R
rich
Not sure if I picked the right category. I do mostly all grain brews, but have somewhat of an unrelated question. Anyway, it may be a bit longwinded, but here it goes.
I've noticed that some microbrewed and homebrewed beers have incredible aromas, and others don't. Now I've fiddled around with dry hopping, using a hop back, and all that and this particular aroma strikes me as not coming from hops. In fact, it smells kind of like a gym locker, but in a good way, like pungent, or like rich soil, yeasty maybe... I just can't describe it. Funny thing is that homebrewers that I point this aroma out to either don't seem to smell it, or give me strange opinions as to where it derives from. In fact, one brewer had me pursuing English hops in the aroma stage... then just recently he confided that he has a really bad sense of smell. When he told me this I was a bit pissed since I spent a fair amount of time experimenting, but still didn't hit this aroma.
My question is: has anyone noticed this aroma? Again, it doesn't seem to be hoppy, or malty, but almost yeasty. An amazing aroma in my opinion, but one that I just can't put my finger on, nor get a clear answer on. My brews have yet to come close to this.
Could it be in the yeast strain? (although I've used many types of yeast... and nothing, but mostly white labs or wyeast).
Could it be as a result of brewing with starters? (I've never done a starter).
Any feedback would be cool. :-/
I've noticed that some microbrewed and homebrewed beers have incredible aromas, and others don't. Now I've fiddled around with dry hopping, using a hop back, and all that and this particular aroma strikes me as not coming from hops. In fact, it smells kind of like a gym locker, but in a good way, like pungent, or like rich soil, yeasty maybe... I just can't describe it. Funny thing is that homebrewers that I point this aroma out to either don't seem to smell it, or give me strange opinions as to where it derives from. In fact, one brewer had me pursuing English hops in the aroma stage... then just recently he confided that he has a really bad sense of smell. When he told me this I was a bit pissed since I spent a fair amount of time experimenting, but still didn't hit this aroma.
My question is: has anyone noticed this aroma? Again, it doesn't seem to be hoppy, or malty, but almost yeasty. An amazing aroma in my opinion, but one that I just can't put my finger on, nor get a clear answer on. My brews have yet to come close to this.
Could it be in the yeast strain? (although I've used many types of yeast... and nothing, but mostly white labs or wyeast).
Could it be as a result of brewing with starters? (I've never done a starter).
Any feedback would be cool. :-/