# Soapy Taste After Dry Hopping?



## dr_pepper (21/1/11)

hello, please help

just dry hopped (12g cascade) + added 1 cut up lime into fermenter of an already fermented "dry lager" kit, its been in there for 48 hours, and had a few tastings, and besides a kinda faint grassy taste (assuming from dry hopping), there is also a bad shampoo / soap / talcum powder kinda taste. was definitely not there at all before adding dry hops & lime.

i'm about to cold condition, but wondering if i've done something wrong and should remove the hops + lime before cold conditioning. if i've stuffed it, perhaps there is some sort of finings that i can use to kill everything and make it a bland, dry beer?

its supposed to be for SWMBO & Co anyway, so no problems if its ends up tasteless.

any ideas?

ta
dr pepper


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## felten (21/1/11)

I've found some of the floral notes you get from certain hops that remind me of some kind of liquid soap or similar, it could be from over extraction if you're getting grassy flavours as well. If it's from the hops it will age out over time.

Just noted you said 48hr so that not long enough for grassyness, have you dry hopped many beers?

If you were going to CC for a few days before bottling, I would just continue with that.


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## dr_pepper (21/1/11)

ok well thats good to know it could simply be the hops flavour. i figured it would age out a bit over time, but bit of a shock tasting it in there!

its my first dry hop attempt so i don't really know how its supposed to taste, but its definitely quite a strong taste...i wouldn't say overruling the whole flavour, but much more than a background flavour

the taste was there instantly (i sampled about 30 mins after putting it all in)

the "grassyness" could just be part of the hop flavour, as i said i haven't done any dry hopping before so i don't actually know the various flavours produced

ok think i'll just CC for a few days as planned then bottle

thanks for the help


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## manticle (21/1/11)

Could also be due to causes other than hops and dry hops could be coincidental. Soapiness can supposedly come from breakdown of yeast cells.

Cascade to my palate is fairly grapefruity. I haven't noticed soapiness or grassiness. Levels of hopping and length of hopping are something to look at too.

Try soaking some cascade in warm water for a day and seeing if the same smell/taste is there. In that case it's the hop and your interpretation is soap (maybe a smell memory of a floral/herbal type of past experience)


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## The Giant (21/1/11)

i've dry hopped with cascade before and havent noted that flavour sensation, and as said above 48 hours is prob to little for grassiness

was it whole lime pieces u added? skin and all? were these washed before hand? how did u sanitise them?
Just thinking it could be that addition of lime?

From advice here when ever i add lime/lemon i usually boil the juice and zest at the start with some fermentables and then add to the fermenter and start my beer from there,not saying its the only way or right thing to do but maybe the addition of lime after fermentation has had an adverse effect?


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## Guysmiley54 (21/1/11)

I dry hopped with simcoe and got a real musky sort of flavour. It took 4-6 weeks to settle down, not sure if it really floated my boat.


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## Nick JD (21/1/11)

I've given up dry hopping - it works most of the time, but the times it doesn't makes ya wonder why you did it. 

My preference now is just a big whack of hops really late in the boil. Never fails and gives me all the hoppiness I need. If the recipe calls for dry hops I just add them at 5 minutes to go.

Of course, YMMV.


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## BjornJ (21/1/11)

Another option could be that the soapy flavours are from leaving the beer too long in the fermenter.

Not saying it is, not knowing how long at what temperature this beer has been in the fermenter.

Just saying it's another thing to consider,

http://makinghomemadewineandbeer.blogspot....te-in-beer.html 


_If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap._


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## dr_pepper (22/1/11)

thanks for all the help guys

manticle - soaking hops in water is a good idea, ill get my hands on some more cascade today and give it a go. cheers

the giant - i cut the lime into about 12 small pieces then boiled it in a small amount of water and threw it all in. i saw many different ways to do it through searching the forum, and just went for what sounded easiest. 

bjorn j - it was in there for exactly 2 weeks when i added the lime / hops and got the soapy flavour. i'm using a 497 lager yeast and had it sitting at 15degC for the whole 2 weeks. up until adding the lime / hops, there had been no weird flavours, just boring flavours, hence trying to jazz it up. however its possible when i moved the fermenter out of the fridge and into the kitchen to add the hops / lime, it got fairly bumpy and would have definitely disturbed the trub..so could it be something to do with that?

i'm going to try manticles idea to make sure its simply not hops flavours that im not used to, but im still very tempted to sterilise a sieve/strainer and pull out all the lime that is floating and the hops. thoughts?

cheers


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## manticle (22/1/11)

If you want to remove the lime etc, I'd be inclined to transfer to another fermenter via a hose rather than open it up and try and sieve it out.


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## dr_pepper (22/1/11)

i dont have a second fermenter unfortunately. would it really be that bad for it to sieve it out? if its still all floating at the top that is


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## manticle (22/1/11)

Not 'that bad' just less preferable. A second fermenter is always going to be useful. Otherwise give it a go. You've nothing to lose but a batch of beer and everything to gain including experience.


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## Rotgut (22/1/11)

I agree with Manticle here with the 'soapy' flavour - comes from exhausted yeast particles still in flocculation. If you've ever been too keen to try a new bottled brew and haven't given the yeast time to settle you always get 'soapy' flavours. Proceed as intended and enjoy!


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## dr_pepper (24/1/11)

Rotgut said:


> I agree with Manticle here with the 'soapy' flavour - comes from exhausted yeast particles still in flocculation. If you've ever been too keen to try a new bottled brew and haven't given the yeast time to settle you always get 'soapy' flavours. Proceed as intended and enjoy!



i wish i could say this was the case, but i've haven't tasted this flavour AT ALL in either of my two previous batches. i also tasted my first two batches on bottle day, and much too early in the bottle and didn't taste anything like this


its still there and very strong, and i'm a few days into cold conditioning. there is NO aroma of this shampoo / soap flavour, only taste, and it doesn't hit the taste buds straight away, more of an aftertaste, but it is very strong and doesn't taste right at all.

i removed the dry hop bag today, but couldn't remove the lime as its all sunk to the bottom. upon smelling and tasting a tiny bit of water i strained from the hop bag, i really can't see the relation between the hops and the soap flavour. the hops taste and smell good. so im going to have to settle on it being something to do with the lime.

so since i don't have a secondary fermenter, and im already a few days into cold condition, what do you think is the best plan of action from here on in?
are there any finings i can use at this stage that might kill it off? should i continue to cold condition then bottle? should i go and buy a secondary fermenter and rack and leave it longer?

i wish the internet had taste receptors


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## Bizier (24/1/11)

I am about to keg a double batch of large (1.088) IPA, which did not come out as planned at all, I tried to rescue it by adding a large dry hop to one fermenter's worth and for the other fermenter, I covered the hops in water and did a quick boil, and added the hop porridge to the fermenter. All things being roughly equal, I believe that the properly dry hopped one has a bit of a soapy character. I am going to try to carbonate higher than I normally would to give it a little more attitude. I feel that the mix of hops I used (Centennial, NS, Amarillo, Simcoe & Cascade) should have been simpler as well (I just emptied my freezer of 'C' hops) and the muddiness in the aroma mix adds to the soapy vibe, if that makes any sense.


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## Impy (27/1/11)

Yeah I made a lighter beer recently and dry hopped with cascade. I noticed that the beer had a bit of a grassy soapy taste to it. The bottles have been aging of a couple of weeks and the taste is settling down. I recon you'll be fine with some aging (as i'm hoping with my brew)


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