Off-Flavors, Super Dry Finish / Aftertaste

[boardbrewer]

I brewed the Lefse Blonde extract kit from Northern Brewer. In primary for about a week, secondary for two weeks, in bottles for two weeks so far. I'm getting a very dry (too dry) finish and some off-flavors I can't put my finger on. Any thoughts as to where I went wrong on this one?

Not sure how to describe the off-flavors, but I am getting some of the good Belgian flavors (almost there). It's just overpowered on the back end by that off-dryness.

I tried one after one week of bottle conditioning (for educational purposes), and I could barely drink it - that dry mouth sensation really stuck around - poured it down the drain. This bottle is a tad better, after two weeks conditioning - could probably finish it but it's not great. Maybe I just need to wait another week or two for it to bottle-condition a bit more?

Also, this is only my second homebrew. The first one, NB's Fresh Squished IPA extract kit, turned out great!

All the bottles in this second batch were washed and reused (with dish soap and then used the sanitize function in the dishwasher). I wonder if the culprit is in there somewhere. It tasted just okay coming out of the secondary-carboy, maybe a little light or watered down (?), but I think the flavors were there - thinking it would improve and become a little more full-bodied in the bottles (which it seems to have, somewhat) - I don't quite recall any dry mouth from that pre-bottling/flat tasting, but I didn't have much of it, of course.

Thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

What yeast did you use? BE-256 does create a dry beer, moreso than WY1762.

Do you have a hydrometer? What was the final gravity?

Often overlooked is water profile. If your tap water has high sulfate, it would make a good IPA but also would accentuate the dryness in a Belgian blonde with a highly-attenuating yeast.

 

[boardbrewer]

What yeast did you use? BE-256 does create a dry beer, moreso than WY1762.

Do you have a hydrometer? What was the final gravity?

Often overlooked is water profile. If your tap water has high sulfate, it would make a good IPA but also would accentuate the dryness in a Belgian blonde with a highly-attenuating yeast.

I did use SafAle BE-256 dry yeast, two packs.

The original gravity was about 1.062 and final was 1.005.

I was curious about the water used. Filtered tap water from my fridge. Don't know what the sulfate levels are, though.

 

[RPh_Guy]

The original gravity was about 1.062 and final was 1.005.

That's over 7% ABV and relatively low residual sugars (92% apparent attenuation). It's going to taste dry because of those factors.

The water profile also plays a role. You could get a brewing water report from Ward Labs, or maybe look up reports from others in your immediate area. Personally I use RO-purified water and add minerals to it. That's maybe a little advanced for beginners, but it is important for getting the exact flavor profile you want.

You could make a simple syrup (half sugar, half water) and add a little bit of it in the glass before you pour it, to help off-set the dryness.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[boardbrewer]

That's over 7% ABV and relatively low residual sugars (92% apparent attenuation). It's going to taste dry because of those factors.

The water profile also plays a role. You could get a brewing water report from Ward Labs, or maybe look up reports from others in your immediate area. Personally I use RO-purified water and add minerals to it. That's maybe a little advanced for beginners, but it is important for getting the exact flavor profile you want.

You could make a simple syrup (half sugar, half water) and add a little bit of it in the glass before you pour it, to help off-set the dryness.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Ok. I may try that. And yes, it does! Thanks so much!

 

[boardbrewer]

What may be causes of the low final gravity, residual sugars, etc. then? The original gravity was higher than what the recipe called for (1.053), for whatever that's worth.

 

[RPh_Guy]

What may be causes of the low final gravity, residual sugars, etc. then?

Certain yeasts ferment more of the malt sugar than other yeasts. BE-256 is one that ferments more than most, and creates a dry beer.

One other thing:
If you used malt extract and reached the same volume of wort that the kit specifies, it's likely that your original gravity was actually what the kit directions predicted. The amount of sugar content in malt extract is very predicable.
One of two possibilities may have occurred to elevate your gravity reading: if you added water or sugar after the boil, it may have not been mixed well enough and the portion you sampled had higher sugar than the rest, or perhaps you didn't add enough water or boiled away too much of it, in which case the wort is more concentrated than intended.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[Jag75]

Another thing with these kits is it has the all the salts and acids that it needs. Use RO water with them.

 

[seatazzz]

Off the cuff here, but I'm curious about the "sanitize" function of the dishwasher; many of them use a product called Jet-Dry to reduce spotting during drying; this may be contributing to the "off" flavor you're tasting. Other than that, I'll agree with Rph guy above, that 1.005 is going to give you a very dry beer.

If the dishwasher is the culprit, just a thorough rinse with clean water after washing will do just fine, then sanitize with starsan solution (which in tiny amounts will NOT contribute any off-flavors to your beer, BTW). To that note, what did you use to sanitize your carboy before fermentation?

 

[RPh_Guy]

many of them use a product called Jet-Dry to reduce spotting during drying; this may be contributing to the "off" flavor you're tasting.

What makes you say Jet Dry causes off flavors?

 

[seatazzz]

What makes you say Jet Dry causes off flavors?

Grabbing at straws?