mistaken for the other. That said, I'm pretty sure you would know the difference.

You mentioned that it's a relatively young beer, any chance it's just a bit of sulfur kicked up by the yeast?

 

[z-bob]

Like the others, I can see how the one might be mistaken for the other. That said, I'm pretty sure you would know the difference.

You mentioned that it's a relatively young beer, any chance it's just a bit of sulfur kicked up by the yeast?

That's possible. I racked the beer from a bucket to a carboy, and I had a lot left over so I bottled it. (it started raining hard while I was boiling the wort outside, so I shortened the boil, plus the added rainwater) The carboy got 6 ounces of sugar, the bottles got just enough for carbonation. I will be bottling the carboy this weekend.

I use kveik yeast, and I didn't think they did sulfur. But maybe they do if I don't treat them right.

 

[seatazzz]

If you want to switch up to a 60 minute addition I would advise some caution; at least with the Columbus (and more recently some CTZ, basically the same hop) I've used in the past as 60 minute additions, if you go too heavy you'll get a LOT more bitterness than you might want. Fresh CTZ smells like very dank weed (and yes I have personal experience of it). For an IPA where you want the nice piney bitterness Columbus can impart, .5oz for a 5 gallon batch is plenty, in my humble opinion. Very potent hop, it can be. As a late aroma/flavor hop (15 minutes or later), you can go higher.

 

[Novims]

Everytime I brew a light bodied ale with Colombus I get that skunky character when the beer is young. I always wonder if I forgot to put a blanket over the carboy and then I remember that's the Colombus' taste for me, at least at the early stage. Maybe it's something genetic like the soapy taste some people get from Centennial?

 

[z-bob]

Everytime I brew a light bodied ale with Colombus I get that skunky character when the beer is young. I always wonder if I forgot to put a blanket over the carboy and then I remember that's the Colombus' taste for me, at least at the early stage. Maybe it's something genetic like the soapy taste some people get from Centennial?

Thanks. Does it go away? (the beer is okay even with it; it's part of its character, but it will be a lot better without it) I haven't bottled the carboy yet. Maybe tonight after work. I can see if it has diminished any.

 

[Novims]

It goes away but it takes some time.

 

[gwinn758]

If you're looking for a cream ale with slight hop character you could use Cascade and add some between 20 minutes and 5.

 

[bracconiere]

you never smelled someone smoking pot nearby?

pot smoke, smells completely different, then marijuana....did you use corn? first time using corn? (i just had to google cream ale recipe to even know what it was, though)

 

[z-bob]

pot smoke, smells completely different, then marijuana....did you use corn? first time using corn? (i just had to google cream ale recipe to even know what it was, though)

I have used corn before. I did not use any corn in this one; it's malt plus 5% sugar. The sugar stands in for the corn or rice. (I've never done this before)

 

[bracconiere]

plus 5% sugar.

being that the thought of how pot smoke doesn't smell like marijuana, and got me thinking about roast malt...which is why i looked up a cream ale recipe to see if it used any...candied sugar? or carmelized dark in some way?

edit: someone else would have to confirm my thought...but dank is chewing pellet hops, and skunky is chewing whole leaf hops? LOL, this cracks me up.....

 

[SanPancho]

pot smoke, smells completely different, then marijuana....did you use corn? first time using corn? (i just had to google cream ale recipe to even know what it was, though)

i think they sold you oregano.....

 

[bracconiere]

i think they sold you oregano.....

dude...i lived in mendo before i moved here.....with all the life experiences that come with it behind me.....

edit: don't tell me you're going to ask if anyone ever spillt bong water on him.....

 

[z-bob]

being that the thought of how pot smoke doesn't smell like marijuana, and got me thinking about roast malt...which is why i looked up a cream ale recipe to see if it used any...candied sugar? or carmelized dark in some way?

edit: someone else would have to confirm my thought...but dank is chewing pellet hops, and skunky is chewing whole leaf hops? LOL, this cracks me up.....

I did use 5% of some lightly roasted (17°L) malt, just because I bought 50 lbs of it real cheap so I sneak a little bit in whenever I can. I pretend it's dark Munich malt, but not sure if that's accurate or not. The other 90% was US pilsner malt.

 

[SanPancho]

old timers, man. mendo? nah, indo.

anyhow you're confusing what you exhale vs the actual smoke that comes off burning pot. knew a guy from berkeley who used to be able to tell you what strain family it was just by smelling the burning pipe/ joint. didnt even have to smoke it.

so specifically, the non-exhaled burning smoke from pot. not what you exhale.

 

[z-bob]

I'm drinking a bottle now after a couple weeks of conditioning and the skunk is gone. It smells and tastes good. There's also very little carbonation. I think I need to start adding some champagne yeast (it's much cheaper than CBC-1) at bottling when I use kveik yeast.