Grainy taste??
 

First let me tell you I am new to all grain brewing. Ok I have only done 2 all grain batches AHS Shiner blonde clone lager, the second was EdWort’s Haus Pale Ale recipe. The Ale has been in the primary for 1 week, and had a low FG: of 1.009 which might be because my OG was a little low. I transferred it to a secondary, and tasted it everything was ok but it has a grainy after taste, so I checked my lager and it has the same after taste. Am I jumping the gun or is this normal for an all grain batch? I have never tasted this in my extract batches.

I used a Rubbermaid 7.5gal converted cooler for my MLT, my temp was never over 155 for the mash, and part of the time it might have been a little low. I have very soft well water and I have not checked the PH of my water or mash.

Thanks for any help,
Michael

Check them in two weeks, if they aren't mellowing, try cold conditioning for a month.

Some people might call that 'biscuity'. It goes away after a while, or becomes less pronounced.

Certain of my all grains have a "grassy" taste.

It'll go away. Remember that all-grain brewing is the longer, raw material process. A lot of those "in-between-flavors" aren't present in extract brews becuase ou're essentially reconstituting dried extract.

I think I have read several times that "grassy" off-flavors are a result of stale ingrediants or dry hopping in the keg.

Well this most recent had a heavy wheat malt ratio. It's a repeat recipe and they always turn out fine...just that initial taste out of the secondary.

A grainy flavor attribute can be caused by the extraction of the tannins from the husk of the malt. This is a function of the mash and lautering pH and temperature. If the pH is not acidic (pH 5.5 or less), the tannins can become solulbe in the wort or if the pH is not acidic and the sparge water is above say 175 F, you get more tannins. This results in an astringent and grainy character in the beer. Perhaps this is something you should check in your process.

Dr Malt;)

I did a simple water test to see if the pH would be my problem.

It showed

Alkalinity as 240ppm
Hardness as 0ppm
pH as 10

Is the pH high, and could this be causing my problem with the grainy tatse?

If so what could I do to correct it?

Should I just start using bottled water?

Thanks
Michael

I may be wrong but I think pale ales usually require harder water, like that at Burton-on-Trent,which is what Burton water salt is for. I'm not sure if that is what is causing your problems but it will make your ales better.
My water is very hard and I must use bottled for everything but my milk stout.

I think your ph is high, so it wouldn't hurt to try bottled with some additves.