Scorched flavor in beer ... what to do?

[Johntodd]

I brewed up a 5 gallon batch of Oatmeal Stout. When I was processing the oatmeal liquid, I got some scorch on the bottom of the pot.

Since I already had everything else done I decided to go ahead and make the beer, ferment it, etc.

Now it's chilled and carbed in the keg, and, of course, there's a bit of a scorchy flavor in there. It's not too strong, but it's there.

So what can I put in the keg to help mitigate the scorch? I figure time will mellow it out some, but what about flavors/extracts/hops, etc. I have Hallertau and Saaz hops.

It would be an interesting experiment to try and fix this. This info may be useful to all brewers, since everyone makes mistakes sometimes.

Thanks!
-Johntodd

 

[RedlegEd]

Johntodd,
Unfortunately, I don't think the scorched taste will ever mellow to the point of not being noticeable. I scorched a Munich SMaSH once by putting my hop basket on the bottom of the kettle (just for a few seconds.) I bottled it, and let it sit for months, trying a bottle every few weeks. The scorched taste never went away and really detracted from the beer. It was one of my few "dumpers." You can certainly give it a try, but don't get your hopes too high.
Ed

 

[kh54s10]

You might drop a bag of hops in there, it might mask the scorched taste but I don't think it will go away. If you have another keg you could brew another beer, siphon half into the other keg then top up with the new batch in both. Again it would lessen the scorched flavor, not eliminate it.

Or you can blend each glass with another beer.

 

[Johntodd]

I will try blending each glass. My other keg has a Witbier made for SWMBO, and it is fantastic even still too young.

Can anyone think of any flavor extract from the supermarket? Run, cherry, vanilla, or savory flavors besides hops? Just to make it better; even though the scorch will never go away completely.

 

[RedlegEd]

Since it's a stout, you might want to try cold brewing coffee, which has its own roasty bitterness (maybe with a touch of Hazelnut.) Grind your coffee and mix 1 part coffee to 2 or 3 parts water and let it steep in the refrigerator for at least 12-14 hours. Filter to remove the grinds and add to your stout. You can try it in a glass first to get the right portion, then scale it to your batch.

 

[kh54s10]

My friend and I bottled a Blueberry Oatmeat Stout a couple of days ago. It was on 5 pounds of blueberries for 5 days, we also added 1/2 bottle of extract from the LHBS. The blueberry flavor was still subtle.

 

[kh54s10]

Since it's a stout, you might want to try cold brewing coffee, which has its own roasty bitterness (maybe with a touch of Hazelnut.) Grind your coffee and mix 1 part coffee to 2 or 3 parts water and let it steep in the refrigerator for at least 12-14 hours. Filter to remove the grinds and add to your stout. You can try it in a glass first to get the right portion, then scale it to your batch.

Coffee might work well. I think it might work well "blending with the scorched flavor. I did one once. I used enough coffee that it was a somewhat thick mixture in a quart mason jar. It made a relatively small amount of very strong coffee "syrup"

I tried to filter through a paper coffee filter. It didn't work well. I suggest a french press.

 

[Johntodd]

Coffee! That DOES sound like a great idea!

Cold brewed, right? In the fridge?

 

[RedlegEd]

Yep. IMHO, it makes it much mellower.

 

[Johntodd]

I have one of those old-fashioned tea balls. It's a "tea egg", perforated.

What if I put coffee in it and drop it in the keg?

 

[RedlegEd]

You could do that, but I think you'd lose control of the amount of coffee flavor added to the batch. I still think you'd do better making a cold brew "coffee syrup" (like kh54s10 said above,) then adding a little at a time to a glass of your stout until you hit the "ahhhh, I like it!" point. If you've kept track of the portion of syrup to a pint (1/8 tsp, 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp etc.,) then you can figure out how much syrup to add to your batch to get really close to the same proportion. Otherwise, it's a crap-shoot and you may/maynot get the desired result. Just sayin'....



BTW, if you go this route, be sure to rinse your mouth with water and take a little break between tastings to give your tastebuds a rest or you won't be able to tell subtle differences in flavor. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Ed