As I mentioned in a post elsewhere, my most recent IPA has an onion flavor to it. I understand from other reading that this will dissipate. My question is should I flush CO2 out of the keg? Would that speed the process?
Hmmm, I recall there being a specific hop that has that flavor. Anyone? I know Oskar Blues Gubna’ has that common complaint.
Yeah, I would cycle CO2 through the prv a few times to hopefully vent some of that out, Steve. I’ve had it happen a few times and it seems to help usually. I think Martin posted before about pouring a beer that seemed heavy on onion/garlic aromas, letting it sit for a few minutes and noticing that the nastiness had dissipated and the beer was great. The only really stubborn onion/garlic for me came from Summit…a few times. Life’s too short and there are too many great new hops to risk another 5 gallons on that crap. I know it CAN have a nice aroma and flavor, but it is very prone to the onion soup thing.
Summit hops. I’ve never tasted it personally, but people have said there is an onion and garlic note to them.
Steve - did you use summit?
No Summit. Amarillo, Citra and Mosaic. I have heard that Mosaic can lend a little onion to the soup. I’m headed out to purge the headspace!
I’ve picked it up slightly from Citra a time or two and it dissipated. Not yet from Mosaic though and I’ve used a fair amount. I wish someone would do a solid study on that, to give some real data. So far it’s looking harvest related but it seems like speculation right now.
I had a citra smash IPA last night at brew club that had a hint of onion along with the mango and cat pee. It was very subtle in that beer and faded almost as soon as I noticed it in the first place.
Yeah, it normally dissipates pretty quickly (except for Summit, which could be used in a meat marinade). I’ve tried to narrow down boil time vs dry hop vs quantities and it seems random to me. Seems to give the harvest time/terroir theory some legs.
I won’t use Mosaic again because of this.
I use mosaic all the time. Started when I couldn’t get Simcoe for a reasonable price. Got a pound of mosaic from yakima for $22.
I remember 2 or 3 years back some of the people here went to NHC and posted about the beers made with (then) experimental new hops. Most guys thought that what was the Mosaic beer was by far the best. And like you said it was a lot cheaper at the time than Simcoe, so I got a lb from YVH.
I’ve heard Sorachi Ace hops also have this onion/garlic thing when young, but fortunately this always fades to leave a unique tea-like flavor that is extremely pleasant!
If you have a chance to try Mosaic IPA by Community out of Dallas, do it. It’s not single hop, but it is amazing. Best IPA in north Texas by far. I killed a growler one night by accident. The lady was not impressed.
I agree. Some aging should help. My wife and I have detected some diesel flavor from young beers with mosaic hops that eventually turn out very tasty.
Didn’t someone post recently that the onion/garlic thing may come from hops harvested too late in the season? I’ve definitely gotten onion/garlic in summit. I find beers made with summit very unpleasant.
I’ve never noticed it in Sorachi (yet). Good hop though - I love the lemony aspect in saison. Good stuff.
I heard that at a talk or a podcast too. Hops like Summit are sold on high AA, so they are left longer on the bine to maximize AA, and the sulfur compound that causes the onion/garlic goes up also.
You sure those little purple hops weren’t shallots?
Makes sense, but I wonder if Summit isn’t naturally higher in the sulfur compound, too. That stuff seems to dissipate fairly quickly when I get it from other hops, but not from Summit.
I’ve used Summit once without any onion in a hop stand and the beer was delicious. I’ve heard that copper will eliminate the sulfur compounds that gives the onion character.