Weirdest off-flavor ever...salty?

[cuttsjp]

Hey all,

I really have only had one beer ever that has gotten a nasty off flavor, and I've been trying to figure out what the heck happened for almost a year now. Last summer, I brewed a high gravity stout with chocolate, hot chili peppers, and a bit of coffee. I was really excited it about it...was gonna call it the "hot chocolate stout" and wait until Christmastime to open it. Everything seemed to go well, sanitation included. I tasted it last summer at this time, and basically just concluded that the beer needed some time. However, I tasted it again a little before Christmas, and experienced the following:

1. a very salty, almost soapy taste on the tip of my tongue
2. the taste of a wonderful chocolatey, coffee-flavored, somewhat spicy beer once the "saltiness" had faded

Has anyone else ever experienced this salty flavor before? It is not sour, not funky, not solventy or band-aid-like. I can't find anywhere that tells me where this taste comes from. Oh, and if anyone is curious, the beer is in a keg with CO2 and this week, I tasted it again for the first time in several months. Same thing, with the saltiness just as prominent (only the stout aftertaste was even more delicious haha!). I would REALLY appreciate any feedback on the matter. Obviously, I am well beyond really caring about it. This one aspect of the flavor doesn't seem to be improving at all, and at this point it's just intellectual curiosity.

 

[ACbrewer]

Did your SWMBO put salt in it? If you search, there is a thread where the the brewer's SWMBO dumped 2 cups of salt into the primary. I understand it made a good marrinade.

After that, I'd go over all the ingredients and sanitizers. Oxyclean/One-Step is a type of salt, and our salt taste can't really easily distinguish one type (kCL, NaCl, or more complex) from one another. Other possiblities are the water used. Lastly, would be a 'reactive' when you added two or more compounds and generated a salt.

 

[Yooper]

I just made some soap today, which is why this caught my eye. When you make soap, you use lye (a base) plus oils (fats). They saponify, and you get soap (which is really a salt of a fatty acid).

For some reason in your case, perhaps warm fermentation temperatures, there was a breakdown fatty acids in the trub.

According to howtobrew.com: Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap.

It sounds like an issue with yeast health, and fermentation temperatures which caused a breakdown of the fatty acids in the trub. A high fermentation temperature, too little yeast, some yeast stress and a long primary can combine to produce soapy flavors.

 

[cuttsjp]

Thanks, Yooper. That would make a good deal of sense given the sheer amount of chocolate that went into this batch, which in turn yielded a seriously high amount of cocoa butter/oil. High temps and yeast health probably had a good deal to do with the taste turnout, too. A year ago I was young and naïve, knew almost nothing of making yeast starters, had questionable monitoring of my wort chilling, and still thought that 70 degrees was an acceptable fermentation temperature. I am older and wiser now, and I would be inclined to believe that if I brewed this beer again, it would probably come out quite well.

This has been very educational. And the salt<->soap thing actually makes A LOT of sense, because that is EXACTLY what I tasted. Of course I used One-Step on my keg, but then I rinsed it out and sanitized with StarSan, so it would be doubtful that the cleaners/sanitizers had much to do with it.

Thanks! Probably gonna dump it so I can fill that keg with somethin tasty.

 

[Sacdan]

Just to add to this, I wouldn't use chocolate bars in beer. You don't want oils in your beer. I use chocolate in many of my beers. I always use unsweetend Baker's Chocolate and/or chocolate extract.

 

[cuttsjp]

Just to add to this, I wouldn't use chocolate bars in beer. You don't want oils in your beer. I use chocolate in many of my beers. I always use unsweetend Baker's Chocolate and/or chocolate extract.

+1 I used 100% cocoa Baker's chocolate as well. Cocoa is a naturally oil-rich product. I will, however, use dry baking chocolate powder next time, just for greater ease of use and lower oil content.