spices/flavors falling out too quickly

[MrSpaz]

Hey all,

My last three brews (pumpkin ale, vanilla porter, and breakfast stout) have all had issues with the flavors and/or spices falling out and becoming non noticeable.

I brewed the pumpkin ale in August but even by October the spice didn't seem to be there as much as it was in September. Obviously it wouldn't be there now as its March.

The vanilla porter was brewed in October and was delicious around Thanksgiving, but by Christmas, the vanilla had fades substantially (two vanilla beans were added to primary after fermentation was complete)

Finally, I brewed a breakfast stout with cold pressed coffee and chocolate in December. About a month ago, it tasted great at our homebrew club meeting. The coffee was a just right, but very little chocolate flavor, only on the back end (I used BYO recipe for Founders Breakfast Stout Clone, which minor changes).

Any suggestions? Or is this normal?

 

[billl]

"Any suggestions?"

Yeah, drink faster

Spice additions and flavorings mellow and meld with time. That's normal. I prefer much more subtle spicing, so I like it when that happens, but your taste may vary.

If you know you are going to drink some soon and the rest is going to sit, you might consider splitting the batch and spicing one half a bit more. That way, it will be closer to what you want by the time you get around to drinking it.

 

[MrSpaz]

Good point on splitting. That would certainly be an option. I'm still surprised the coffee flavor dropped out so quickly. There are breakfast stouts out there that age well but still hold their coffee flavor like founders breakfast stout or BCBS

 

[billl]

I don't know if everyone experiences this, but I think grain derived flavors age much differently than flavor additions.

 

[MrSpaz]

I'm thinking that this is the problem. But a lot of commercial craft seem to have flavor additions last much longer than my beer. Of course they have the brewing process dialed in and I don't.