High-Grav Brewing - "Hot" alcohol flavor

[bwarbiany]

So, I brewed this beer about 6-7 weeks ago. It ended up going above the expected efficiency (1.076), fermented all the way down to 1.010, so I think it finished about 8.6%. It's definitely a belgian, but there's an issue about it that I just don't like. It tastes "hot".

"Hot" is a problem I've had with every high-grav beer I've ever made. This is probably the best I've done so far, since we had fermentation temp control and a big yeast pitch (thanks to Pat & Tyler). But it's still hot. It was well-aerated (out of the CFC, I had it spraying into the fermenter), and all signs of fermentation were perfect. I started down in the mid-60's for a day or so, then moved up to 74 deg (per Tyler's instructions) for the rest of fermentation.

At this point, I just don't get it. I don't know how to get rid of this flavor. Any thoughts?

[brahn]

You seem to have covered all the normal things that cause the hot alcohol flavor. Normally I might say that 74 is too high, but I just fermented a batch at 74 with that yeast and it came out great. If you can bring some to the next club meeting, I'd like to try it.

Brent

[brew captain]

The "hotter" the beer the longer you will need to age it for it to mellow out. Higher (or fusel) alcohols will continue to degrade into milder alcohols over time (as they oxidize or react with organic acids). This beer isn't too big, so probably a couple months in secondary at a stable temperature ought to do it. I would keep it at fermentation temperature to accelerate the process...

Cheers!

[backyard brewer]

The "hotter" the beer the longer you will need to age it for it to mellow out. Higher (or fusel) alcohols will continue to degrade into milder alcohols over time (as they oxidize or react with organic acids). This beer isn't too big, so probably a couple months in secondary at a stable temperature ought to do it. I would keep it at fermentation temperature to accelerate the process...

Cheers!

I agree with the Captain. The biggest beer I ever brewed started at 1.117. It was undrinkable for 6 months. For the first three months it tasted like raw wort with a shot of plain-wrap whiskey thrown in it. 16 months later, it took BOS at OC Fair.

Put it away and forget about it a while.

[brahn]

I agree that the hotness will fade with age, my RIS that won BOS also had a distinct rocket fuel flavor going when it was first bottled but tasted great a few months later. I thought the question was how to avoid it completely.

[bwarbiany]

Do you need much yeast to complete the "secondary" process for the higher-order alcohols to degrade? We have kegged the entire batch, and had used gelatin and cooled it prior to kegging to drop out sediment.

So we can definitely age it, but I need to make sure that I don't need to repitch a little yeast just to help it clean up.

[backyard brewer]

Do you need much yeast to complete the "secondary" process for the higher-order alcohols to degrade? We have kegged the entire batch, and had used gelatin and cooled it prior to kegging to drop out sediment.

So we can definitely age it, but I need to make sure that I don't need to repitch a little yeast just to help it clean up.

I'm not sure yeast is that big of a factor in the follow-up cleaning. I think the aging is more a factor of oxidation and reduction than microbial activity from the yeast, at least pertaining to alcohol hotness.