UGLY DUCKLING – 4.2% IPA & INTERSTELLAR – 3.8% PALE
March sees our first month of this year with two seasonal releases. The first is Ugly Duckling, a West Coast inspired IPA; so named originally due to the use of hops from the (north-) west coast of America, but characterised by citrus and piney flavours along with a dry, lighter body and relatively high bitterness. We’re adapting the style by using local Emperor, Target and Opus hops, to hit the same flavour notes without the airmiles. Look out for that one in the first week of the month.
The second one-off will be releasing just in time for the long easter weekend. It’s called Interstellar because it prominently features CF321 (get it?), a new hop with a distinct limey flavour that’s performed very well in brewing trials over the last couple of years. With a sub 4% ABV and a fruity punch, it should be perfect for relaxing on a warm sunny bank holiday – fingers crossed!
I’ve done blogs before about beer tasting and judging and what you might want to look for – but what might you want to avoid? Technically any flavour that’s not meant to be in the beer by design is an off flavour, however it’s usually referring to unpleasant flavours that occur as a by-product of issues with brewing or packaging. Even these however can sometimes be a part of a beers character – if someone drinks a beer regularly and suddenly a flavour gets removed, they might be unhappy even if it’s typically seen as a negative!
Here are some of the common off flavours in beer, and how they’re caused:
- Diacetyl – produced by yeast as normal part of fermentation, diacetyl is typically reabsorbed, however removing the yeast from the beer too early can mean some remains. It presents as a butterscotch flavour which can be acceptable in some sweeter beers but tastes overwhelmingly buttery in too high quantities.
- DMS – an abbreviation of Dimethyl Sulphide, it is created from a precursor compound found in barley. This can be easily volatised and will evaporate off during the boil, but a too brief or insufficiently vigorous boil will lead to DMS in the finished beer, which has the sulphurous aroma of sweetcorn. The nose can adjust to sulphur fairly quickly, so you may stop noticing it a few minutes into your pint!
- Oxidation – there are two main flavours associated with oxidation. The first is a compound called trans-2-nonenal, which has a stale, cardboard-like flavour; the other is acetaldehyde, which has a flavour like ripe green apple. The former typically means a container has been breached for too long without selling, while the latter may mean a too high quantity of dissolved oxygen in the beer at the time of packaging.
- Biological Contamination – the only bacteria that can live in finished beer are from the families which can produce lactic and acetic acid, among other undesirable compounds. Wild yeast may also be present (as with off flavours, defined as any yeast not intended to be in the beer) and both can cause a range of funky and sour flavours. The way to avoid these is with good brewery hygiene throughout the full process – although in some beers different organisms may be cultivated to add these characters deliberately!
- Lightstrike – caused by the effect of UV light on a compound found in hops which creates MBT (3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol), it is often described as ‘skunky’ as it’s also found in skunk spray! Generally, this is an issue found in beers packaged in clear or green bottles; brown glass blocks the UV in sunlight and so doesn’t allow the compound to form. However, it’s created very rapidly so if you leave your pint of highly hopped beer in the sun for 15 minutes or so you might well be able to smell it then!
So there are some of the most common off flavours in beer. Hopefully you’ll never taste them in a Hop Shed beer! But if you do come across one somewhere else, you can sound clever in front of your friends, or at least have a bit of an idea why something doesn’t taste quite right!
