DMS Imposters

[Saboral]

Ok so I just got some competition results back and generally they were favorable with no real surprises. Things I expected except that one judge flagged DMS.

Went on to say beer was good but hiding major flaw. Said there was potential for too high mash temp or bad cooling. I know neither of these is the case as I recirc my mash, use PID control, and frequently calibrate my tun temp readings with a NIST traceable thermometer. I also cooled this wort from boiling to 70 F in under 7 minutes via plate chiller.

Boil was uncovered for 60 minutes at high vigor.

So what else could induce DMS or masquerade as DMS? Oxidation perhaps? I know that my bottling (via beer gun) had some flaws. Between that and high iron content in my water I suspect oxidation issues. My suspicion is heightened because the second round judge comments were significantly worse than the first round. (I.e more time had passed with potentially more handling.

Any insights would be appreciated.

 

[JohnSand]

One judge out of how many? He could simply be wrong.
It is also possible to get vegetable flavors from infection. This has happened to me.

 

[brewkinger]

I've had some "rogue" judge comments in the past as well.
My best S.W.A.G would be oxidation is your culprit (assuming that the judge is correct)
DMS is really hard to mistake as that taste of canned corn is rather gross.

I have tasted something similar in a couple of beers made by myself and others in our club that we attributed to oxidation combined with hop variety (and possibly off flavors on top of that)

What was the grain bill? A lot of Pilsen malt?
How long boil?

 

[broadbill]

The recent Brulosopher experiments where they tried to detect DMS from pilsner and a short boil make me think that this isn't something homebrewers really need to be concerned about.

I'd be surprised that DMS was an actual flavor component in your beer, and that judge was just off-base.

 

[dmtaylor]

I agree with others that judges screw up more often than not. I think probably half of judges these days have no clue what DMS or diacetyl is, so then of course to show off they find it in just about every beer they taste. Wrong. I bet your beer is fine.

 

[Saboral]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I didn't think about the possibility of contributions from the Pilsner malt. I will likely which my Pilsner malt to Pale in an effort to body up and stop the "cooked corn" flavor. I'm also going to increase the hops addition at 30 minutes and add a hip stand at the end. I'm worry about dry hoping a session, I think I'll try some through a Randall first to see how that comes across before going with outright dry hoping.

 

[brewkinger]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I didn't think about the possibility of contributions from the Pilsner malt. I will likely which my Pilsner malt to Pale in an effort to body up and stop the "cooked corn" flavor. I'm also going to increase the hops addition at 30 minutes and add a hip stand at the end. I'm worry about dry hoping a session, I think I'll try some through a Randall first to see how that comes across before going with outright dry hoping.

To satisfy my curiousity, what was the grain bill?

 

[Saboral]

50% Pilsner to 50% white wheat.

 

[brewkinger]

Yes indeed that amount of Pilsen could have been an issue if your boil wasn't long enough.