Flavors you've never picked up on

Leather and Tobacco. Maybe its just me, but I see those words tossed around and they never come to mind when tasting.

 

I struggle in identifying some of the "Belgian" flavors and aromas. If it's not something I know already from the spice rack (like coriander, clove, cardamon) more often than not I end up with a generic "ester" or "floral quality" in my notes and descriptions. A la picking out gale in an interesting gruit I had recently.

 

Diacetyl (a butter or butterscotch flavor) cannot be perceived by some people. I have read the percentage of people who can’t perceive diacetyl in the past but I can’t recall the number.

An interesting story from another beer forum:

I sat across from a National beer judge that told me, "If you taste diacetyl, let me know. I've been doing this for 20 years, and I just can't get it."

Cheers!

 

What Jack said. I have never tasted diacetyl.

 

Consider yourself lucky!

My local beer distributor is Kunda and guy from Evil Genius was there with free tastings of their beers. I asked for a sample of their IPA (Evil Eye PA). I took a whiff expecting to perceive some tasty hop aroma; all I got was butterscotch! I asked the young guy pouring (the younger brother of one of the Evil Genius co-owners) “Was this beer brewed with the Ringwood yeast strain?” He replied: “Yes, I think it is.” I responded: “You have a diacetyl problem with this batch. The brewer did not leave this batch in the fermenter long enough for the yeast to ‘clean up’ the diacetyl”. I then suggested that he not provide samples of the IPA to other patrons but I doubt he took my advice.

Evil Genius is contract brewed by Cooperstown Brewery for those interested in knowing.

Cheers!

 

I suppose this relates more to aroma than taste, but mine is wet horse blanket. What the hell does a wet horse blanket smell/taste like?

 

I think I've tasted most of the flavors I've seen in reviews, just not for the beer that the review is pertaining to.

 

It took me a while to pick out the bubblegum notes in certain belgian beers. I have more problems picking out specific hop profiles. Many of my reviews go with the vague "hoppy" description when I can't discern which ones, even when its telling me on the bottle.

 

From experience:
1. Butterscotch flavors - Firestone Walker 14
2. Soy sauce - One Tun imperial stout, very sweet/salty combo
3. Tobacco - Lagunitas Cappuccino stout (or most coffee-forward stouts to varying degrees)
4. Leather, onion/garlic, wet horse blanket etc - never experienced.

 

Passion fruit. I really don't ever perceive that one either...and I'm not dumb to it, by any means, having consumed a truck load of them in South America many years ago. Maybe haven't had the right beer.

 

I second "horse blanket."

I've never really picked up on the "horse blanket" taste that many BA's throw around when discussing funky beers.

What exactly does a "horse blanket" taste like. Better yet, why do you know what a "horse blanket" tastes like?

 

The descriptor that I prefer to use instead of “wet horse blanket” is “barnyard”. Since much of our flavor perception is from our nose (aroma) then it is reasonable to associate flavors with smells we have experienced in the past.

While I have never had the experience of explicitly smelling a wet (sweaty) horse blanket I have had the overall experience of smelling a barnyard.

I recently brewed a Belgian Brett’ed Ale that has an aroma/flavor of a barnyard from the Brett induced flavors/aromas.

Cheers!

P.S. Another descriptor that I have read for “wet horse blanket” is “sweaty gym socks”. I prefer to not thing of that descriptor since it is very unappealing to me.

 

I think of stinky cheese when it comes to horse blanket/wet socks/barnyard funk... that funky, musty, earthy, savory kind of aroma that varies to different degrees. As someone who spent time in a rural setting once told me, "this beer smells like a barn." Forgot which beer but the association stuck.

 

tobacco can be tough for me, but i can get it sometimes. never ever tasted onion/garlic... i definitely can taste diactyl (unfortunately) and i still have no idea what the hell a wet horse blanket is. not tryin to find out either.

 

Good timing of this thread. I was drinking an aged bottle (8-9 months) of Old Rasputin last night and I was definitely getting some of those umami or soy flavors that I never get in this beer when fresher. Horse blanket...love that one. Barnyard/Hay/Horse Stall Funk is likely a better descriptor. Having been around horse barns for many years...I can relate to this one. Band Aid...definitely get this with many Brett beers. Cat Piss...yes, sometimes. Onions in my beer...never had, thank goodness!

 

Diacetyl also flavors movie popcorn butter, and I've never heard of anyone who couldn't taste it on movie popcorn. Perhaps it just depends on the concentration.

 

“Perhaps it just depends on the concentration.” I very much think that is the case.

For those who can perceive diacetyl in beer the flavor threshold is reported to be 0.1 ppm in a light tasting beer.

Below is from a White Labs white paper:

“Diacetyl gives a buttery, butterscotch-like flavor to beer. The flavor threshold of diacetyl is 0.1 parts per million (ppm) in "light" beer. Homebrewed beer can have levels from .05 to greater then 1.0 ppm.”

My guess is that the amount of diacetyl for artificial butter flavoring is WAY higher than 1.0 ppm.

Cheers!

 

This is mine too. I love Gubna and others that people say have this flavor, but I can't taste it.

One weird one I can taste in lots of stouts is meat. Lots of stouts taste like meat to me. I'm looking at you, Dark Lord.