Notes from the “off flavors” tasting 5/16/14.
Thanks to Tyler for organizing this and preparing the samples.
We obtained the kit from Siebel with 24 flavor samples. We tasted half of those in this session, and will do the other half sometime in June.
The kit is intended to produce each flavor at about 3x the typical threshhold of detection. This threshhold is going to vary from person to person, and I think for most of us there were some that we didn’t pick up at all. The flavors were added to Coors Light since it has so little flavor of its own to get in the way of detecting the test flavor.
Several of these flavors aren’t necessarily “off” depending on the style of beer, so it wasn’t purely a joke when some people described them as improving the Coors. Only a couple (Butyric and Earthy) were universally perceived and hated.
We’ll eventually put the slides from the presentation up on the website. These are some less technical notes and personal comments.
In the order we tasted them:
1. Acetaldehyde – green apple flavor, described by some as the signature flavor of Budweiser.
2. Acetic – at the test level perceptibly sour, but no big vinegar aroma like some sour beers.
3. Almond – not referring to any nutlike flavors from the malt, this is an oxidation flavor.
4. Butyric – rancid butter flavor and aroma. Very unpleasant.
5. Diacetyl – the standard description of this is “butterscotch”, which many of us could not pick up although we perceived something wrong, especially in the aftertaste.
6. D.M.S. (Dimethyl Sulfide) – generally described as “cooked corn”. I wasn’t the only one who had trouble detecting anything off at the test level.
7. Earthy – some hops are described as “earthy”, the word is also often used for Italian red wines. Those are not bad things; this is. It seems most of us have a clear idea what dirt tastes like and have no trouble recognizing it.
8. Mercaptan – the classic skunk aroma caused by exposure to light. The test level was definitely lower than a typical bottle of Corona or Heineken.
9. Ethyl Acetate – described as “fruity” or “solventy”; I knew I didn’t like it but couldn’t recognize either of those qualities.
10. Ethyl Hexanoate – apple flavor, wrong for a lager but not unpleasant.
11. Spice – again, wrong for a lager but not unpleasant. 10 + 11 were the ones often described as “improving the Coors”.
12. Metallic – nothing else to say about this one.
There were some good-tasting things consumed though! Steve C. very generously shared some unusual spirits with us, the “R5” and “S” whiskies made by Charbay from Bear Republic beers (Racer 5 and Stout). The flavor of the original beer came through clearly in both, really delicious.