Oxidation realization (rhym totally unintended)

My first IPA was a lesson in "learn from your mistakes". I did all kinds of things wrong. As pertains here, I racked to secondary (I know ) and used a muslin bag as a filter to the auto siphon. I got plugged up so bad that I put a ton of oxygen into my beer.

The IPA has all sorts of flaws. There is a weird taste I struggle to describe but I now say it is from the oxygen bubbled into my secondary. The reason I say this is because I bought a Founders Centennial IPA this week (my IPA was all Centennial). I noticed the same after taste in the Founders (but not as bad). I was amazed...Founders is a great brewery. But then I saw the packaged date on this Founders. It was bottled more than a year ago. I'm convinced I learned what oxidation does to beer.

Am I wrong?

Ridire said:

Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

Nope, I think you're right.

And oxidation flavors vary in degrees of oxidation. For example, a slightly oxidized beer might taste a bit stale, or "less bright". After a bit of time, that same beer will develop some "sherry" flavors (also called madieriazation after madieria). It's almost got a brandy undertone to it. In severe oxidation, you can taste the wet cardboard flavor and have that aroma. That's only when it's really bad, though. In darker beers with roasted grain, some early oxidation has a bit of metallic flavored edge to it.

Most homebrew beers I've judged in competition have some degree of oxidation. That's definitely the most common flaw. It's not always severe, of course, but an experienced judge can pick it up.

I know lots of people on the forum say things like "I splashed and poured my beer and accidentally aerated it, but it doesn't have any flavor of oxidation at all", but I think there probably ARE some flavors associated with oxidation. It might not be the "wet cardboard" we've all heard about, but I bet a competent beer judge would find some oxidation damage.

Oxidation isn't always unpleasant. Think of an aged barleywine with hints of toffee, sherry and raisins. Some of that flavor is from oxidation due to age. It is out of place in many beer styles, but it doesn't render them undrinkable at all. It's just a case of being aware of it, and drinking them sooner rather than later!

If you want to taste late oxidation, you could set a bottle or two of this batch aside and try it in the future so you could see how the flavor changes with some time.