Off-flavor? Help ID “hot” taste

[elgatovolador]

I’ve been attempting to educate my palette to identify flavors and such but I can’t nail down the one I’m tasting in my beer right now.

I brewed a cream ale (1.56 OG, 1.008 FG, ~18 IBUs) and it came out ok. Used WLP1007 German Ale Yeast and kept around 58 degF for 2 weeks and then attempted a Diacetyl rest for 5 days at 66 degF. Kegged and carbed for 1 week.

The beer is ok but I am detecting a flavor that is hard for me to nail down...if I had to explain it is kind of a “hot” alcoholish after taste. I assume this might be fusel alcohols but I’ve never really experienced them so I don’t know if that’s the flavor.

Does that flavor go away as it ages? It’s very drinkable but I always notice the taste.

For next time...does a higher IBU mask this flavor more? (My original target was 22 IBUs but somehow ended up going with 18).

So far I’ve been lazy with aerating my wort properly...I’m assuming this could be the culprit.

Also, could the use of corn sugar amplify the “hot” alcohol taste?

 

[RealRayDizzle]

Was the wort chilled down enough prior to pitching yeast? pitching too warm, the wort would not have a chance to cool down before fermentation is in full swing.

Could also explain high attenuation, WLP1007 is maybe 77% attenuation on the high end, @1.008 that could be in the 80s(math is hard). I had a batch of kolsch that I pitched at 76 and it had a pretty strong alcohol flavor.

Could get some off flavors with too much corn sugar, but it may have a cider like tang to it, it would take a lot of it though in a light beer.

 

[Jag75]

I had the same thing happen to me . I pitched at 78 instead of 68 . Just a brain fart . Didnt realize it until the next morning. It had an alchoholy taste to it as well.

 

[RM-MN]

Your beer came out over 6% ABV with a low FG so it has no maltiness to mask the alcohol. Your temperature should not have produced fusel alcohol.

 

[9Kegs]

My very first batch ever, before learning the importance of temperature control, fermented too warm and had the hot alcohol taste. I knew it had fusel alcohol in it because both my wife and I were rewarded with a nice headache from it.

 

[Kenmoron]

Cream ales are usually pretty light on the flavor. If you are confident that your pitch temp and fermentation temp didn't get too high, and your yeast were healthy and pitched at a somewhat decent count then it is likely that you just brewed a cream ale that is too alcoholic. These beers are generally in the 4-5% alcohol range. There is not much to hide behind when you brew it in the mid 6% range. Also, I've never heard of someone adding corn sugar to their cream ale (which is a source of your ABV bump). Did you perhaps mean to put flaked corn instead of corn sugar?

 

[elgatovolador]

Thanks for the insight everyone.

I tried some last night and the flavor has considerably changed, for the better!

The hot taste is not there anymore. I think I was too eager to drink it and needed to let it condition a little more.

My grain bill was
9 lbs 2 row
2 lbs Vienna
0.5 lbs Corn Sugar

Really didn’t have a method towards the making the recipe outside of looking at different recipes for cream ales and tweaking it towards what I thought I wanted in the end.

Anyways next time I’m going to probably eliminate the corn sugar and see how it turns out.

 

[RM-MN]

The hot taste is not there anymore. I think I was too eager to drink it and needed to let it condition a little more.

Welcome to the world of forced patience. You have noticed the change that a short amount of time that your beer changed a great deal. That is maturity of the beer. Different beers have different amount of time to reach maturity and the cream ale is one of the fastest. As beers get higher in alcoholic content and/or darker they will take longer to mature.

 

[jcav]

For Cream Ale you might want to use flaked corn in the mash. I am drinking one right now, the best one I have made so far. My Recipe is:

76% Weyermann Pilsner malt

24% Flaked Corn (I know it sounds like a lot but it is delicious for a cream ale)
Use some rice hulls as the corn can gum things up a bit.

You only need 12-13 IBU's of hops I used Hallertauer Hersbrucker (slightly spicy Noble hop). 3.0 ounces (2.3% AA) at 60 minutes, and a 1 ounce of the same hop for a 5 min addition.

My brew house efficiency is 80% which gives you 1.048 OG. Ferment with Wyeast 1056 and you end up with 1.009 and a 5.1% beer.

Ferment @ 62-64 degrees for six days and then let it rise to 69 to 70 degrees for a D-rest until finished. I cold crash after that down to 34 degrees for a few days and then keg. After carbing and conditioning in the keg it is very very good around day 11.

John

 

[RPh_Guy]

I thought cream ales all used corn (maize). Learned something new.

Glad it turned out!