Dms/vegetal Aroma - Affected By Sunlight?

[Goofinder]

As the weather has started to get a bit better, I've taken to having the odd beer outside in the sun in the afternoons. However, I've noticed that when I drink outside in the sun, one of my beers smells like cooked vegetables which doesn't happen inside.

The beer in question is just a simple lager, 2 cans of LME, Nelson Sauvin hops and fermented with S-189 at around 12 degrees.

The strange thing is, I got the same cooked vegetable aroma this afternoon drinking a Red Truck Porter from the Lobethal Bierhaus outside. I haven't really paid too much attention to any other beers yet to work out if there is more of a pattern here.

Has anyone else noticed a cooked vegetable aroma when drinking beer outside in the sun? Any idea what causes this?

 

[Gavo]

I like a drink outside while sitting in the sun (except in forty degrees in summer) I never have had this experience. Are there any new plants making the smell in your or your neighbors gardens?

 

[Goofinder]

I like a drink outside while sitting in the sun (except in forty degrees in summer) I never have had this experience. Are there any new plants making the smell in your or your neighbors gardens?

Nah, the porter this afternoon was at the in laws so I don't think it's that. I'm out the back at the moment with the same NS lager and it's OK now, but the sun has dropped behind the fence which is what has me thinking it might be the sunlight.

 

[Gavo]

I will have to try drinking a few out in the sun tomorrow ( just an excuse) and take notice of any difference just to be sure. I hope you don't ruin drinking outside in the sun for me Goofinder. :lol:

 

[matho]

james spencer from the basic brewing radio has said that he noticed skunking in a beer he had left in the sun for about 15min the statement was made in a podcast earlier this year and was about skunking just google basic brewing radio.
maybe that's the problem.

cheer's matho

 

[buttersd70]

james spencer from the basic brewing radio has said that he noticed skunking in a beer he had left in the sun for about 15min the statement was made in a podcast earlier this year and was about skunking just google basic brewing radio.
maybe that's the problem.

cheer's matho

When I saw this podcast, I deliberately skunked a beer......I basiclly extrapolated on james's experiment, but in bottles. One brown, one green, one clear, all the same beer.......
15 minutes in the sun (this was about 6 months or so ago....it was a bright, clouldless autumn day, at about noon, and in the mid 20's). The brown was fine. The green was a bit pongy, but I could drink it (just). The one that was in the clear glass was so ferrel that I didn't even get it into my mouth.....4 inches from my nose, and I literally puked everywhere. (and I was sober when I did this). Bad, oh so bad. I know that scientific method requires repeatable experimentation, but I'll be buggered if I do this again!

So you're issue sounds like skunking.....How long was it in the glass? cos I can tell you, on a bright day (l;ike it was in adelaide this afternoon), with a beer with real hops (as opposed to some types of iso hops), it doesn't take long!

 

[Goofinder]

Skunking... could be, but it doesn't smell skunky. It really smells like vegetables.

Actually, the first time I noticed it I thought I hadn't washed the glass properly because it smelt exactly like the vegetables from the night before's dinner!

Edit: Probably in the glass around 10-15 minutes, so maybe it is skunking. I think more research is needed tomorrow!

 

[buttersd70]

Skunking... could be, but it doesn't really smell skunky. It really smells like vegetables.

Actually, the first time I noticed it I thought I hadn't washed the glass properly because it smelt exactly like the vegetables from the night before's dinner!

If it was skunk, you'd know it.....trust me :lol:

So unsure what it was. Strange. Vegatal off-flavour, at least to my knowledge, doesn't come and go with light.....

 

[Frank]

As the weather has started to get a bit better, I've taken to having the odd beer outside in the sun in the afternoons. However, I've noticed that when I drink outside in the sun, one of my beers smells like cooked vegetables which doesn't happen inside.

I would say the beers you are trying do have low levels of DMS as you have described. Drinking in the sun will be making the beers more volatile as the neck heats up releasing odour, versus drinking inside where the neck will stay cooler.
Can you taste the cooked veg or only smell it?
I think you are also right about doing more research tomorrow.
I would say:
First beer at approx 7am, where you have UV but no heat.
Continue through the day while the day heats up, approx 1 beer every hour.
Compare your results at approx 2pm when you have max heat and UV.
The whole time you must compare one beer outside versus one beer inside = 2 beers per hour.
If by 2pm the smell is too much, try drinking the beers quicker so they don't heat up.
Let us know how you go.

You could also open a new beer now, drink half and leave half bottle to warm to room temperature. See if you get an odour once the beer warms up. At least you can rule out the effect of UV this way.

 

[Goofinder]

I would say the beers you are trying do have low levels of DMS as you have described. Drinking in the sun will be making the beers more volatile as the neck heats up releasing odour, versus drinking inside where the neck will stay cooler.

I'm drinking from a glass, but this is kind of what I was thinking, that there is some DMS in there that is becoming more evident as it heats up/meets with UV.

Can you taste the cooked veg or only smell it?

The smell is strong enough that it's there once the glass is empty. Smell/taste are so linked it's hard to tell what is what.

I would say:
First beer at approx 7am, where you have UV but no heat.
Continue through the day while the day heats up, approx 1 beer every hour.
Compare your results at approx 2pm when you have max heat and UV.
The whole time you must compare one beer outside versus one beer inside = 2 beers per hour.
If by 2pm the smell is too much, try drinking the beers quicker so they don't heat up.
Let us know how you go.

Sounds good, but I need to brew tomorrow morning so I could end up with an even worse beer this time

You could also open a new beer now, drink half and leave half bottle to warm to room temperature. See if you get an odour once the beer warms up. At least you can rule out the effect of UV this way.

Will give this a go, I'll put some aside and let it warm up. Cheers.

 

[buttersd70]

There you go, goo! I've been looking for an excuse to crack a beer at 7am, and Boston's given it to you It's in the name of science. Gold.

Hey Boston, If he has (at least) 2 beers every hour from 7am through to 2pm, is he likely to be in a fit state to compare anything? :lol: This sounds like a fun experiment....my beers not vegetal, but I might try the experiment anyway.....I could be the "normal"

 

[Frank]

This sounds like a fun experiment....my beers not vegetal, but I might try the experiment anyway.....I could be the "normal"

Not sure how "normal" you will be by then end of it. :lol:

 

[Goofinder]

There you go, goo! I've been looking for an excuse to crack a beer at 7am, and Boston's given it to you It's in the name of science. Gold.

Don't tempt me...

If I manage to get up early enough I just might do this, all in the name of science of course! :beerbang:

 

[stueywhytcross]

what a great experiment...im in....and what better day to conduct it, remember bathurst 1000 coverage starts at 7am tomorrow morning.

 

[buttersd70]

Not sure how "normal" you will be by then end of it. :lol:

Not sure how "normal" I'd be at the start of it. :lol: