Home Brew Beer Kits – Categorizing Off-Flavours by Brewing Stage

Simple mistakes in each stage of home brewing with home brew beer kits can cause off flavours or undrinkable beer. Pinpointing which stage the problem occurred will help you avoid the problem in the future. In this article we present a bare-bones A to Z of off flavours, the most common stage in which they occur and reasons they can occur.Sanitation*Acetaldehyde – green apple flavour – infection*Astringent – mouth puckering compounds – infection*Cidery – tastes like cider – infection*Diacety – buttery or butterscotch – infection*Dimethyl Sulphides – cooked cabbage flavours – infection*Medicine/Phenols – bandaids, cloves, medicine like flavours – infection, inadequate rinsing of sanitizer agent*Soapy – tastes like soap – incomplete rinsing*Sour – acidic, like vinegar – infection – look for scratches in your brew keg*Sulphur – matches, sewage – infectionBrewing*Alcohol – sharp, cheap tequila taste, harshness – poor aeration of wort*Astringent – mouth puckering – oxidation of the wort*Diacetyl – buttery or butterscotch – poor wort aeration, poor yeast growth, incomplete fermentation*Estery/Fruity – overtones of banana, pear, strawberries, grapefruit – high fermentation temperatures, poor wort oxygenation*Metallic – like iron, blood, pennies – High iron content of water, boiling very alkaline water in an aluminum pot, steel pots (not stainless steel)*Oxidized/wet cardboard/sherry – cardboard, paper, pineapple, bitter, harsh – oxidized wort*Sour – acidic, vinegar – infection during brewing*Sweet – tastes sugary, sweet – addition of too much fruit flavourFermentation*Acetaldehydes- green apple flavour – fermentation time too short*Alcohol- sharp, cheap tequila taste, harshness – fermentation temperature is too high*Cidery- tastes like cider – fermentation time too short Diacetyl – buttery or butterscotch – poor yeast growth, incomplete fermentation*Estery/Fruity- overtones of banana, pear, strawberries, grapefruit – fermentation temperature too high*Moldy – tastes/smells like mold or mildew – contamination during fermentation, fermenter stored in moldy or mildewy area*Skunky – smells like skunk, usually not a problem in home brew kits – fermenter allows light wavelengths which react with hops, use brown or opaque fermenter*Soapy – tastes or smells like soap, detergent, soapy feel in your mouth – beer left in fermenter far too long*Solvent like – acetone, paint thinner – high fermentation temperature with oxidation, not using food grade plastics for fermenting*Sour- acidic, vinegar – infection during fermentation*Sulphur – smells like lit matches, sewage – may be normal, will go away as fermentation proceeds, beer left in fermenter too long*Sweet – tastes sugary, sweet – weak yeast, stuck yeast, temperature too low*Thin – poor body, not much flavour – beer has fermented too long*Yeasty – tastes and smells like yeast, bread dough – beer has fermented too longConditioning*Acetaldehyde- green apple flavour – beer needs to condition longer*Cidery- tastes like cider – beer needs to condition longer*Skunky – smells like skunk, usually not a problem in home brew kits- clear or green bottles exposed to light during conditioning*Thin – boring beer, no body or complexity – beer hasn’t carbonated or conditioned long enough*Yeasty -tastes and smells like yeast, bread dough – beer hasn’t conditioned long enoughOnce you have pinpointed where the problem may have originated from you can start again, paying particular attention to that stage. Your next batch of beer will benefit from your mistake.