How Sensitive are you to diacetyl

I notice it in most lagers but in an acceptably amount

 

I don't ever remember noticing a buttery flavor in beers until this weekend. My wife had a kölsch from what should be a good brewery in our area. The brewmaster grew up in Franconia and had brewing apprenticeships there. But I don't think I've ever had a beer from them that didn't seem to be riddled with fermentation, storage, or packaging problems. This kölsch I tried and my first thought was that it tasted like butter.

I don't think I'm very sensitive to diacetyl at all but my attempts at making stronger lagers have all had a flaw from the yeast but I don't think it's been diacetyl.

 

I don't detect it very often and I hope that is an indication that most beers that I drink were brewed right and do not have it. However, when I find it, my wife usually does not experience the taste in most cases which tells me that I fall into the 'Sensitive' category, although I am usually not looking for it.

 

I'm pretty sensitive to it and I don't like the flavor. Everyone definitely has a different threshold level for this. Early this year I brewed a maibock that had a ton of diacetyl probably from an unintentional under pitch on the yeast and the stress that caused. It was bad enough I was looking at ways to fix it in the keg because I didn't want to dump it. I brought it to my homebrew club anyway for feedback and input on preventing it next time. the comments ranged from "yup it's a butter bomb all right" to "wow nice you should enter this in competition ".

 

I definitely notice it if it's there, especially in beers (improperly) brewed with certain yeast strains, like Ringwood . Most of the time, though, I get it if I'm in a place with dirty tap lines.

 

Care to share your yeast and fermentation schedule?

 

I thought high, but then I sat in on an off flavors seminar at homebrewcon and their dosed samples did not make me run in terror. This makes me think that when I have detected issues with diacetyl, it wasn't subtle

 

Czech and young lagers seem to have more than most styles, but that pales in comparison to a flawed beer and/or one with pedio contamination (yuck).

 

Sure I can share. The yeast was W34/70. It was pitched at 55 and held at that temp until high krausen when it was then allowed to free rise at about 1° per day to 65 until FG. At that point it sat for a few days then was cold crashed to 33 and kegged. Diacetyl was there but mild when I kegged it. Carbonation seemed to really make the butter stand out. FWIW it toned down some after 12 weeks in the keg.
I THINK the reason for the diacetyl is that I only pitched one packet of yeast in 5 1/2 gallons. I know better than to do that and it's a long story.

 

Possible that you waited too long to allow it to free rise so that your d-rest wasn't effective?

 

I thought I was highly sensitive to it...I've noted butterscotch in a lot of beers, like Pilsner Urquell, when others haven't picked it up, both homebrewed & commercial. But then sat in a seminar at Homebrew Con with @JackHorzempa smelling & tasting various dosed beers and I had a tough time with diacetyl...so wasn't sure if it was just the day, or whether i'm not as sensitive as I thought...

Edit: ha, same answer as @pweis909

 

I am very sensitive to diacetyl and I am not a fan of it. As Dave (@telejunkie) posted we attended Sensory and Flavor Testing for Brewers by Pat Fahey at NHC 2015. They served 5 beers: one control and the other four spiked with diacetyl, DMS, Metallic, and Chlorophenol.

I recognized the beer spiked with diacetyl as I brought the glass to my nose. I was thinking at the time there was no need to actually taste this beer but I did; it was unpleasant for me. During the presentation Pat Fahey stated that 20% of the population is blind to diacetyl. @Naugled, perhaps you wife is part of that 20%?

The only off-flavored beer that I finished was the one spiked with DMS. I perceived the DMS in that beer (it was a creamed corn flavor for my palate) but it was not unpleasant for me. I suppose all of the Rolling Rock beer I drank 'back in the day' got be to enjoy DMS?

Cheers!

@Seacoastbrewer

 

I voted "sensitive". I can normally perceive it by smelling it before tasting, but I'm not so highly sensitive that I cannot enjoy it in small amounts.

 

I am the same way. For example the diacetyl level in Pilsner Urquell does not typically bother me. I can pick up a tiny bit of butter but for the most part I think it adds a 'roundness' to the flavor profile.

Cheers!

 

Same with me, it's there if I look for it in PU and is inoffensive. Something like Sam Smiths brown ale though has too much for me

 

Medium, maybe medium low, but I am picking it out more often while judging, agreeing with my Judge partner when we discuss the beer.

We have different sensitivity levels, and that varies compound to compound. Someone that is sensitive to Diacetyl may be blind to another compound. I know someone who has found that they are blind to chlorophenol.

 

I'm pretty sure there's one person on this board who is sensitive to every off flavor.

 

I rarely notice it. I didn't even know what it tasted like until I went to a tasting session where diacetyl levels were exaggerated. I actually liked the taste and saw nothing wrong with it. Some pilsners (e.g. Pilsner Urquell) requires some diacetly if one is to duplicate the taste.

 

I can pick up DMS and Acetaldehyde a mile away, not so much with chlorophenols and diacetyl. I agree with @VikeMan in that I am sure everyone on here is sensitive to some off flavors, and probably blind to one or two as well.
@csurowiec I entered a belgian tripel into a huge comp a couple years ago and it was Gary Glass who judged my beer. The notes read "baby diapers and band aids, chlorophenolic", I never got band aid from it and still don't. Go figure.