Why Would It Be Salty/Sweet?

[JeffoC6]

I just bottled my Bell's Two Hearted Ale clone. Bexause of inconsistent carbonation, I've moved to a bottle priming process (only 1 gallon batches). I don't cold crash anymore either.

I rack from my primary, off the yeast cake, and into another 1 gallon sanitized jug. From there, I rack to the bottle primed bottles. After I finished,i I had about 4 ounces of beer left, so I poured it into a glass and put it in the fridge to taste.

I just tasted it, and it actually seemed salty and brackish, with some sweetness to it...Weird.. Since this little glass of beer had absolutely no priming sugar mixed into it, or added, what would be the cause of this flavor? I'm assuming its just "green beer," but. I wanted to get some other opinions. I also remember tasting this same taste in my DFH 60 Min clone, which I haven't opened yet, but should soon.

Thoughts?

 

[duboman]

You are just tasting un-carbonated green beer, everything should be fine once carbonated.

 

[JeffoC6]

You are just tasting un-carbonated green beer, everything should be fine once carbonated.

Figured, just wanted to see if this was "the norm," as I still don't really know what green beer tastes like. Thanks...

 

[Yooper]

I don't think I've ever tasted "salty" in any of my homebrews. "Sweet" could be because the beer is uncarbonated and flat, so that can be fixed with time. But I don't think "salty" will go away.

The only thing I can think of is water- what kind of water did you use? If the water came from someplace that had a water softener, for example, that would definitely explain "salty" beer.

 

[iambeer]

Was thinkin' the same. Do you know gravity stabilized?

It's interesting you identified the same taste in the DFH 60 Min clone. Would definitely keep a note on that until you can open a bottle.

Green doesn't mean any specific taste IMO. I just means it's not done, and it will taste better later on. One of the major obvious things is the flavors will mellow and blend (and of course, carbonate). Whatever other magic happens, I'm too green myself to even guess

 

[JeffoC6]

I don't think I've ever tasted "salty" in any of my homebrews. "Sweet" could be because the beer is uncarbonated and flat, so that can be fixed with time. But I don't think "salty" will go away.

The only thing I can think of is water- what kind of water did you use? If the water came from someplace that had a water softener, for example, that would definitely explain "salty" beer.

I use bottled Poland Spring water for all my batches.
Maybe it was so sweet it was salty? Either way, it was a pretty aggressive taste that bordered on salty and sweet.

 

[Draken]

So the only thing that can make a beer salty is... Salt. So unless you added salt, can you pick a different descriptor for the flavor? Maybe something that tastes similar? Depending on the starting gravity of your beer, sweet is a valid flavor.

 

[JeffoC6]

So the only thing that can make a beer salty is... Salt. So unless you added salt, can you pick a different descriptor for the flavor? Maybe something that tastes similar? Depending on the starting gravity of your beer, sweet is a valid flavor.

It was a DFH 60 Min Clone and a Bell's Two Hearted Ale Clone. SG's were approx 1.065 for each.

The sample I tried was not cold crashed. I had pulled out the dry hops about 30 hours prior and let it sit until I bottled it. It had been sitting at around 76 degrees (after having fermented in a temp controlled environment for 2 weeks). So it dry hopped at the 76 degrees. When I removed the dry hops, it smelled wonderful. When I bottled, I simply racked the un-cold crashed beer from the primary (off the yeast cake) to another clean and sanitized jug. I then bottle primed, and siphoned to each bottle. There was a tiny bit left, so I stuck it in the fridge.

After about 20 minutes, I took it out and sipped it. It tasted pretty sweet, yes. It also tasted salty, but maybe it was the agressive hop flavor/bitterness mixed with sweetness? Either way, I could feel it on both sides of my tongue. It didn't taste bad per say, but it didn't taste like an "damn fine IPA" either

 

[Draken]

What was the FG an OG of each batch? Batches with higher gravitates do tend to end sweeter. If you did all grain (which I don't think you are) mashing to high will led to a residual sweetness and higher final gravity from having too many long chain sugars that the yeast can't digest. Just relax give it 3 weeks @ 70 minimum and then at least 48 hours in the fridge and let us know how they turn out.

 

[JeffoC6]

What was the FG an OG of each batch? Batches with higher gravitates do tend to end sweeter. If you did all grain (which I don't think you are) mashing to high will led to a residual sweetness and higher final gravity from having too many long chain sugars that the yeast can't digest. Just relax give it 3 weeks @ 70 minimum and then at least 48 hours in the fridge and let us know how they turn out.

I am doing 1-gallon AG batches.
DFH 60 Min:
OG: 1.071
FG: 1.021

Bell's Two Hearted Clone:
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.015

Will try the DFH and report back in a bit.

 

[Draken]

What was your mash temp?

 

[JeffoC6]

What was your mash temp?

154 on the DFH and 150 on the Two Hearted

 

[b-boy]

I had a similar experience last week with a blonde ale. I tasted 'salty' as well. I tried it a few times and decided it was residual bitterness that came accross as salty. Could be my tastebuds.

Once I kegged it and force carbed the 'saltiness' is barely perceptable. Hopefully a week or 2 will get rid of the rest.

 

[bboyeruga]

Just had a saison I bottled turn out to be very salty as well. Smelled like a great saison but had an up front saltiness to it. I'm hopeful that it will go away with conditioning.

 

[DocScott]

I'm with yooper on this. There isn't anything salty in a beer except maybe the water. Carb it up and give it time to condition a bit and see. Hmm

 

[bboyeruga]

I'm with yooper on this. There isn't anything salty in a beer except maybe the water. Carb it up and give it time to condition a bit and see. Hmm

I just tasted the Saison 6 days into bottle conditioning and all saltiness is gone. It has a very strong spice character and I think that is what had the off flavor right out of the fermenter. It is quite drinkable right now, but I know in time, it will get even better. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Cathedral]

To me, it sounds like the quintessential example of green beer: you were picking up the flavor profiles of all the individual ingredients separately, instead of the smooth, single profile that finished beer has.

I know it seems weird but you might have confused bitterness from the hops as salty; sometimes the brain can't figure out what to do with what it experiences and assigns familiar things to the sensation.

I'm no expert, however. All that matters is that your beer turned out drinkable!

 

[bboyeruga]

To me, it sounds like the quintessential example of green beer: you were picking up the flavor profiles of all the individual ingredients separately, instead of the smooth, single profile that finished beer has.

I know it seems weird but you might have confused bitterness from the hops as salty; sometimes the brain can't figure out what to do with what it experiences and assigns familiar things to the sensation.

I'm no expert, however. All that matters is that your beer turned out drinkable!

Yep. One of the problems with a first brew. I had no basis of comparison besides everything I've read. Glad it has worked out too. I just bought another glass carboy, so I'm going to start doing 3 at a time. No idea how I'll drink/give away that much beer, but I'm excited to share.