I've been posting in the past few days about this problem that I've had on two batches now, a Saison and an IPA. Both beers tasted great on bottling day but, after 7 - 10 days carbing, they had this really bad, indescribable off flavor that is really noticeable when you exhale. Other posters have mentioned that they've had the same mysterious off flavor and people have suggested the usual: green beer and an infection.
I'm convinced that it's not either of those two. I decided to take a bottle of the IPA and pour it into a glass and then swirl it around for about 15 minutes straight, until there weren't many bubbles coming up and it was much warmer. After tasting it, this mystery off flavor was barely noticeable. It's still there, but just as a hint rather than a kick to the nuts. In fact, my wife said she couldn't taste it at all in the flat warm beer that just 20 minutes earlier tasted like ****. She was amazed that it was the same beer.
These two beers are the only two that I've aimed for relatively high levels of carbonation (2.5 and 3.0 volumes) and overshot the desired carbonation level on both. I'm thinking that maybe the off flavor is from carbonic acid?
Or maybe it's some other flavor that's just not as noticeable in flat, warm beer?
I'm convinced that it's not either of those two. I decided to take a bottle of the IPA and pour it into a glass and then swirl it around for about 15 minutes straight, until there weren't many bubbles coming up and it was much warmer. After tasting it, this mystery off flavor was barely noticeable. It's still there, but just as a hint rather than a kick to the nuts. In fact, my wife said she couldn't taste it at all in the flat warm beer that just 20 minutes earlier tasted like ****. She was amazed that it was the same beer.
These two beers are the only two that I've aimed for relatively high levels of carbonation (2.5 and 3.0 volumes) and overshot the desired carbonation level on both. I'm thinking that maybe the off flavor is from carbonic acid?
Or maybe it's some other flavor that's just not as noticeable in flat, warm beer?