Off flavors

Im not sure where this falls but sometimes a malty brown or scotch ale will smell and taste really sour. Gotta drain pour that right?

 

Diacetyl, Infection, and Light Struck are probably the most common I run into at bars.

 

This will be an interesting poll. A lot depends on peoples palette. Everybody has a different threshold for off flavors. Talking to a bjcp judge that holds off flavor tastings was very informative. There is a kit that you can add off flavors to beer. He would add one and watch the reactions. Some people would make a face like they just tasted a dead donkeys butt and others would not taste it all. I know mine is very sensitive to the coppery metallic taste.

 

One that appears more often than I'd prefer is a discernible presence of diacetyl (i.e., butter). Yick.

 

Great thread! The two I picked were wet cardboard, which is by and large the most common for me, and then I had to go with fresh green apple for the second just because I've had so many bottle conditioned beers in my time that have been over-carbonated and produce that aroma. If I had to pick two others behind those, it would of course be skunk but that has only really ever happened to me when drinking beer that was stored in green or clear glass bottles which I make it a point to avoid these days. Next would be buttered popcorn but I'm one of those people who actually enjoys the diacetyl flavor and aroma so, even if I detect it, I personally don't consider it an off flavor (though it's totally dependent on the style of course). I've also run into my share of "soapy" smelling beers but it's difficult for me to determine whether or not it's an off flavor because many things can lead my brain to translate an aroma as "soapy." Certain blends of spices, especially heavy orange peel and coriander, can make me think it's soapy. Certain Belgian yeast strains make me think of soap. Hell, I've had plenty of beers out at bars that taste soapy, yet it might not have been the beer but rather the glassware or tap lines that were the culprit. So "soapy" is a hard one to accurately pinpoint as the brewer's fault. I haven't run into copper coins/band aids so often but, when I have, it's usually a young brewery that's just starting out which leads me to believe that the brewers need more practice on tweaking the recipes and using that particular brew system or, as the article suggests, that said brewery isn't treating their water correctly right off the bat. I've only run into a rotten egg smell in my beer twice ever. The second time it was so off-putting that I did research on it and came to find that the problem lies in a sulfuric aroma compound produced during fermentation. Such a nasty smell. As the article indicates, it's easy for people to get astringency mixed up with alpha acid bitterness which I probably have done countless times. However, recently I had a Bell's Lager of the Lakes and was like "What's this bitterness I'm detecting? I doubt it's the hops." After reading this article, I suspect it is the astringency to which they are referring.

The last two "off" flavors/aromas that I haven't mentioned are kind of lost by me. Solvent/hot alcohol is just something that I've grown to become accustomed to in varying degrees. If it's too hot, it's too hot, but it can almost be considered a matter of subjectivity. The one I have always failed to recognize is DMS and the characteristics associated with it. I've never had a beer where I've detected cooked corn, cabbage, green beans, canned asparagus or tomato juice. If someone can suggest a beer that always has high levels of DMS (as a comparison, Old Speckled Hen always has a pretty high level of diacetyl), I would greatly appreciate it so I can finally see what the heck this stuff is supposed to taste/smell like.

 

I chose wet cardboard and buttered popcorn. I'm a bit sensitive to diacetyl so I can usually pick it up quite easily. I run across oxidation often which I can't stand an oxidized beer (unless appropriate like a barleywine.) Astringency I find a lot too but USUALLY it doesn't ruin the beer.

The other flaws I haven't seen very often in commercial beers but pick up all the time when I judge homebrew competions.

 

Rolling Rock has DMS. Some people are blind to DMS.

 

From that list: solvent/alcohol, followed by soapy (primarily in IPA). In reality: solvent/alcohol, followed by metal, followed by soapy. I have never tasted green apple in beer, I can only recall tasting cooked corn once, and I have never smelled nor tasted a rotten egg so I have no idea what that flavor is.

 

Once upon a time it would have been light struck, but smart shopping has almost eliminated that from my experiences lately.

I am pretty sensitive to diacetyl, but accept it as a component of some beers. I don't think it belongs at all in hopped-up American styles, though, and it's unfortunate that I come across it as much as I do. So i picked D for that reason.

'Hot' imperial stouts also seem to be prevalent, and I'm not talking about the warming sensation of alcohol that will seem to be a normal part of high gravity beers, it's more of a harsh acetone quality that stands out too much.

 

Perhaps a bit off topic (as it doesnt involve the brewing process per se), and maybe a bit naive, but what off-flavor am i tasting when i get a beer poured through dirty tap lines?

Unacceptable answer: 'shitty beer.'

 

Diacetyl can occur with dirty tap lines. I am super sensitive to it. Really wish I wasn't.

 

Most all Sierra Nevada IPA's taste really soapy to me. Especially the new Boomarang IPA.

 

I guess wet cardboard and cooked corn (I liked this as a way to describe that outdated maltiness that I despise so much).

 

I can't suggest any with high levels of DMS, but most light lagers; Pilsners and Helles, can carry some DMS at acceptable levels. Best way to I.D. it is to think of opening a can of corn and getting that aroma -- not as strong, of course, but it's the same character. It's also difficult to distinguish it from sulphur, but it's possible.

 

I could be one of those people. But, although I may be unable to detect one compound, I feel like I have a high sensitivity to oxidation both in smell and taste. I had an old boss who was very sensitive to sulfur and could pick up the tiniest amount if at all present.

 

I've been noticing a lot of buttery IPAs recently. Not bad enough to stop drinking but a major disappointment considering how good those beers ought to be (both Duet and Hoppy Birthday on tap, Beachwood's Melrose from the bottle). It's possible those flavors have always been common in beers I've had and I'm only now just picking up on them more.

Before that, I'd go with wet cardboad/oxidation from sours and some stouts. That flavor tends to go away after it warms and I've had a few drinks (or maybe I just stop noticing it).

Is copper coins/bandaids an actual infection of some sort? I found a lot of reds/ambers taste that way to me. I've had some good ones recently that don't so maybe I was just drinking the wrong/old ones.

 

It is worth noting that many of the OP off flavors can be intentional and not "off" in certain circumstances. That said, most are unwelcome to me when they come around.

I buy a lot of high ABV double- or Russian-imperial stouts, and so experience out of balance alcohol flavors when the brewer fails to integrate the alcohol into the brew. I also drink a fair number of Belgians and hit up against band aid flavors from mid-transition wild brews.

Perhaps most common, for me, are metallic notes. I don't find these too offensive, but they are quite common.

 

It often happens that people who are hypersensitive to one compound are blind to another.

 

I've had plenty of BMC beers that were skunked, but the only time that I experienced an off-flavor in a craft beer was the buttered popcorn flavor. With craft beers, the issue that I experience most is weak-flavored beers, and these seem to be exclusive to newly-opened breweries.