I took a flier on a recipe, introducing several new variables at one time that I've never used before, which is likely part of the problem here, but hopefully someone knows what this might be.
The beer is a SMASH with Golden Promise (new to me) and Azacca.
Voss Kveik (new to me)
Fermented at 100F (new to me) in a Big Mouth Bubbler. Visual fermentation activity was done after three days.
Problem #1 (I know how to fix this; just adding it for context later): After 5 days I cut the heater in my fermentation chamber and let the temp start to free fall. I figured this would be pretty slow (insulated chamber) and that off gassing from the beer would be enough to maintain equal pressure in the headspace. Wrong. It did take a while to cool, but after a while I noticed that it was pulling in air and probably had been for some time. Oops. So it's going to be oxidized from the start.
Problem #2: Kegged after 10 days in the fermenter. Sample didn't look or taste good. I almost dumped it right there, but figured I came this far, might as well carb it and see. I did my normal carb cycle and sampled it after 7 days in the keg. It still looked like muddy water, and had an unpleasant/harsh aroma and aftertaste, separate from any oxidation issue. Very little hop character (probably an oxidation issue). I'm bad at identifying off flavors, and wondering if anyone knows what this might be based on what I've said so far. Again, I almost dumped it right there, but didn't need the kegerator space, so just let it ride.
Now it has been almost a month since brew day, 2.5 weeks in the keg, and somehow the beer has gotten a little brighter, and the harsh aroma and aftertaste is mostly gone. It doesn't look "good", but not as dark as it was before. I'm wondering if this might just be a function of yeast crashing out.
Hop aroma is still not much, but at this point I don't recoil away from it overall. It is not something I would be proud to share by any stretch, but probably doesn't sink quite to the level of "dumper" for me as it sits. It tastes fairly bland overall, and a little... "acidic". But, I've had worse commercial beers.
I'm guessing I'll have a window of time, possibly now, when the harsh flavor (whatever it is) is degrading, and the oxidation is still tolerable, and I can drink it in that window. Once the oxidation really asserts, I will dump whatever is left. Two general questions? 1) does the prior statement sound like a likely scenario overall? 2) Does anyone know what the harsh flavor is/was, and what exactly might have caused it?
TiA
The beer is a SMASH with Golden Promise (new to me) and Azacca.
Voss Kveik (new to me)
Fermented at 100F (new to me) in a Big Mouth Bubbler. Visual fermentation activity was done after three days.
Problem #1 (I know how to fix this; just adding it for context later): After 5 days I cut the heater in my fermentation chamber and let the temp start to free fall. I figured this would be pretty slow (insulated chamber) and that off gassing from the beer would be enough to maintain equal pressure in the headspace. Wrong. It did take a while to cool, but after a while I noticed that it was pulling in air and probably had been for some time. Oops. So it's going to be oxidized from the start.
Problem #2: Kegged after 10 days in the fermenter. Sample didn't look or taste good. I almost dumped it right there, but figured I came this far, might as well carb it and see. I did my normal carb cycle and sampled it after 7 days in the keg. It still looked like muddy water, and had an unpleasant/harsh aroma and aftertaste, separate from any oxidation issue. Very little hop character (probably an oxidation issue). I'm bad at identifying off flavors, and wondering if anyone knows what this might be based on what I've said so far. Again, I almost dumped it right there, but didn't need the kegerator space, so just let it ride.
Now it has been almost a month since brew day, 2.5 weeks in the keg, and somehow the beer has gotten a little brighter, and the harsh aroma and aftertaste is mostly gone. It doesn't look "good", but not as dark as it was before. I'm wondering if this might just be a function of yeast crashing out.
Hop aroma is still not much, but at this point I don't recoil away from it overall. It is not something I would be proud to share by any stretch, but probably doesn't sink quite to the level of "dumper" for me as it sits. It tastes fairly bland overall, and a little... "acidic". But, I've had worse commercial beers.
I'm guessing I'll have a window of time, possibly now, when the harsh flavor (whatever it is) is degrading, and the oxidation is still tolerable, and I can drink it in that window. Once the oxidation really asserts, I will dump whatever is left. Two general questions? 1) does the prior statement sound like a likely scenario overall? 2) Does anyone know what the harsh flavor is/was, and what exactly might have caused it?
TiA