Concord Grape Flavor- Ester or Homegrown Hop

[bcunning82]

I rencently brewed an IPA using my homegrown chinook hops. This was my first time using homegorwn hops. The recipe was as follow:
5.5 Gallons
10lbs 2-Row
1lb - flaked wheat
6oz - C40
.75oz CTZ @60
8oz(Wet) homegrown Chinook at 5min
8oz(Wet) homegrown Chinook at 0min
1pk US-05 Pitched at 73 fermented at 67 for 18 days
Cold crashed for 3 days at 38 degrees

Brew day was completly normal, everything went as planned until it was time to rack and taste

I was expecting a really grassy and piney flavor from the wet chinooks. I was shocked when I tasted my sample and the first pour from my keg.
It smelled and tasted like concord grapes(welches grape juice). It wasnt bad, just not what I wanted or expected. My first though was that my neighbor grows concord grapes on the otherside of the fence as my hops(within inches of my bines), Could the hops had taken on some concord grape flavor from the near by grapes? No way! So I looked up grape flavor in beer and found out about Ethyl heptanoate, an ester that is known to create concord grape flavor. I almost always use US-05 and have never tasted this ester before. My fermentation practices were no different than I have done in the past.

Has anyone experienced this flavor with US-05? Seemed like a crazy coincidence, the first time I used my homegrown hops, the beer smells and tastes like concord grapes that are growing inches away. I would love to hear peoples thoughts.

 

[bierhaus15]

What you are tasting is ethyl heptanoate. It can be produced by stressed fermentation, often due to under-pitching or from an incomplete fermentation. Often times you'll see it in beers that were moved off the yeast too soon.

 

[unionrdr]

Huh...interesting an ester would produce that one in a beer? I was going to mention that Cooper's ale yeast always smells to me like it came from white grapes?

 

[bcunning82]

What you are tasting is ethyl heptanoate. It can be produced by stressed fermentation, often due to under-pitching or from an incomplete fermentation. Often times you'll see it in beers that were moved off the yeast too soon.

Fermented down to 1.008