25 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

so the bubblegum was a bit much for me so I decided to let this beer age at cellar temps for a while. that seems to have helped a lot and it's balancing out now and I actually enjoy it.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I brewed a batch of MLPA that when warmed up/sunlight hit it, it tasted like bubblegum. It was foul and made me gag. As I recall it was because the keg was out in the sun (though on ice) and the picnic tap had a clear hose line. If you didn't drain off the beer in the line it tasted like bubblegum from the sun hitting it between pours. If you drained the line first, it tasted like MLPA (close anyway I forgot a bunch of crystal on that batch)

[positiveContact]

I brewed a batch of MLPA that when warmed up/sunlight hit it, it tasted like bubblegum. It was foul and made me gag. As I recall it was because the keg was out in the sun (though on ice) and the picnic tap had a clear hose line. If you didn't drain off the beer in the line it tasted like bubblegum from the sun hitting it between pours. If you drained the line first, it tasted like MLPA (close anyway I forgot a bunch of crystal on that batch)

I've never heard of bubblegum from light struck beer...

[SchwanzBrewer]

I've never heard of bubblegum from light struck beer...

It warmed up too in the clear hose, so I can't attribute it to one or the other. All I know is that I hated it.

[Big Nake]

I hate to go off on a tangent here, but it occurs to me that the mystery of fermentation, the health and overall condition of yeast can create just about any flavor if given the proper environment. As a person who likes to reuse yeast, this is very concerning to me because if I use some funked up yeast in one batch and then in a few subsequent batches, I have a lot of funky beer on hand. I have had ale and lager yeasts give off some flavors and aromas that were just plain nasty. Bubble gum, vomit, cidery, apple-like, etc. I know that there are causes for all of these flavors (or at least some of them), but I can't really put my finger on it. I know that I don't ferment anything too warm anymore. Lagers get 47° in a fridge and ales usually get about 60-62° in a swamp cooler so that's not the problem. I am very careful with my sanitation but that doesn't mean that something didn't get into a yeast sample and futz it up. I had a Festbier that I made last summer with 2124 and it came out kind of bubble-gummy/sour. There is no reason for this to happen with this yeast unless I somehow mishandled it. I haven't had bubble-gummy flavors from light-struck beer, but I've had plenty of other funky flavors. As far as I'm concerned, once you pitch the yeast... it's outta your hands.

[positiveContact]

It warmed up too in the clear hose, so I can't attribute it to one or the other. All I know is that I hated it.

could be