What has given me a slight 'liquorice' flavor?

[GrumpyOldGit]

Hi there,

2 weeks since bottling and 4 weeks since brew day for an extract Belgian Dark Strong and all is good: Quaffable to me and (most importantly) SWMBO, clear as a bell, deceptively potent - with a definite hint of liquorice. (SWMBO has a better sense of taste and smell and she says liquorice, and not aniseed.)

My question is 'what introduced this?' Malt/sugar, hops, yeast, or my handling?

For 5 gal. I steeped 8 oz. of Aromatic grains.

The fermentables were:
6.6 lb. Light LME
3.3 lb. Dark LME
1 lb. Dark Brown Soft Candi Sugar

For hops:
.5 oz. Magnum at start of 60 min boil
.5 oz. US Brewer’s Gold 30 mins before FO.

Yeast pitched was Safbrew T-58.

All is good - but I'd like to know what added that flavor. Any ideas?

 

[JonM]

I bet it's from the candi sugar.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

I bet it's from the candi sugar.

That would make sense - I was hoping that someone out there may have used this particular Candi and could vouch for it being the cause or not.

 

[drainbamage]

The candi sugar would be my guess too. What brand was it: Brewer's Best, D-90, etc?

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

What brand was it?

Yep, Brewers Best. They've done me proud so far - and I've found my wife has quite a taste for Belgian style beers.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

What brand was it?

Yep, Brewers Best. They've done me proud so far - and I've found my wife has quite a taste for Belgian style beers.

 

[drainbamage]

Gotcha. I've used Simplicity (pretty neutral) and D-180 (caramel and some dark fruit). Haven't tried the BB versions yet.

 

[ElJefeBrews]

Licorice is definitely a phenol you can get from a Belgian yeast. I've used t-58 several times and have got a bubblegum-like and possibly licorice-like phenolic profile. It could also be a combination of several things.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

So could be yeast...

Licorice is definitely a phenol you can get from a Belgian yeast.

Or could be the candi

I bet it's from the candi sugar.

I guess the only thing to do is brew it again and change one. Damn... another brew day. What a hardship.

 

[MaxStout]

What was your fermentation temp with the T-58? It can throw off some flavors at the higher end of the temp range.

 

[RM-MN]

So could be yeast...


Or could be the candi


I guess the only thing to do is brew it again and change one. Damn... another brew day. What a hardship.

Two brew days. You have to change one and then the other just to be sure it isn't something in your process.

 

[drainbamage]

Two brew days. You have to change one and then the other just to be sure it isn't something in your process.

No...three? One to change the yeast, one to change the candi sugar, and one control batch where you try to recreate the original.

 

[RM-MN]

No...three? One to change the yeast, one to change the candi sugar, and one control batch where you try to recreate the original.

It might take even more because to be sure that the one change was the answer the process/recipe needs to be tested more than once to rule out environmental differences. I can see possibilities of a hundred gallons of beer made to remove all doubt about what cured the problem.

 

[joshesmusica]

My thought was likely a combination of the candi sugar and the phenols from the yeast. Possibly even in combination with some fusels if your temps weren't in check, as I've experienced t-58 to have excessive fusels pretty easily at high temps. I personally don't see that as the type of "Trappist" type beer you seem to be going for here, but more for use in a saison or something like that.

The description from fermentis:

Specialty yeast selected for its estery somewhat peppery and spicy flavor development. Yeast with a good sedimentation: forms no clumps but a powdery haze when resuspended in the beer.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

What was your fermentation temp with the T-58? It can throw off some flavors at the higher end of the temp range.

I kept it toward the lower end of the range (used a cool brew cooler).

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

...I can see possibilities of a hundred gallons of beer made to remove all doubt about what cured the problem.

I think I owe that to the world.

Ask not what your country can brew for you...