Another common one (only on tap) is dirty lines. Usually described as a dirty dishrag flavor. There was a bar we would go to sometimes that had a lot of good beers on tap but you could tell never cleaned their lines because 1. They were beers I’d had before and knew were good and 2. They all had the same gross off flavor. Bars need to flush their lines with caustic acid pretty commonly to clear all of the gunk out.
I am a draft beer technician and I can complete verify this. Some bars that do not clean their lines have some pretty gnarly flavors due to the old built up yeast and bacteria in the lines. Also all the gunk inside the actual faucet sometimes is a bit culprit!! Very buttery and vinegary. Completely ruins any good beer
I remember the first time we had an off flavors tasting in my homebrew club, I instantly reacted to the wet cardboard smell with the word LIGNIN! Which was a raw material, extracted from wood (cardboard is also a product extracted from wood), that my company used in some of their products. I was exposed to it on a daily basis, so I immediately recognized it.
My Sis got a beer from a mail subscription service that legitimately tasted like the scent of a fiberglass shop. Weird and specific I know. But my mom works at a boat manufacturer and the scent of that one building that made fiberglass forms is the EXACT taste that beer had. I couldn't describe it any other way but my brother tried it and absolutely agreed.
I find stouts can often have a woody or earthy flavour I don't really like. Not sure that's an off-flavour though so much as a flavour in stout which I don't like.
I am continually amazed by how different people's sensitivity levels to various flavour compounds are. Earlier this year I took a really bad vinegary pint back and the landlord immediately apologised and took the beer off. I told another customer that I though the beer was off and he could get it changed - he got angry and said 'I can't taste anything wrong with it' There really is no accounting for taste! (great video BTW)
I just had my fits homebrew braggot! Its has a discusting oily aftertaste, like butter that is melting in your mouth. Thanks for the ediocation on off-flavours. I will store my bottles in a colder place from now on!
I've had a local brewery reach out via untapped to make sure the beer hadn't turned. I gave it a .25 / 5, and really, really hated it. After they reached out I bought more of that beer to double check, and it was foul to my pallet. No hard feelings from either side. Another brewery I love, whose local, did a 180, going from wild and weird to almost macro flat and boring. They got in contact via untapped and offered 6 pack vouchers for going to mainstream. I still buy every single new beer they produce, and hit the brewery a few times a year.
Funny thing in North America, all the cold beer stores put the cheap mass lagers in the walk in cooler and all the specialty, craft beers on the shelf in room temperature.
I'm glad you mentioned the butyric- I tried a sour at a local brewery where the most dominant acid providing the sourness was butyric acid, the smell of vomit. Prone to the power of suggestion, I almost vomited myself! This was fantastic!
Great video. Regarding the deterioration of hoppy flavours in a non-refrigerated beers, personally I find this varies. I have had stashes of beer that I've kept in the garage for months due to a lack of fridge space - not always in the coolest of temperatures. I've found some of these old IPAs and pales have exhibited exactly the unpleasant flavours you've described; others, though, have held up really well, and still taste beautifully hoppy to me. Are certain hop varieties more susceptible than others? Or could, say, a good-quality canning system also help defer this deterioration?
What's the worst pint you've ever had?! HIT US UP. In the meantime, learn how to taste like a beer judge right here: ua-cam.com/video/KpqRKLigVTw/v-deo.html
I used to drink Swan Draught occasionally 20 years ago when I didn’t care what was a good beer or not. A pint of this stuff was on special at my local tavern and I tried it again....it was awful. It tasted like the beer was poured out of a musty old boot. I couldn’t finish it. I cannot work out why anyone with normal tastebuds can like it.
@@xander1052 I have had several different styles of leffe. I didn’t know they made a 0% version. Leffe isn’t something I go for when choosing Belgian beer. Orval is so much better.
Ascetic Flavour. My Nemesis. Had to ditch a fair few gallons of beer over the years because of it. Thankfully not because the beer was crap, but because people weren't drinking my Cask Ale fast enough. Certainly a lesson in knowing what your regulars like, that's for sure! If you get a bad pint of Cask, take Jonny's Advice- Don't Be A Dick About It. Most places worth their salt will just offer to swap your beer for another, and will thank you for letting them know the barrel's gone. Great video as always. I'll be on the lookout for some of these flavours!
Generally vinegary bite is considered an off-flavour in lambic but not always. Boon released a Geuze which had this "off-flavour" as a feature, inspired by the tastes of americans. There's also Hanssens, which is very vinegary on purpouse. However vinegary bite in flemish reds is part of the style character.
You are totally right - a touch of acetic is vital to many wild ales, especially Flemish red. Though I would still consider the Hanssens beers mostly flawed - exciting and unusual, but definitely flawed. Their best blends are those that rein the acetic in.
I've had pints at the bar (typically from establishments with lots of taps) that tasted metallic, kind of a copper-y flavor. What would you attribute that to? People I've talked to about it theorized dirty lines, but would love your opinion! Great video, very insightful.
That could be two things. Oxidisation can present as metallic (try just drinking the head of a macro lager, it's like licking a steel pipe), or it could be musty lines where the beer has been sat in it for a long time, so both oxidisation AND the compounding of endless more oxidisation from beers that once went through it.
I’d be really interested on a video on beer rating etiquette. I use Untappd for my own reference, rated on how much I enjoyed a beer. I won’t rate a beer where the style isn’t one I would choose to buy but I drank it anyway (I don’t like many whitbiers so I refrain from rating them but if they come in a pack I’ll happily polish them off!) but aside from that it’s all about me. I wouldn’t like to think I am harming a brewer by recording personal taste but neither am I a qualified beer judge...?
This is a fascinating comment and question, and a video we've nearly made several times before deciding not to. Personally I think that the responsibility lies with Untappd to account for the whims of humans - to build ways of making sure the ratings are represented in a fair way. In the meantime we have the same philosophy as you - only rate it if you can be entirely constructive. We'll keep thinking about how we can do a video on it!
Counter point ethyl esters and acetylaldehyde taste great haha. I don't know what it is. But to my tastebuds I love that sort of apple sauce/ripe pear flavor. And to sweeten the pot. Ive done flavor standards and can't actually taste diacetyl or dms haha. Im a lucky one.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I hear you. My main take away to this video (and the bubble afterwords) is that you are way more sensitive to these flavors than my palate haha. I swear I must be the opposite of whatever a super taster is.
methylated beer is something i ve experienced with cask; I don t know if meths is denser than beer but i noticed the flavour getting more off after drinking half. My mate thought i was crazy, until he d also got half way through his pint.
For me, diacetyl is a buttery flavour but I think it's better described as butter-popcorn. Which makes sense when you know it's diacetyl which is added to microwave popcorn to add that buttery flavour.
lol ive run into quite a lot of spoiled beer during my reviews..... one was like 11 years old spoiled. getting from an international bottle shop comes with a price sometimes lol
Hi mate my bottled home brew is getting very small black dots sticking to the inside of the bottle which detach and mix through when disturbed . Any idea what may cause this .only been last 2 brews
Question: when homebrewing and bottle conditioning - at what point do you put your IPAs in the fridge? Some say to condition for 2 weeks but from what you’ve said this could be too long at room temp (20ish). Maybe best to condition for just one week then get them all in the fridge? We do have oxidation issues with our beers. Bottling is tricky. Kegs are purchased, just need co2 and some more learning!!!
TO be honest, bottle conditioning very hoppy beer is always going to result in some issues due to having to keep it warm. Best bet is to wait a week and test a bottle to see if the carb is there - as soon as it is get them chilling!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel yeh that’s been my tactic this time. Cheers! Also, any explanation for lots of grainy flavours coming through? Like nearly raw grain flavour. Not clean at all. All help appreciated
The only beers I have had a dusty note in them, are the farmhouse ales, saison, etc. Along with that hay, wet horse blanket, etc kind of notes. The whole garlic/onion thing, I have always associated with super fresh beers (which makes sense since your description), and dankness, usually with Simcoe I have found. Had a local brewer (oldest in the city) had a beer and it was literally like drinking a stick of melted butter the butter notes were so prevalent, I had mentioned it to them, and was told that was the way it was supposed to be. Yeah, no. Needless to say, while their beer doesn't have the buttery flavor anymore, and despite it being the oldest craft brewery in the area, their beer hasn't gotten that much better, so I tend not to spend my money there. Well, I do, but it is usually buying other craft brewery beers that they bring in from around the province to sell in their shop. They pride themselves on being a British type brewery, using the Peter Austin brewing system, open top fermenters and Ringwood yeast for everything, regardless of style. Which for some styles, is fine, but when you are making a NEIPA, sorry but you don't use Ringwood yeast in an open top fermenter. Maybe it is just me.
I am one of those disturbing weirdos who quite enjoys a little hop-burn.... For me, it adds a nice bite to an IPA, especially in New England styles where the bitterness is often non-existent. But, maybe I'm crazy...
The last group of flavours is best known as esters rather than acetate. These are the more fruity off-flavours as you mention and even though some are indeed acetate's, they are esters of that particular compound.
Does "Green beer" refers to the beer being not ready BECAUSE of the garlic / onion flavors, or just because it needs some time for other reasons? Also, I learned that many of the whisky I love do have a huge butter smell / flavor, and diacetyl is exactly what can happening when distilling, science is amazing!
I had a beer at a brewery one time and it tasted like Pickle Juice no joke. It was on tap and labeled as experimental, but the person behind the bar said they actually brewed some beer that didn't quite come out as they liked and they decided to put it on the tap list anyway just to get rid of it. It was marked way down in price compared to their other beers of course.
That is a massive mistake on the breweries part, you are far better off taking the loss and tipping a beer that’s shite down the sink than compromising your reputation.
Nice videos!! I am a newcomer in homebrewing and I get acidic fruity flavors. I ferment for approximately 20 days, 10 primary and 10 bottling, and a few days in the fridge. As the weeks go by the beer tastes better, is this lagering, all beers should be laggered?
Most beer benefits from a few days of conditioning at cold temps, and very clean and light beers often need longer but most important is temp control during active fermentation, so if you're getting some unwanted aromas have a look into that
Confirmed. Especially with some age on them. But not only Bourbon. Had a Side Project Derivation Blend #10 (Rum Barrel and then some coffee and vanilla) recently that was straight up green pepper in the nose.
Thanks for the continued excellent work, lads! Your videos and podcasts have been one of the few positives during the last 18 months. I know that your entire back catalogue will have explained the "opposites" to this video, but I'd love a sister video that discussed the main "good" tastes? I appreciate this probably showcases me as a noob to craft, but even after a few years of crafty indulgence, I still find some of the on-can descriptions of beers confusing. I'm thinking common ones to IPAs such as "stonefruit" and even "piney". I also find myself noting flavours in beers that, according to experts like you guys, would appear contradictory. For example, I might drink a NEIPA that is both juicey and piney, or crisp/sharp and hazy/soft, or bitter yet also smooth. Is this just my unrefined palate, or am in misunderstanding terms?
Hey Robert thanks for the kind words! We have a video v similar to this in the works - all about the common delicious flavours and whether they come from the hops, malts, yeasts or something else!
The first and only time I tried brewing - the results kind of put me off trying again - my finished beer had a very soapy flavour. Any idea what might have caused that? I did wonder if it was just a result of the sterilising solution I used on the bottles, but it was from a reputable seller and was labelled as odorless and tasteless.
If your priming in the bottle, don't you need to keep it at a more ambient room temperature for a few days to let the yeast eat the sugar before you store it cold? Or maybe a better question is how soon after priming should you store it cold?
If you are making a hoppy beer you should never prime in bottle - but if you are doing so, then as quickly as possible in most cases. Some beers will benefit from longer time at a warmer temp though (strong Belgian style ales mainly).
@@TheCraftBeerChannel so what do you suggest if im bottling a hoppy ipa? I have no choices but to just bottle and the temperature i keep it at just to carb, then after a few days I cool it in the fridge right?
In addition to the copper flavor already mentioned, I often get a smoky off flavor in the beers at some some breweries. This is across all their beers. I've read this can be from cleaners and/or chlorine. Any insight on this?
Sounds like it could be phenolic, if it's the smoky/clove like flavour you'd get in weissbeer. Could be caused by unhappy yeast with a poor fermentation schedule, or poor mash profile.
This couldn't of came at a better time. Selfishly for my own homebrew, I had an oxidisation issue which I've resolved, and I have great clarity now in my beer instead of dirty water look. However I can't place the taste I get, which seems to occur in all my brews. For a very juicy IPA recipe and it just isn't quite there.... But Im terrible at identifying tastes! Thanks for your info!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I would say aroma and taste, in all my brews are very similar regardless of recipe. It's very much a linger/after taste. I would say it's possibly sweet, but not overwhelming like a sherbet or anything. I suck at this I'm sorry! Lol
So a lingering sweetness is gonna be one of three things. First, LITERALLY sweetness (is your gravity def stable and terminal?), second it could be diacetyl (are you doing a diac rest, are you hopping lots then not cold storing?) Or DMS (boil with the lid off, boil for at least 45 mins).
On cold storage: nearly all beer is sold in shops without any refrigeration (OK *some* beer is stored in shop fridges). I imagine it also shipped without refridgerated lorries etc. Therefore, doesn't all that transportation and shop storage process dictate what happens to the hops regardless of how you store it once purchased?
To some extent you are totally right, though I think if a bottle shop isn't refrigerating you should go to another bottle shop! But with regards to the transit, it's not like one day at 20C and the beer is ruined - it will get progressively worse over time so it's still worth caring for your beer once you get it, and just doing your best to ensure it was treated as well as possible before hand. The BEST scenario is buy bang fresh direct from the brewery, and chill until you drink it 2-6 weeks later.
Yeah... I made a Sultana heavy NEIPA and the hop creep was VERY VERY REAL. Got massive diacetyl and hop burn and I'm close to chuking it down the drain....
I avoided mosaic for a while as people talked about it being oniony - and I got a hefty kick of red onion every now and then which i didn’t love. Is that a characteristic of mosaic or was it more of a hop burn or hop creep do you think? (Obvs it was mainly neipas I was drinking)
Mosaic - particularly less fresh mosaic - in heavy doses is known for having an sweaty/onion vibe and needs to be treated carefully. Brewers have slowly reduced the "contact" time and temps between beer and hops post ferment, and store their hops much better now so it's MUCH less likely to have it but I still come across the odd pint that does.
That vinegar flavour in cask is such a killer - I've been in a few pubs post-lockdown and have gone for cask but had some bad experiences of IPAs, bitters, and pales tasting sharp, sour, almost cider-like, with some being undrinkable. Some pubs really look after their stuff, but others seem to serve beers that are clearly off and just don't care. It's a shame, because cask beer can be beautiful, but almost feels like a gamble unless you really trust the pub.
Cask can be a real lottery. The irony is if we drank more of it, the quality would increase because freshness is vital. But because it's not always fresh we drink less of it!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Agreed. I just think that it's so avoidable - if more staff were trained and were encouraged to have a small sample at the start of their shift these issues would be picked up and poor quality beer wouldn't make its way to the customer in the first place. Not that I want to knock pubs, they've had a tough year and staff are doing their best, but it's the little things that make a difference.
Every now and then I’ll try a beer that has a tobacco flavour to it. It’s not mentioned in the tasting notes on the can or bottle so I wonder if it’s intentional or could it be an odd flavour caused by poor storage?
Assuming you are talking about pale beers here as darker malts commonly add smoky/tobacco/burnt toast notes. If you are then I expect it is how your palate perceives the dusty aroma I mentioned - so either it is warm storage or use of old/warm stored hops.
Could the acetate off flavour in a lagered beer be dulled by more time in a keg? I had a couple of pints of Yon which where great, then 3rd pint had a big green apple skin flavour. Took it back and was told theres nowt wrong with it and thats what it should taste like. Mentioned the last 2 pints where fine and again told its what its supposed to taste like as its a new keg. Could the "old" keg have just had time to kill the acetate off?
If it were unfiltered and unfined then potentially it will continue to lager and condition in keg, but more likely is those two kegs were from different batches.
Sat in a pub with some mates drinking a cask conditioned blonde served off a hand pump, I noticed the beer tasted like butter, but in a nice tasty way. I was with my brewing buddies and we all agreed it tasted great and we had a couple more pints of it. Sometimes I get a beer that has a fake "popcorn" flavour, like you might get from the popcorn flavour jellybeans. I think that fake popcorn taste is awful, and I wonder if the flavouring is diacetyl? For me, I think diacetyl tastes more like popcorn than like butter. Butter flavours in beer taste nice to me.
So the fake popcorn flavour might well be DMS - which others say is like sweetcorn or creamed corn. That comes from either too short a boil or a covered boil. Diacetyl can definitely taste like buttery popcorn and like I say in some styles can be tasty - but those who are sensitive to it find it dominates and masks the other flavours.
Well generally sours have very pour head retention because the acidity breaks it down... so if it keeps the head then it must be related to the fruit - perhaps literally the sugars
Watching this a bit late but im increasingly getting canned stouts which have sourness to them and where any flavours, chocolate, vanilla, coffee have completely gone. These stouts are relatively fresh and kept cold/chilled. What is this about and can I do anything to combat it? Its increasingly turning me off non-imperial stouts
Tell me what "relatively fresh" means - heavily adjuncted imp stouts (especially those with flavourings rather than still organic additions) should be treated like IPA. Kept cold and drunk within a few months. I've had a few Pastry style stouts go thin, tart and bland by leaving them as little as a year.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel less than a month old when drunk. Im having issues with lower abv stouts with little to no adjuncts for eg just had an awful can of Morrisman from elusive bought and drunk within 4 days and bb Apr 22
@@craighatto Oh apologies I see! I have to be honest, if it's those kinds of stouts and happening across multiple breweries, it's quite likely your palate has shifted for some reason (diet, health, context can all play a part) - I'd take a break from these beers and come back in a few months.
So there is a brewery near me that makes New England’s primarily …everyone loves them…but sometimes I taste and smell vinegar.. they do not distribute…is the problem me
Haha not at all! You're clearly sensitive to something others aren't picking up on - so they must have a small fault in their process, and you have a good nose for it!
It's only an off flavour if you don't like it. I've dumped batches of beer that tasted awful to me, that sour, saison, or wild beer enthusiasts, might think were excellent.
Really informative video Jonny! I store everything remotely hoppy cold and try and drink fresh. The last off flavour I experienced was a smokey one in a couple of bottles of trad ale. A quick email to the brewery got them replaced. For my sins I do use untappd but if I think anything isn't as the brewer intended I check in with a comment to raise the issue, leave it unrated and follow up with an email. Only if the brewery fails to respond or I get a rude message back (which has happened more than once!) do I consider going back and adding a low score.
I recently had problems with two brews where there was a strong back taste of Elastoplast / medicinal, My water is from a well with zero chlorine, we had had some exceptionally warm temperatures (30 C + unusual in Estonia) so put it down to yeasts working outside their happy range. Changed to using Kveik yeast and it seems to have solved it, so Kveik for summer from now on for me . Its a horrible taste that does not seem to fade with time, beer eventually was dumped.
This is why craft beer is so niche. Most of it has terrible off tastes. If it is actually a flavor most people would enjoy it won't remain craft for too long.
Great question - and no it can't! Due to the alcohol/pressure/CO2 nothing really nasty can grow in there which is why wild ale is also usually safe. So while I'd never say never (there are some cowboy brewers out there) if it was safe to drink fresh, it's safe to drink old. It just might not be very pleasant.
Well this is pure nonsense. The high IBU count originated from the significantly higher alpha acids in American hops - which American brewers adapted their recipes for to actually CONTROL the amount of bitterness (moving hops later in the boil and increasing dry hops to still get aroma). Yes there was a period where brewers had fun ramping up IBUs but this was more dick waving that hiding any flavour. Finally, IBUs have dropped significantly with the rise of Hazy IPAs - typically they now sit around 30-40...which is less than Pilsner Urquell.
It's not a "fetishization around freshness" that is ruining craft beer, it's fetishization around "hipster hop bomb" ipa's that is ruining craft beers. Step outside the cult of the hop bomb and maybe learn to appreciate some malty lagers, German weiss, some stouts and porters, or some Belgians. Oh, but for the love of god please don't turn a Hoegarden into an orange bomb and call that craft either.
Another common one (only on tap) is dirty lines. Usually described as a dirty dishrag flavor. There was a bar we would go to sometimes that had a lot of good beers on tap but you could tell never cleaned their lines because 1. They were beers I’d had before and knew were good and 2. They all had the same gross off flavor. Bars need to flush their lines with caustic acid pretty commonly to clear all of the gunk out.
I am a draft beer technician and I can complete verify this. Some bars that do not clean their lines have some pretty gnarly flavors due to the old built up yeast and bacteria in the lines. Also all the gunk inside the actual faucet sometimes is a bit culprit!! Very buttery and vinegary. Completely ruins any good beer
I remember the first time we had an off flavors tasting in my homebrew club, I instantly reacted to the wet cardboard smell with the word LIGNIN! Which was a raw material, extracted from wood (cardboard is also a product extracted from wood), that my company used in some of their products. I was exposed to it on a daily basis, so I immediately recognized it.
My Sis got a beer from a mail subscription service that legitimately tasted like the scent of a fiberglass shop. Weird and specific I know. But my mom works at a boat manufacturer and the scent of that one building that made fiberglass forms is the EXACT taste that beer had. I couldn't describe it any other way but my brother tried it and absolutely agreed.
I find stouts can often have a woody or earthy flavour I don't really like. Not sure that's an off-flavour though so much as a flavour in stout which I don't like.
You're a fantastic presenter. Top tier quality even without much editing or gimmicks. Well done!
Thanks so much Joshua!
Oh boy do some "Beerstagrammers" need to watch this! Nice one, always enjoy vids like this. Good for the knowledge and learning 🍻
This was mostly for untappd users giving bron NEIPAs 4/5, but also that!
Beer geek meter off the charts! Love the lesson. Thanks for the education.
I really enjoy just a hint of the onion and hop burn combo. Just a hint though.
I am continually amazed by how different people's sensitivity levels to various flavour compounds are. Earlier this year I took a really bad vinegary pint back and the landlord immediately apologised and took the beer off. I told another customer that I though the beer was off and he could get it changed - he got angry and said 'I can't taste anything wrong with it' There really is no accounting for taste! (great video BTW)
I just had my fits homebrew braggot! Its has a discusting oily aftertaste, like butter that is melting in your mouth. Thanks for the ediocation on off-flavours. I will store my bottles in a colder place from now on!
I've had a local brewery reach out via untapped to make sure the beer hadn't turned. I gave it a .25 / 5, and really, really hated it. After they reached out I bought more of that beer to double check, and it was foul to my pallet. No hard feelings from either side.
Another brewery I love, whose local, did a 180, going from wild and weird to almost macro flat and boring. They got in contact via untapped and offered 6 pack vouchers for going to mainstream. I still buy every single new beer they produce, and hit the brewery a few times a year.
Funny thing in North America, all the cold beer stores put the cheap mass lagers in the walk in cooler and all the specialty, craft beers on the shelf in room temperature.
Same in the UK!
Loved the video I had a few cardboard mop flavors before!!! Love you guys!!!!
I'm glad you mentioned the butyric- I tried a sour at a local brewery where the most dominant acid providing the sourness was butyric acid, the smell of vomit. Prone to the power of suggestion, I almost vomited myself! This was fantastic!
This is the absolute worst offender to my taste buds, and a flavor that pops up way too often at one of my local breweries.
@@TheOutdoorGeneralist 100% agreed, it's the absolute worst off-flavor I've encountered
You keep making content that is perfect for my beer class at the local community college! Keep up the great work.
send him some bucks to cover his time that your using
There's a beer class? Could you tell me about it?
Great info as always Jonny 🙌🏻
Ran into the vinegar off-flavor a few times. Really disappointing on one that I dropped quite a bit on, but it's also part of the fun and adventure.
Gooooo Biiiiig Reeeeed!
Great video. Regarding the deterioration of hoppy flavours in a non-refrigerated beers, personally I find this varies. I have had stashes of beer that I've kept in the garage for months due to a lack of fridge space - not always in the coolest of temperatures. I've found some of these old IPAs and pales have exhibited exactly the unpleasant flavours you've described; others, though, have held up really well, and still taste beautifully hoppy to me. Are certain hop varieties more susceptible than others? Or could, say, a good-quality canning system also help defer this deterioration?
Absolutely! There is lots in the process that brewers can do to ensure hoppy character lasts - not least great packaging.
What's the worst pint you've ever had?! HIT US UP. In the meantime, learn how to taste like a beer judge right here: ua-cam.com/video/KpqRKLigVTw/v-deo.html
honestly... Zero Alcohol Leffe Blond. Was more cardboardy than any beer I have ever tasted, worse than a coors.
I used to drink Swan Draught occasionally 20 years ago when I didn’t care what was a good beer or not. A pint of this stuff was on special at my local tavern and I tried it again....it was awful. It tasted like the beer was poured out of a musty old boot.
I couldn’t finish it.
I cannot work out why anyone with normal tastebuds can like it.
@@xander1052 I have had several different styles of leffe. I didn’t know they made a 0% version. Leffe isn’t something I go for when choosing Belgian beer. Orval is so much better.
A bottle of Red Moon from Red Moon Brewery. No idea what happened to it but it was just *not right*. In the end it was undrinkable.
@@Prognosis__ oh for sure, was just something a friend brought to a bottleshare.
its cool that ive noticed these "flavors" before without being able to describe them
Ascetic Flavour. My Nemesis. Had to ditch a fair few gallons of beer over the years because of it. Thankfully not because the beer was crap, but because people weren't drinking my Cask Ale fast enough. Certainly a lesson in knowing what your regulars like, that's for sure! If you get a bad pint of Cask, take Jonny's Advice- Don't Be A Dick About It. Most places worth their salt will just offer to swap your beer for another, and will thank you for letting them know the barrel's gone. Great video as always. I'll be on the lookout for some of these flavours!
Brilliant video guys. Clear and concise information. I feel smarter already. Also, just seen my name at the end of the video. Brilliant 👍😎
Another one probably worth mentioning is DMS (dimethyl sulphide) which comes across as cabbage or corn usually. Most noticeable in pale lagers.
Indeed! Though we so rarely see it these days as it is such an easy fix.
Generally vinegary bite is considered an off-flavour in lambic but not always. Boon released a Geuze which had this "off-flavour" as a feature, inspired by the tastes of americans. There's also Hanssens, which is very vinegary on purpouse. However vinegary bite in flemish reds is part of the style character.
You are totally right - a touch of acetic is vital to many wild ales, especially Flemish red. Though I would still consider the Hanssens beers mostly flawed - exciting and unusual, but definitely flawed. Their best blends are those that rein the acetic in.
I've had pints at the bar (typically from establishments with lots of taps) that tasted metallic, kind of a copper-y flavor. What would you attribute that to? People I've talked to about it theorized dirty lines, but would love your opinion! Great video, very insightful.
That could be two things. Oxidisation can present as metallic (try just drinking the head of a macro lager, it's like licking a steel pipe), or it could be musty lines where the beer has been sat in it for a long time, so both oxidisation AND the compounding of endless more oxidisation from beers that once went through it.
Likewise, I had a flight of house beers at a brewery that each and every one of 5 styles had metallic tones. Horrible experience.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I've read somewhere that the metal taste could come from a badly stocked malt.
I’d be really interested on a video on beer rating etiquette. I use Untappd for my own reference, rated on how much I enjoyed a beer. I won’t rate a beer where the style isn’t one I would choose to buy but I drank it anyway (I don’t like many whitbiers so I refrain from rating them but if they come in a pack I’ll happily polish them off!) but aside from that it’s all about me. I wouldn’t like to think I am harming a brewer by recording personal taste but neither am I a qualified beer judge...?
This is a fascinating comment and question, and a video we've nearly made several times before deciding not to. Personally I think that the responsibility lies with Untappd to account for the whims of humans - to build ways of making sure the ratings are represented in a fair way. In the meantime we have the same philosophy as you - only rate it if you can be entirely constructive. We'll keep thinking about how we can do a video on it!
Super informative! Thanks!
Counter point ethyl esters and acetylaldehyde taste great haha. I don't know what it is. But to my tastebuds I love that sort of apple sauce/ripe pear flavor.
And to sweeten the pot. Ive done flavor standards and can't actually taste diacetyl or dms haha. Im a lucky one.
Don't get me wrong, in the right style they taste wonderful! It's in light and clean beers where they distract or mask the other stuff going on.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I hear you. My main take away to this video (and the bubble afterwords) is that you are way more sensitive to these flavors than my palate haha. I swear I must be the opposite of whatever a super taster is.
methylated beer is something i ve experienced with cask; I don t know if meths is denser than beer but i noticed the flavour getting more off after drinking half.
My mate thought i was crazy, until he d also got half way through his pint.
For me, diacetyl is a buttery flavour but I think it's better described as butter-popcorn. Which makes sense when you know it's diacetyl which is added to microwave popcorn to add that buttery flavour.
lol ive run into quite a lot of spoiled beer during my reviews..... one was like 11 years old spoiled. getting from an international bottle shop comes with a price sometimes lol
Hi mate my bottled home brew is getting very small black dots sticking to the inside of the bottle which detach and mix through when disturbed . Any idea what may cause this .only been last 2 brews
Question: when homebrewing and bottle conditioning - at what point do you put your IPAs in the fridge? Some say to condition for 2 weeks but from what you’ve said this could be too long at room temp (20ish). Maybe best to condition for just one week then get them all in the fridge? We do have oxidation issues with our beers. Bottling is tricky. Kegs are purchased, just need co2 and some more learning!!!
TO be honest, bottle conditioning very hoppy beer is always going to result in some issues due to having to keep it warm. Best bet is to wait a week and test a bottle to see if the carb is there - as soon as it is get them chilling!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel yeh that’s been my tactic this time. Cheers! Also, any explanation for lots of grainy flavours coming through? Like nearly raw grain flavour. Not clean at all. All help appreciated
The only beers I have had a dusty note in them, are the farmhouse ales, saison, etc. Along with that hay, wet horse blanket, etc kind of notes.
The whole garlic/onion thing, I have always associated with super fresh beers (which makes sense since your description), and dankness, usually with Simcoe I have found.
Had a local brewer (oldest in the city) had a beer and it was literally like drinking a stick of melted butter the butter notes were so prevalent, I had mentioned it to them, and was told that was the way it was supposed to be. Yeah, no. Needless to say, while their beer doesn't have the buttery flavor anymore, and despite it being the oldest craft brewery in the area, their beer hasn't gotten that much better, so I tend not to spend my money there. Well, I do, but it is usually buying other craft brewery beers that they bring in from around the province to sell in their shop.
They pride themselves on being a British type brewery, using the Peter Austin brewing system, open top fermenters and Ringwood yeast for everything, regardless of style. Which for some styles, is fine, but when you are making a NEIPA, sorry but you don't use Ringwood yeast in an open top fermenter. Maybe it is just me.
Ah the ringwood yeast. Can't believe brewers in America still use it for anything other than traditional British ale. It's not even the best at that!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Yeah, its great when they are doing an American IPA, or wheat beer. Mmmmm Ringwood
I am one of those disturbing weirdos who quite enjoys a little hop-burn.... For me, it adds a nice bite to an IPA, especially in New England styles where the bitterness is often non-existent. But, maybe I'm crazy...
Haha you are mad! It is like heart burn!
Nice video dude
The last group of flavours is best known as esters rather than acetate. These are the more fruity off-flavours as you mention and even though some are indeed acetate's, they are esters of that particular compound.
Good old ethyl acetate
Does "Green beer" refers to the beer being not ready BECAUSE of the garlic / onion flavors, or just because it needs some time for other reasons? Also, I learned that many of the whisky I love do have a huge butter smell / flavor, and diacetyl is exactly what can happening when distilling, science is amazing!
It's a case of because - that intense "green" flavour is the fault, without that heavy hop dose the beer would have been ready to package.
Cheers bro 🍻 🍻 🍻 HB ❤
I had a beer at a brewery one time and it tasted like Pickle Juice no joke. It was on tap and labeled as experimental, but the person behind the bar said they actually brewed some beer that didn't quite come out as they liked and they decided to put it on the tap list anyway just to get rid of it. It was marked way down in price compared to their other beers of course.
That is a massive mistake on the breweries part, you are far better off taking the loss and tipping a beer that’s shite down the sink than compromising your reputation.
Yikes. Breweries should always dump bad beer.
Great informative video
Cheers!
Nice videos!! I am a newcomer in homebrewing and I get acidic fruity flavors. I ferment for approximately 20 days, 10 primary and 10 bottling, and a few days in the fridge. As the weeks go by the beer tastes better, is this lagering, all beers should be laggered?
Most beer benefits from a few days of conditioning at cold temps, and very clean and light beers often need longer but most important is temp control during active fermentation, so if you're getting some unwanted aromas have a look into that
I often get notes of green paprika or green apple in bourbon barrel-aged stouts.
Interesting! Not heard of green pepper as a descriptor for that.
Confirmed. Especially with some age on them. But not only Bourbon. Had a Side Project Derivation Blend #10 (Rum Barrel and then some coffee and vanilla) recently that was straight up green pepper in the nose.
Thanks for the continued excellent work, lads! Your videos and podcasts have been one of the few positives during the last 18 months. I know that your entire back catalogue will have explained the "opposites" to this video, but I'd love a sister video that discussed the main "good" tastes? I appreciate this probably showcases me as a noob to craft, but even after a few years of crafty indulgence, I still find some of the on-can descriptions of beers confusing. I'm thinking common ones to IPAs such as "stonefruit" and even "piney". I also find myself noting flavours in beers that, according to experts like you guys, would appear contradictory. For example, I might drink a NEIPA that is both juicey and piney, or crisp/sharp and hazy/soft, or bitter yet also smooth. Is this just my unrefined palate, or am in misunderstanding terms?
Hey Robert thanks for the kind words! We have a video v similar to this in the works - all about the common delicious flavours and whether they come from the hops, malts, yeasts or something else!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Sounds great, I look forward to it!
The first and only time I tried brewing - the results kind of put me off trying again - my finished beer had a very soapy flavour. Any idea what might have caused that? I did wonder if it was just a result of the sterilising solution I used on the bottles, but it was from a reputable seller and was labelled as odorless and tasteless.
hobgoblin especially the ruby, the imperial & the King have those banana flavours and the stronger abv you go up that list the more varnish it gets.
Yes I've noticed that! Clearly the yeast doesn't enjoy getting to high ABVs.
If your priming in the bottle, don't you need to keep it at a more ambient room temperature for a few days to let the yeast eat the sugar before you store it cold? Or maybe a better question is how soon after priming should you store it cold?
If you are making a hoppy beer you should never prime in bottle - but if you are doing so, then as quickly as possible in most cases. Some beers will benefit from longer time at a warmer temp though (strong Belgian style ales mainly).
@@TheCraftBeerChannel so what do you suggest if im bottling a hoppy ipa? I have no choices but to just bottle and the temperature i keep it at just to carb, then after a few days I cool it in the fridge right?
In addition to the copper flavor already mentioned, I often get a smoky off flavor in the beers at some some breweries. This is across all their beers. I've read this can be from cleaners and/or chlorine. Any insight on this?
Probably its chlorophenols, and yes cleaners could be an issue
What he said! That or is could be oxidation, which sometimes seems like old coffee to beans come people.
Sounds like it could be phenolic, if it's the smoky/clove like flavour you'd get in weissbeer. Could be caused by unhappy yeast with a poor fermentation schedule, or poor mash profile.
Acetate is a sheet of plastic used generally to cover maps, Acetone is found in nail polish 👍👍
Haha fair point - we used acetate generally because of isoamyl acetate (banana) and acetaldehyde (apple skin).
This couldn't of came at a better time. Selfishly for my own homebrew, I had an oxidisation issue which I've resolved, and I have great clarity now in my beer instead of dirty water look.
However I can't place the taste I get, which seems to occur in all my brews. For a very juicy IPA recipe and it just isn't quite there.... But Im terrible at identifying tastes!
Thanks for your info!
Hey Matt - we can try to help. Tell us is more aroma or taste/sweet or savoury/upfroint or lingering?
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I would say aroma and taste, in all my brews are very similar regardless of recipe. It's very much a linger/after taste. I would say it's possibly sweet, but not overwhelming like a sherbet or anything.
I suck at this I'm sorry! Lol
So a lingering sweetness is gonna be one of three things. First, LITERALLY sweetness (is your gravity def stable and terminal?), second it could be diacetyl (are you doing a diac rest, are you hopping lots then not cold storing?) Or DMS (boil with the lid off, boil for at least 45 mins).
On cold storage: nearly all beer is sold in shops without any refrigeration (OK *some* beer is stored in shop fridges). I imagine it also shipped without refridgerated lorries etc. Therefore, doesn't all that transportation and shop storage process dictate what happens to the hops regardless of how you store it once purchased?
To some extent you are totally right, though I think if a bottle shop isn't refrigerating you should go to another bottle shop! But with regards to the transit, it's not like one day at 20C and the beer is ruined - it will get progressively worse over time so it's still worth caring for your beer once you get it, and just doing your best to ensure it was treated as well as possible before hand. The BEST scenario is buy bang fresh direct from the brewery, and chill until you drink it 2-6 weeks later.
Yeah... I made a Sultana heavy NEIPA and the hop creep was VERY VERY REAL. Got massive diacetyl and hop burn and I'm close to chuking it down the drain....
Was it bottle conditioned? Both might die away, but its a race against losing the hop flavour/aroma...
I avoided mosaic for a while as people talked about it being oniony - and I got a hefty kick of red onion every now and then which i didn’t love. Is that a characteristic of mosaic or was it more of a hop burn or hop creep do you think? (Obvs it was mainly neipas I was drinking)
Mosaic - particularly less fresh mosaic - in heavy doses is known for having an sweaty/onion vibe and needs to be treated carefully. Brewers have slowly reduced the "contact" time and temps between beer and hops post ferment, and store their hops much better now so it's MUCH less likely to have it but I still come across the odd pint that does.
That vinegar flavour in cask is such a killer - I've been in a few pubs post-lockdown and have gone for cask but had some bad experiences of IPAs, bitters, and pales tasting sharp, sour, almost cider-like, with some being undrinkable. Some pubs really look after their stuff, but others seem to serve beers that are clearly off and just don't care. It's a shame, because cask beer can be beautiful, but almost feels like a gamble unless you really trust the pub.
Cask can be a real lottery. The irony is if we drank more of it, the quality would increase because freshness is vital. But because it's not always fresh we drink less of it!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Agreed. I just think that it's so avoidable - if more staff were trained and were encouraged to have a small sample at the start of their shift these issues would be picked up and poor quality beer wouldn't make its way to the customer in the first place. Not that I want to knock pubs, they've had a tough year and staff are doing their best, but it's the little things that make a difference.
Every now and then I’ll try a beer that has a tobacco flavour to it. It’s not mentioned in the tasting notes on the can or bottle so I wonder if it’s intentional or could it be an odd flavour caused by poor storage?
Assuming you are talking about pale beers here as darker malts commonly add smoky/tobacco/burnt toast notes. If you are then I expect it is how your palate perceives the dusty aroma I mentioned - so either it is warm storage or use of old/warm stored hops.
So I really do need to dry hop in the chilled keg rather than the fermenter to get the most out of them?
Ideally chill the fermenter!
Could the acetate off flavour in a lagered beer be dulled by more time in a keg? I had a couple of pints of Yon which where great, then 3rd pint had a big green apple skin flavour. Took it back and was told theres nowt wrong with it and thats what it should taste like. Mentioned the last 2 pints where fine and again told its what its supposed to taste like as its a new keg. Could the "old" keg have just had time to kill the acetate off?
If it were unfiltered and unfined then potentially it will continue to lager and condition in keg, but more likely is those two kegs were from different batches.
Sat in a pub with some mates drinking a cask conditioned blonde served off a hand pump, I noticed the beer tasted like butter, but in a nice tasty way. I was with my brewing buddies and we all agreed it tasted great and we had a couple more pints of it. Sometimes I get a beer that has a fake "popcorn" flavour, like you might get from the popcorn flavour jellybeans. I think that fake popcorn taste is awful, and I wonder if the flavouring is diacetyl? For me, I think diacetyl tastes more like popcorn than like butter. Butter flavours in beer taste nice to me.
So the fake popcorn flavour might well be DMS - which others say is like sweetcorn or creamed corn. That comes from either too short a boil or a covered boil. Diacetyl can definitely taste like buttery popcorn and like I say in some styles can be tasty - but those who are sensitive to it find it dominates and masks the other flavours.
Here and there I enjoy a good hop burn. It’s kind of like the joy I get from a painfully carbonated soft drink. It hurts so good!
This is bonkers.
What causes some fruited sours to have an extremely thick and gross looking head?
Well generally sours have very pour head retention because the acidity breaks it down... so if it keeps the head then it must be related to the fruit - perhaps literally the sugars
the single most common off flavor I pick up on is the wet paper bag. Almost 100% of the time I pick it up on any macro....
I actually like hop burn 😅
Not the first time I have heard this. But it doesn't make it any less weird....
Watching this a bit late but im increasingly getting canned stouts which have sourness to them and where any flavours, chocolate, vanilla, coffee have completely gone. These stouts are relatively fresh and kept cold/chilled. What is this about and can I do anything to combat it? Its increasingly turning me off non-imperial stouts
Tell me what "relatively fresh" means - heavily adjuncted imp stouts (especially those with flavourings rather than still organic additions) should be treated like IPA. Kept cold and drunk within a few months. I've had a few Pastry style stouts go thin, tart and bland by leaving them as little as a year.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel less than a month old when drunk. Im having issues with lower abv stouts with little to no adjuncts for eg just had an awful can of Morrisman from elusive bought and drunk within 4 days and bb Apr 22
@@craighatto Oh apologies I see! I have to be honest, if it's those kinds of stouts and happening across multiple breweries, it's quite likely your palate has shifted for some reason (diet, health, context can all play a part) - I'd take a break from these beers and come back in a few months.
The worst one I sometimes pick up is burnt rubber.
Egads that one is awful. And the brewer should pick that up easy
So there is a brewery near me that makes New England’s primarily …everyone loves them…but sometimes I taste and smell vinegar.. they do not distribute…is the problem me
Haha not at all! You're clearly sensitive to something others aren't picking up on - so they must have a small fault in their process, and you have a good nose for it!
Huh, didn't see sulfur, rather the boiled cabbage smell. Is that not concidered an off flavor?
It's only an off flavour if you don't like it. I've dumped batches of beer that tasted awful to me, that sour, saison, or wild beer enthusiasts, might think were excellent.
Haha, perhaps. Though to get a balance and well structured sour by accident would be some luck!
Really informative video Jonny! I store everything remotely hoppy cold and try and drink fresh. The last off flavour I experienced was a smokey one in a couple of bottles of trad ale. A quick email to the brewery got them replaced. For my sins I do use untappd but if I think anything isn't as the brewer intended I check in with a comment to raise the issue, leave it unrated and follow up with an email. Only if the brewery fails to respond or I get a rude message back (which has happened more than once!) do I consider going back and adding a low score.
A good approach. If they think it is acceptable then it should be rated as such!
I recently had problems with two brews where there was a strong back taste of Elastoplast / medicinal, My water is from a well with zero chlorine, we had had some exceptionally warm temperatures (30 C + unusual in Estonia) so put it down to yeasts working outside their happy range. Changed to using Kveik yeast and it seems to have solved it, so Kveik for summer from now on for me . Its a horrible taste that does not seem to fade with time, beer eventually was dumped.
Wow that is a seriously stressed yeast to produce THP! That off flavour is common with bretted and lactic beer, and yeah it is nasty
How old would u drink u drink a craft beer before its past its best.
It depends on the style - but generally I wouldn't! 99% of beer is at its best fresh. It won't poison you, but it won't taste great.
This is why craft beer is so niche.
Most of it has terrible off tastes.
If it is actually a flavor most people would enjoy it won't remain craft for too long.
Can "expired" beer make you sick/give you food poisoning?
Great question - and no it can't! Due to the alcohol/pressure/CO2 nothing really nasty can grow in there which is why wild ale is also usually safe. So while I'd never say never (there are some cowboy brewers out there) if it was safe to drink fresh, it's safe to drink old. It just might not be very pleasant.
Once got a beer52 stout from the Netherlands which was like drinking burnt rubber. Anyone had a similar experience?
Could literally be it came into contact with rubber or potentially autolysis which is basically dead yeast flavour, kinda marmite like.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel thanks. Either way, not one to repeat!
Happy international beer day
The reason why craft "brewers" like high IBU is that it is masking their screw ups. And craft has no limits in that one.
Well this is pure nonsense. The high IBU count originated from the significantly higher alpha acids in American hops - which American brewers adapted their recipes for to actually CONTROL the amount of bitterness (moving hops later in the boil and increasing dry hops to still get aroma). Yes there was a period where brewers had fun ramping up IBUs but this was more dick waving that hiding any flavour. Finally, IBUs have dropped significantly with the rise of Hazy IPAs - typically they now sit around 30-40...which is less than Pilsner Urquell.
Made a wheat beer with old hops, beer looked great but my god the taste of blue cheese was revolting
Yea hopburn really sucks..... acctulle I quite enjoy some hopburn.....
Quite a few people seem to, but I think if you enjoy hop burn, you've never TRULY experienced hop burn. Just hop tingle.
Necermind I found it
I smell tomato juice when my NEIPA’s go bad
Don't worry about off flavors, thats what lactose is for.
Ha. But I'd consider lactose an off flavour in all but two styles.
H2S?
I don't get that very often in beer, so didn't include it. Ill likely do a follow up to this one day soon though.
It's not a "fetishization around freshness" that is ruining craft beer, it's fetishization around "hipster hop bomb" ipa's that is ruining craft beers. Step outside the cult of the hop bomb and maybe learn to appreciate some malty lagers, German weiss, some stouts and porters, or some Belgians. Oh, but for the love of god please don't turn a Hoegarden into an orange bomb and call that craft either.