American Hell

Matt, below is a list of sulfur compounds that are sometimes perceptible in beer (depending on the compound level/amount) along with common descriptors:

Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS): cooked corn, creamed corn, vegetal

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2): struck match

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S): low level: onion/garlic, higher levels: burnt rubber. Sometimes also described as rotten egg.

3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol (a mercaptan): the lightstruck formed compound that is described as skunky, catty, feral, polecat

4MMP (4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one): each individual will likely perceive this compound differently. 4MMP has flavors of tropical fruit for my palate. Others have reported an aroma/flavor of cat pee. Also, muscat grape/black currant has been mentioned. Another descriptor mentioned is boxwood.

Dimethyl Trisulphide (DMTS): onion/garlic

Which flavor did you perceive in your bottle of Spaten and does anything above match it?

Cheers!

Jack

 

It depends on region and your local distro... but that may change considerably with AB-InBev being the new importers. Used to be that the East Coast always had the Okto available if a retailer wanted it (and many did), but here in the Midwest retailers wouldn't order it because it wouldn't sell -- everyone expected it in the Fall -- as it damn-well should be!

 

Thanks, Jack! Appreciate the detail. Just opened a new bottle. To me, getting a combination of SO2 and DMS. The more I evaluate (nose about 2" in the glass), the aroma does take on the "creamy" characteristic. Initially, I just equated those qualities to sulfur. Always learning!

 

Matt,

A ‘tricky’ aspect here is that each individual will perceive certain compounds differently. At the recent National Homebrewers Conference I got to attend a presentation on beer off-flavors which included 4 samples of beer that have been ‘doctored’ with off-flavors. One sample was ‘doctored’ with DMS. That beer very much had aroma/flavors of creamed corn for my palate. After everyone attending that presentation had a chance to drink the sample the presenter asked people to raise their hands if they tasted corn/creamed corn. About 75% of the people raised their hands. Needless to say but that means that about 25% did not perceive this beer as having a corn/creamed corn flavor.

Cheers!

 

No problem! Thanks for contributing.

I actually get the sticky sweetness and residual honey in some of my favorite imports, such as Weihenstephan Original, and from Helles I had in Munich. I've since narrowed this flavor down to being perceived as biscuity/graham cracker-like. And this is how my palate perceives pils malt (when it's done well, which oftentimes isn't the case).

If it's truly honey-like, or overly honey, it can be a sign of a beer past it's prime, you may find this with some imports.

 

Thank you all for this great thread. It's not every day we have threads here that actually talk about beer (and I don't say that sarcastically). Learning a lot. Cheers.