I've been battling an off flavor in my pale ales for a while now. My brown ales and belgians have been coming out great, but my pale ales and IPAs always have a taste that bothers me. I've been working to solve the mystery for a while now, because I really like hoppy beers, but without much luck.
The best I can describe the flavor as is dull, vegetal, maybe caramel-like. I can smell it as well as taste it. It always seems to appear after dry-hopping; the first sample out of the primary typically tastes bright and clean, but after dosing it with dry-hops and carbing I'm smacked with the off flavor.
I've tried playing with pH and water additions. I heard a podcast where Gordon Strong said high mash ph combined with hops makes for dull soapy flavors. I also thought lack of sulfates might be adding to the dull muttled flavor. Well my additions have improved my other beers but the problem persists.
My next thought was that it was the dry hop addition itself. I feel like the flavor does have a vegetal component. So I switched from pellet hops to whole hops. No luck.
I have also tried using gelatin and extended cold conditioning (35*). I thought maybe hop particles were to blame. This made brilliantly clear beer and a cleaner profile, but the flavor persisted. I also switched from 1450 to US-05, thinking that the suspended yeast were trapping unwanted particles. Nope. I started swear off dry hopping completely, but so many of the beers I like are dry-hopped, it doesn't make sense that this would be the problem. Plus, the sample I take from primary is full of hop particles, but it tastes bright and flavorful.
Today (like many other days before) I think I may have a good lead. Perhaps the problem is oxidation. These beers are the only ones that I transfer to a secondary. I'm pretty careful about splashing when I transfer (I use an auto-siphon and the end of the tub rests on the bottom of the secondary carboy), but I also don't purge the secondary with CO2. Perhaps the flavor I am tasting is the wet cardboard flavor people describe? When I think about it, it is reminiscent of flavors I get from an older commercial IPA.
Any thoughts?
The best I can describe the flavor as is dull, vegetal, maybe caramel-like. I can smell it as well as taste it. It always seems to appear after dry-hopping; the first sample out of the primary typically tastes bright and clean, but after dosing it with dry-hops and carbing I'm smacked with the off flavor.
I've tried playing with pH and water additions. I heard a podcast where Gordon Strong said high mash ph combined with hops makes for dull soapy flavors. I also thought lack of sulfates might be adding to the dull muttled flavor. Well my additions have improved my other beers but the problem persists.
My next thought was that it was the dry hop addition itself. I feel like the flavor does have a vegetal component. So I switched from pellet hops to whole hops. No luck.
I have also tried using gelatin and extended cold conditioning (35*). I thought maybe hop particles were to blame. This made brilliantly clear beer and a cleaner profile, but the flavor persisted. I also switched from 1450 to US-05, thinking that the suspended yeast were trapping unwanted particles. Nope. I started swear off dry hopping completely, but so many of the beers I like are dry-hopped, it doesn't make sense that this would be the problem. Plus, the sample I take from primary is full of hop particles, but it tastes bright and flavorful.
Today (like many other days before) I think I may have a good lead. Perhaps the problem is oxidation. These beers are the only ones that I transfer to a secondary. I'm pretty careful about splashing when I transfer (I use an auto-siphon and the end of the tub rests on the bottom of the secondary carboy), but I also don't purge the secondary with CO2. Perhaps the flavor I am tasting is the wet cardboard flavor people describe? When I think about it, it is reminiscent of flavors I get from an older commercial IPA.
Any thoughts?