trying to pinpoint reason for bad smell/taste

[kbuzz]

About 3.5 weeks ago, I brewed an extract IPA w/ steeping grains. Took a hydro reading today to see how it was coming along. SG was where I need it to be, but the sample smelled and tasted pretty bad...taste is def worse than smell.

Granted it's still early in the process, but none of my other IPAs have smelled this bad...so I'm trying to figure out the culprit from the potential reasons below

-Bad hop combo? Used these hops: Warrior, Centennial, Simcoe, Cascade
-I added the first hop addition (.5 oz Warrior) after removing the grain bag, trying to mimic a FWH used in AG brewing for a "softer" bittering effect...but added another .5 oz of Simcoe at 60 min
-Pitched WLP051 w/o starter (OG 1.059), but didn't take off for 3 days, so all kinds of trub was just hangin out in the wort for 3 solid days before ferm started
-Bad hops?? I bought a bunch of hops from farmhouse brewing supply and this was the second batch that I used these hops in...but only the centennial were used in the previous batch...and that turned out just fine. I didn't notice anything strange about the hops when adding them to the boil, but I'm still a noob, so could easily miss any recognizable signs. I emailed farmhouse and got a reply that everything except the Simcoe were from 2010...the Simcoe was 2009 - so bad Simcoe perhaps???

I'm thinking it is one of the above, because these are the only things dramatically different from past brews that all turned out okay. I don't think it's infected, just tastes kinda stale/rubbery. Not gonna dump it, but assuming it doesn't improve, which of the above is the likely culprit??

 

[Nateo]

You should (almost) always use a starter for vials/pouches. Use the pitch calc on mrmalty.com. You'll find that very few beers don't need starters.

I doubt it was the hops. I've been using some bulk hops from 2009 for over a year now, and my beers have turned out fine.

I bet your beer is just really green and you're being impatient. It's good to taste the beer along the way though, because you'll see how a terrible beer at one hydro sample turns into a good beer at bottling, and a great beer after some conditioning.

 

[kbuzz]

-Pitched WLP051 w/o starter (OG 1.059), but didn't take off for 3 days, so all kinds of trub was just hangin out in the wort for 3 solid days before ferm started

Based on a couple links I found to help identify off flavors, I'm leaning toward the above as the reason at this point. I think it might be a bit moldy from sitting unfermented for a few days? I don't see any mold, but I would definitely describe it as an "earthy"/moldy flavor/aroma.

I know everyone says to wait a few days before repitching because ferm can take some time to start...but I'm thinking 3 days is a risky lag time. Of course, based on this potentially bad batch, I have now seen the light and will begin using starters consistently . But I don't know that I'm going to wait much longer than 36-48 hours before repitching if I don't start getting fermentation.

if I'm right, can this taste/aroma improve?

 

[cklages]

Just out of curiousity, are you familiar with what simcoe normally tastes and smells like? Some people pick up strange notes from some hops that others don't smell (like cat pee in citra or dirt in EKG...or was it fuggles)

Combine an unfamiliar hop aroma with really green beer, and it may be enough to freak you out. It will definitely change a lot with time, hop aroma and bitterness will drop out so I definitely wouldn't worry yet!

 

[kbuzz]

More familiar with the taste than the smell...but I've drank plenty of brews in my day that contain Simcoe and none taste/smell like this sucker...

Oh, the waiting...

 

[kbuzz]

Just got done bottling this catastrophe and I can add these two characteristics to the beer:

1. Tastes salty.

2. The smell literally stings my nose. That's a literal description...there is a burning sensation after taking a whif...granted this was a whif from the bucket and not from a smaller sample.

Has anyone had these two issues with their batches?

 

[cklages]

The nose stinging is kind of a common complaint, usually resulting from the CO2 produced. The saltiness is interesting however, it isn't possible that you forgot some PBW or oxyclean in the carboy before you filled it, is it?

 

[kbuzz]

The nose stinging is kind of a common complaint, usually resulting from the CO2 produced. The saltiness is interesting however, it isn't possible that you forgot some PBW or oxyclean in the carboy before you filled it, is it?

heh...nope...but I have done that in the past and the resulting batch was very similar in taste. (I started another lengthy thread about it here somewhere). But I'm now wondering if it's something else that I might be doing wrong and it wasn't the cleaner left in the carboy afterall.

Areany of the hops I used known for a "salty" taste or something that could be confused with salty?

 

[Yooper]

heh...nope...but I have done that in the past and the resulting batch was very similar in taste. (I started another lengthy thread about it here somewhere). But I'm now wondering if it's something else that I might be doing wrong and it wasn't the cleaner left in the carboy afterall.

Areany of the hops I used known for a "salty" taste or something that could be confused with salty?

I'm thinking you've got contamination from the beer not fermenting for three days. Some wild yeast or something. That's why it doesn't taste very good.

Next time, pitch enough yeast. But for now, hopefully I'm wrong and it doesn't get worse with a bit of age.