A very strange experience

[sreichgott]

Last night I opened a bottle of Rochefort 10, the fine Belgian Trappist brew, excited to enjoy one of my favorite beers. I brought the glass to my nose to enjoy the bouquet, and it smelled exactly like acetone. No kidding. I thought I might be losing my mind, so I had my wife take a sniff. The first words out of her mouth: "It smells like nail polish remover."

What is going on? The beer even had a slight taste of acetone. The glass was totally clean, and the beer was well within its expiration date. Is this something anyone has ever encountered? What might have caused this? What does it mean?

Any and all possible explanations would be most welcome.

thanks,
Seth

[hopjack13]

you got burned man! take it back!

[Goban]

Eew, sorry to hear that.

Could it be an acetic bacterial infection?

[corkybstewart]

i bought a 750 ml of Kwak last month and coudn't wait to drink it. When I open it, it came alive with large flaky chunks of what I guess was yeast, but the beer tasted like old stale port wine. I probably could have ignored either the strange taste or the really distracting swimmers in the beer but the combo undid me I poured half of it down the drain. And taking it back isn't an option since I bought it 280 miles from here back in January.

[sreichgott]

Thanks for the replies. I found from another source that an acetone taste can be a sign of too warm fermentation - or in this case too warm post primary fermentation. Interesting.

And I can't really take it back either, as I got the beer in Belgium. Hopefully the other beers I got won't have the same problem.

[Vienna Lager]

I can't help but think that Belgian breweries are not immune to inequeties that abound in the industry.

Certainely a few of the breweries rival the antics of Lavern & Shirley at the Shotz Brewery. Not to mention Squiggy and Larry.

[Derekt2]

Had the same experience with a 10 about 6 weeks ago that was purchased here. Sadly it was my first Rochefort and --- yuck!

[ClockworkOrange]

That's a shame to get your hopes up trying something you've looked forward to only to be let down like that. Hopefully you'll come across it again and it'll be great.
-Cheers/Salute!

[chazwicke]

I opened a 750ml bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru last night and poured into one of my RGC classes. It was perfect.:D

[Tyree]

I picked up a 4 pack of DFH 90 . I have never had the 90. When I opend it,it smelled like flinstones vitamins . It tasted sweet and malty and not very hoppie at all. I liked the 60 and the 120 but I think this batch is a little off.

[corkybstewart]

After reading a bunch of reviews on Beer Advocate my experience with Kwak is normal. Everybody mentions the amazing amount of yeast floaties in the beer. Still, the taste was what I disliked the most. It was too sweet, and port winish. Now I like port wine, and I like beer, just not in the same bottle.

[beerboogie]

Thanks for the heads up on the Kwak I've been eyeing it at the store.

[corkybstewart]

Give it a shot, lots of reviewers on beeradvocate loved the taste but many of them were put off by the floaties. It just has a taste I don't like. I may even try it again now that I know that's normal. I always try beers at least twice before I write them off. Could be a bad bottle, or just not right for the circumstances. Last weekend we had salmon for dinner and I had a Belgian dubbel that went pretty well with it. Later my wife asked me to open a bottle of fairly expensive Burgandy we had bought but never tried. The first sip was awful, but after it sat a few minutes the next sip was good, the next glass was excellent and pretty soon she wanted another bottle. So give it a try, I probably will again, we might both be surprised.

[beerboogie]

OK

[Triple Freak]

Acetone is a sure indicator of fusel alcohols, resulting from a too warm fermentation. Fusel alcohols are some rather nasty characters, usually leading to headaches & hangovers.