Off flavor? Phenols?

[Grantman1]

Hi all,

I just brewed my 3rd batch, an american pale ale recipe I put together. It sat in primary for two weeks, then I dry hopped a few days ago with 1 oz of cascades.

I drew a sample today and tasted it, and I'm noticing an off flavor of some kind. I did some research and feel like it's somewhere between vegetable-like, or possibly the classic band-aid I've been reading about, so I'm assuming there's a chance it could be phenols.

This is a heavily hopped ale; with many late addition hops, has anyone else experienced stranges flavors that cleared up? Maybe just due to the fact that the beer is young and not finished yet?

 

[malkore]

Vegetable flavor would come from All grain or partial mash brewing (not extract really) if you didn't boil hard enough, long enough or covered the pot.

Phenols could be high or low fermentation temps (outside the range of ideal) or an infection.

HOWEVER, because you mention all the hopping and dry hop, its possible it could be the taste of hops.
Could it be called 'grassy'?

What hops were used? some of them can be quite strong at first but will mellow out with time, esp the dry hop.

 

[Grantman1]

I used:

1 oz. northern brewer 60min
.5oz cascade 30 min
1oz cascade 15 min
.5oz cascade 5 min

Also did late addition method extra light DME.

Fermented around 68 degrees (s-05). It may be a grassy flavor, I'll check again.

I'm hoping it's just the hops needing time.

 

[Grantman1]

I realized that when I took a sample yesterday with a thief, I had part of the trub in my test tube--maybe that could explain the off aroma and flavor?

 

[Bensiff]

Don't worry yet. Most likely you are just dealing with young beer flavors the will clear out with time. Give it a few more weeks at least on the yeast, bottle it, and after a few weeks conditioning give it another taste...if you still have off flavors then you want to start looking at your process.

 

[Grantman1]

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping for. I do however have to pull it from the yeast (I think at least) since I just dry hopped, but maybe everything will clear up after conditioning. It sure smells like normal, delicious beer when smelling from the carboy it's fermenting in; it was only odd when poured into a small glass.

 

[Bensiff]

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping for. I do however have to pull it from the yeast (I think at least) since I just dry hopped, but maybe everything will clear up after conditioning. It sure smells like normal, delicious beer when smelling from the carboy it's fermenting in; it was only odd when poured into a small glass.

I would still give it 10-14 days on the dry hops to maximize the yeast contact time, then go straight to bottling and avoid a secondary and let it condition in the bottle.

 

[Grantman1]

Ok, thanks for the input. I'll give that a shot and see if it clears up, then go from there.

 

[jjones17]

I used:

1 oz. northern brewer 60min
.5oz cascade 30 min
1oz cascade 15 min
.5oz cascade 5 min

Also did late addition method extra light DME.

Fermented around 68 degrees (s-05). It may be a grassy flavor, I'll check again.

I'm hoping it's just the hops needing time.

Could be your fermentation temps. 68 degrees you say? How do you know for certain? If ambient temps are 68, your internal temp is likely signifigantly higher. Consider a swamp cooler if I am correct, they are simple to use.

"phenolic" taste can also be misinterrepreted. Its common, IE what I think tastes like band-aid someone else tastes bubblegum etc. Anyway, is there a chance you oxidized your wort post ferment? That can make wierd flavors, it has happened to me.

 

[Grantman1]

I pulled another sample yesterday and things are clearing up --tasted pretty delicious this time, lots of good hop flavor. I'm considering using a swamp cooler over the summer so I don't have to keep my house temp down so much - it gets ruthless here in NC by mid June.

 

[malkore]

a swamp cooler, especially with a small fan blowing on the setup, can really keep temps down.
also important is getting it down to pitching temperature first. don't rely on the swamp cooler to chill you down 'the last five degrees' and you might be waiting a lot longer than you expect.

 

[jjones17]

a swamp cooler, especially with a small fan blowing on the setup, can really keep temps down.
also important is getting it down to pitching temperature first. don't rely on the swamp cooler to chill you down 'the last five degrees' and you might be waiting a lot longer than you expect.

So true, regarding the usefullness of the swamp cooler as well as the last few degrees to pitching temp.

I do not have a wort chiller, and use the ice bath method. Going from 69 to 60F is REALLY hard sometimes. I use as much ice to get from 200F to 70F as I do to get from 70F to 60F.

Anyway, to OP - try the swamp cooler its super simple and really works.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I use as much ice to get from 200F to 70F as I do to get from 70F to 60F.

Try using just water for the initial cooling say down to 120, then use the ice....using ice on a boiling hot kettle consumes a ton of ice!!