So I just finished my very first batch–a Scottish Ale extract kit–and in the process I made a newb mistake: I scorched the malt when I put it in the boiling pot.
I figure I’m going to have some off flavors as a result. Do you think there’ll just be some notes of smoke or am I skunked?
The only time I scorched malt in an extract with grains batch I was lucky enough to be brewing a smoked porter (intentionally) it did not taste like burnt grain but the smoked malt came through. So I guess I really dont have an answer for you, but if you can taste it after bottling, it likely will not go away. You may want to start over if the scorching was bad enough. Not enough details. How hot was the wort in the oiling pot when you added the grain? Was the grain bagged? Did the bag burn to the bottom of the pot (mine did?) How long did it take before you noticed?
The grain was fine–it was the extract I burned. The grain bag was already out and done. I had a pretty good boil going–212-214F. I noticed pretty quick as carmelized malt started floating in the wort. I managed to use a sieve so none ended up in the fermenting bucket, but still, probably not good.
Ferment and taste. Dump if it’s bad, package if it’s good.
This. ^^^^
And, it will be bad. Sorry man.
Was it a full boil or partial boil?
How do you know you scorched it? Was there some burn marks on the bottom of the kettle?
Yeah, some marks on the bottom I had to clean up.
Might not be that big of a deal. How dark were the marks? Were they charred?
I used to get marks when I used a cheap kettle and electric stove. They were never charred and were easy to clean with a light scrub.
Mixing extract in with the burner of is a good idea.
I’m also wondering if it will be “maybe not as bad as first thought”, especially in a Scottish ale.
How big is the scorch mark? Size of a dime? A quarter? Half the bottom of the pot?
The mark was pretty dark, about the size of my palm.
It was in a less expensive pot on an electric range.
Fingers are crossed!
That probably is too big, but taste it and don’t toss it until you are sure you couldn’t drink it or you’ve fermented it all the way out and aged it a little. Get started on your next batch, though.
Thanks for all the good feedback. I’m letting it percolate and see what happens:)
The first time I used LME, I just dumped it into the boil and stirred after I got everything out of the can… Which means there was a lot of that LME sitting at the bottom of the boil kettle getting scorched by the burner.
I started to see little black flakes coming to the top of the kettle and started straining them out wondering what they were. Once I figures it out, I was very sad, but I let it ride.
from my newbie palate, I didn’t detect any off flavors, but still to this day, I get requests to “make that one Oktoberfest with the really different but good flavor, please”. The batch turned out great. I wouldn’t worry about it too much!
+1 Steve. Let it ride and taste it before tossing it. You may be surprised.
I would think that in that style it will be okay. I used to always warm up the liquid extract so it seemed to dissolve a little better in the boil. I also had my husband stir for me.
Was the beer a save or a dump?