Smoke flavor

Mashing
1

I just made a…prolly considered an American amber/red. Its the second time I brewed it and this time around it has a slight smoke flavor in it. The smoke is very light but seems to be more noticeable when there is a head on the beer.
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 41.7 % GOLDEN PROMISE
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 41.7 % RAHR 2 ROW
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (37.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.3 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (55.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.3 % ENGLISH MEDIUM CRYSTAL.
0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 21.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 19.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 20.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs 1 OZ GLACIER ONE UK FUGGLES
2.8 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
when there is a head on the beer.

The regular recipe is a copy from beer smith. What I have highlighted to the right is what it actually is. The only difference is first time batch I used WLP001, no Fuggle hops and the grain besides Rahr was simpson but is now English or whatever Northern Brewer now carry’s. Its a very mild smoke sensation. Could it be a combo of the earthy fuggles and English crystal? It is defiantly more noticeable in the foam of the head. Everything I have read from smoke “bad” off flavors doesn’t seem to fit. Just looking for some insight is to if this is a hop flavor I’m not familiar with or any ideas.

2

None of your ingredients should have a smoky flavor/aroma. That said, I’m not terribly familiar with Golden Promise, a hot strike may extract something smoky. Could also be the boil, if your burner is blaring, you can get some maillard reaction (scorch) that possibly would result in a smoky flavor.

Just as a side note, 1lb is a lot of carapils, especially if you’re already using a dextrinous malt (crystal), I have noticed that 1/4lb gives me great head retention, lacing and mouthfeel, any more than that and it’s too heady IMHO.

3

Hm I’m not sure. It is so faint! Maybe I am just getting my taste screwed up. I let it go considering I can be overly critical sometimes but my brother mentioned it this weekend after he had it on several occasions and it was his first time noticing the “smokey” flavor. I don’t start heating until my kettle is full. It is a aluminum kettle maybe there was a excessive amount of buildup on the bottom from the last time I brewed and that scorched some?