Looking for Complete Phenol and Ester Info

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Grizzlybrew

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I was hoping someone here could help. I did a quick search, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I am interested in finding a resource that will give more complete info on phenolic compounds and esters typically produced in beer.

Looking for more of the following type of info:

Esters:
ethyl-acetate - pear-like (low levels) - solvent-like (high levels)
isoamyl-acetate - banana-like

Phenols:
ferrulic acid + yeast = 4-vinyl guaiacol (cloves)
chlorophenols - result of residual chlorine in brewing process
polyphenols (tannins) - extracted from malt/hop matter

I would like to find a list of the different chemicals/compounds/processes involved in phenol/ester production and their flavor and aromatic qualities.

And more importantly, how to manage them (i.e. increase, decrease, etc.)

Thanks in advance!
 
Give me a gas chromatograph and I will tell you. Seriously, I will search the scientific literature and will come back if I find something.
 
From Radical Brewing, by Randy Mosher:

Esters: Fruity or sometimes spicy aromas mostly due to yeast activity. At high levels in Belgian yeasts, especially when fermented at higher temperatures.

Ethyl acetate: Fruity, nail polish
Isoamyl acetate: Banana
Ethyl hexanoate: Ripe apple

Phenol: A wide range of chemicals, many of which are noxious - smokey or medicinal, for example. Desireable ones may me produced by specialized Belgian yeasts such as strains used in Bavarian Weizen or Belgian ales.

4-vinyl: guiaicol: "Clove" aroma found in Weizens
4-ethyl phenol: Barnyard, a marker for Brettanomyces activity
 
More......

Phenolic: A broad category of flavor gremlins. The worst of them - 3, 5 dimethoxyphenol - is an indicator of wild yeast infection, and smells like an electrical fire. Other, more subtle, even pleasant ones, can come from certain yeasts strains (weizen) or honey. UserL a nice fresh Weizen for the clove-like yeast character; honey diluted 1:4 in water; for the really nasty one, perhaps a piece of phenolic circuit board, the amber colored kind, freshly rasped or broken for intense aroma. Use: don't bother to dunk them in beer, just sniff the objects.
 
Hey Grizzlybrew, I have a good book on wheats and if you don't mind waiting a day or two I'll try to compile some of the info for ya and post it here. I'm by no means an expert although I might be tending towards an EAC, but I can definitely compile other people's great ideas :D
 
Get a copy of Principles of Brewing Science by George Fix. It has essentially everything a brewer would ever need to know about fermentation byproducts, including flavor thresholds and the metabolic pathways for the common ones.
 
Thanks for the responses so far!

From Radical Brewing, by Randy Mosher:

I actually have this sitting in my library, but haven't flipped through it in a while.

Hey Grizzlybrew, I have a good book on wheats and if you don't mind waiting a day or two I'll try to compile some of the info for ya and post it here. I'm by no means an expert although I might be tending towards an EAC, but I can definitely compile other people's great ideas :D

Looking forward to it. Is it Stan H's new book by chance? I just read the other day that wheat contains such a higher level of ferrulic acid than barley - that's why hefeweizens can have such a strong clove flavor...

Get a copy of Principles of Brewing Science by George Fix. It has essentially everything a brewer would ever need to know about fermentation byproducts, including flavor thresholds and the metabolic pathways for the common ones.

I'll definitely check it out. I'm also hoping that Jamil and Chris White's new yeast book covers this stuff as well.
 
Thanks for the responses so far!

Looking forward to it. Is it Stan H's new book by chance? I just read the other day that wheat contains such a higher level of ferrulic acid than barley - that's why hefeweizens can have such a strong clove flavor...

"Brewing with wheat: The 'wit' and 'weizen' of world wheat beer styles"
by Stan Hieronymus

If that's the book and you've read it then I'm not going to bother researching it :p Hah
 
Get a copy of Principles of Brewing Science by George Fix. It has essentially everything a brewer would ever need to know about fermentation byproducts, including flavor thresholds and the metabolic pathways for the common ones.

This.

Even Fix's book only hits the most common ones, though. There are an immense number of possible flavor compounds in beer- to put this idea in perspective, consider that a vanilla bean gets its flavor from a combination of over 200 organic compounds.
 
"Brewing with wheat: The 'wit' and 'weizen' of world wheat beer styles"
by Stan Hieronymus

If that's the book and you've read it then I'm not going to bother researching it :p Hah

I have not read it. I just added it to my wish list on amazon the other day. If you've got the 411, spill! (seriously though, don't go out of your way)
 
This.

Even Fix's book only hits the most common ones, though. There are an immense number of possible flavor compounds in beer- to put this idea in perspective, consider that a vanilla bean gets its flavor from a combination of over 200 organic compounds.

Yeah... I realize I am asking for more information than I could ever possibly do anything with, but I tend to get fanatical about something once I get into it.
 
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