What am I tasting?

I know what you're talking about. Or at least I think I know what you think you're talking about.

I've wondered if it might have something to do with old, stale grain or malt. I've gotten the odor that I associate with that taste from old oatmeal or breakfast cereal that's been stored at my camp over the winter and subjected to continuous fluctuations in humidity. I've also smelled something similar on my daughter's coton de tulear after he's been in the pond and dried out again.

 

I had this same problem (and still working on it) when tasting beers compared to others or just the description on the bottle/can. I looked into ways to get better and checking out the Cicerone site I found a book that they suggest to help develop or educate people called Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher (2nd Ed).

It has really helped me learn quite a bit and have a better vocabulary when it comes to describing what I am tasting. It goes into hops, malts, off flavors, and more. Can get a little technical but still worth getting and learning from.

 

@Troutbeerbum Your buttery question has been answered, but no, you are not alone with the 'wet dog' taste. I've definitely experienced this before. I believe this off-flavor comes from some sort of, even if minor, oxidization.

 

I find this whole discussion about “wet dog” fascinating. I am very happy to report that I have never experienced “wet dog” in a beer.

Below is a related discussion on this topic in an off-flavors document I have:

“Horsey (Fatty Acids, Sulfury)

Detected in: Aroma, flavor

Described as: Barnyard, goaty, horse blanket, horse harness, horse sweat, leathery, saddle, sweaty, wet dog, wet fur.

Typical Origins: Microbial contamination

Typical Concentrations in Beer: 0 mg/l

Perception Threshold: ~420 μg/l

Discussion: Distinctive aromas and flavors produced by various species of Brettanomyces and Dekkera yeast…”

Brettanomyces and Dekkera yeast can be (often are) present in Lambics. Brettanomyces yeast strains are sometimes purposefully added to some beers, for example Orval adds Brettanomyces both during secondary fermentation and bottling for their beer. For the vast majority of beer styles Brettanomyces and Dekkera yeast would be considered a spoilage microorganism.

My guess is that if you are picking up “wet dog” in a Belgian style beer (e.g., Lambic) then this was likely caused by Brettanomyces and Dekkera yeast.

If you are picking up “wet dog” in a non-Belgian in a non-Belgian style it still very much may be due to Brettanomyces and Dekkera yeast but in this case it would be an unwanted contamination.

Maybe there are other sources for “wet dog” aroma/flavor?

Cheers!

 

Wet dog aroma or taste sounds to me like a fault in beer. The butter taste derived from diacetyl is normally described as a fault in beer. Similarly in wine analysis animal aromas and butter tastes are not necessarily faults. No one likes cardboard anywhere in a flavor profile. There's wet blanket, horse blanket, barnyard, forest floor, cat pee on a leaf, meaty,(like meat and not "big"), mineral generally and limestone in particular, acetone and shower curtain famously from South African volcanic soils in certain reds. There's oaky, woody, smoky, and on and on.... Malolactic fermentation (a secondary fermentation) produces the buttery chardonnays that many like. The list goes on and wine writers do use their collective imaginations. I like my beers clean tasting, but have learned and often love many of these nuanced wines smells and tastes over many years of dealing and drinking wine. I strongly believe in terroir in grape growing, not so much with finished beer.

 

Wet dog? Was it a Red Tick Beer?

 

I've noticed with a few of the craft lagers, there's a lemony, metallic taste. Is this a "flaw", or just a part of the style? Its been a while since I've had a fresh lighter lager from Germany (or even macro), and never specifically sought them out, anyway, so can't compare.

 

Oh yes. Cross contamination of yeast is a real possibility. If I owned a commercial brewery and I made the decision to brew wild beers (i.e., beers with Brett, Bacteria, etc.) I would set up a totally different facility (e.g., a separate brewery on the other side of town) to brew these beers.

In my homebrewing I have refused to brew with bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus) due to concerns of cross contamination. I have brewed with Brett but I use separate equipment when doing so to mitigate cross contamination. If a cross contamination would occur the consequences would be a potential dumping of 5 gallons of beer. Needless to say the consequences for a commercial brewery is much more onerous.

One thing to keep in mind is that non-brewers yeast is referred as being "wild" since unwanted microorganisms can be introduced in a number of "wild" ways. A vector for unwanted microorganisms is the dust in the air that is floating around you right now (and in the brewery too) so that is another way that infection (contamination) can occur. Another vector for Brett is wood (e.g., wooden barrels). There is just a number of ways 'bad stuff' can occur in a brewery besides the cross contamination I discussed above.

I had a friend of a friend who was just getting into brewing. I invited him over to witness and participate in a brewing session. I printed up a piece of paper and in large font I listed "The three main rules of homebrewing". Number 1 was "Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation".

Cheers!

 

I messed up a batch of homebrewed gose and it tasted indistinguishable from tomato juice and smelled like tomato soup. It can definitely happen, apparently from DMS, although I noticed these flavors aged away pretty quickly.

 

A book that is widely used by homebrewers called How to Brew has its first edition online for easy accessibility, and is a good book to read if you just want to get a good education about the brewing process. Here is a link to the chapter from that book that discusses off flavors and is a good source to discover the 'why' an off flavor might occur. http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/is-my-beer-ruined/common-off-flavors

 

Interesting thread. I’ll add two more strange flavors to the mix...

(1) Toasted Herbs. I occasionally find that fresh, aggressively-hopped NEIPAs give me a toasted Italian herb impression. This impression can fade if I wait to open the second can for a few weeks. Anybody else get this? I’m assuming it’s from hops. Is it a specific hop?

(2) Peanuts. I’ve bad beers without nuts or peanut butter added taste like peanuts. Thoughts?

 

I have always attributed that to the hops and in my palate I associate it with a vegetal/grassy taste.

 

I get tomatoes from several west coast style ipas, especially when I start with something heavy on citra or mosaic and transition to something hopped with other "c"hops. .

 

You can call it wet dog, I call it a Sweet Vadalilia Onion taste, but I get what your saying to an extent.

 

I guess that it could be something that I or we call dank? Just throwing it out there.

 

Off topic of ye ol’ wet dog, I mentioned in a different thread (now locked) about a brewery’s wild ale/sour that had an almost “smokey” aftertaste to it. I picked it up on two of their beers, both fruited, and was wondering what the cause of this might be.

 

I think your wet dog may be the same as my dirty stream water, which I have experienced in not overly aggressive hopped pales that just weren't good, obviously.

 

It may not be breed specific, but one day old wet dog is way better than three day old wet dog.

 

Smoke is a phenol, like spice or even medicinal. This can be part of the desired yeast signature, or it can be due to wild or mutated yeast- so I'd be hesitant to outright call it a flaw, but in this case it probably is.

The plastic phenol quality usually comes from chlorine in the water, and is not desirable at all.