Astringent Taste in Beer

Big thanks to the folks of this forum. By using this site, I have already had a few of my questions answered without having to ask them. Score.

Anyway, I am a complete noob who is very enthusiastic about beginning to homebrew. I have produced 2 batches thus far and both have a strong astringent taste. The first was a Red Ale kit that came with my brew setup. I followed the recipe to the letter and everything went as planned (I think). I also dry hopped it with 2 oz of Cascade leaf hops (not part of recipe). Smelled good at bottling, but has a pronounced astringent aftertaste. It bottle conditioned for 3 weeks before I tried one.

The second was an English Bitter. Again, followed the directions and thought everything went well. This beer has only been in the bottle for a couple of weeks, but it has an even stronger astringent taste at this point and I am a bit worried.

You don't say whether these were extract or all grain or partial kits. That would help us get started with the diagnostics. What were your sanitation procedures? Water used? Did you measure pH? Inquiring minds want to know. And help.

My first brew had a slightly astringent taste, so when I ordered the ingredients for my next batch I also ordered Campden tablets. I've continued to use them ever since and the astringency has never returned, however, if you're using water that is free of chlorine/chloramine then this probably won't work for you.

Best of luck,
Rick

adiochiro3, I am brewing extract. Super basic set up. Both kits used specialty grains and LME. To sanitize, I washed with unscented dish soap then soaked in/with One Step. All equipment and bottles. I used my tap water, unfiltered. From what information that I can gather, the water contains chlorine, but no chloramine.

kewlceo, I have read of others trying the Campden tabs. What dosage do you use? Sounds like some use much more than others.

belowfellow said:

kewlceo, I have read of others trying the Campden tabs. What dosage do you use? Sounds like some use much more than others.

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I crush a whole tablet and add it to 6 gals of tap water. It's overkill, I know, but Palmer said it's okay to use a whole tab and I'm a good little disciple. :fro:

belowfellow said:

I am brewing extract. Super basic set up. Both kits used specialty grains and LME.

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How are you steeping the specialty grains, and at what temperature?

What were your fermentation temperatures and where are you fermenting (closet/kegerator/what)?

I had this issue with a few of my early batches but I found that after moving to temperature-controlled fermentation, the issue was solved. You may be getting a lot of astringent esters/phenols from your yeast if it's fermenting above 70 degrees

kewlceo- thanks for the info!

Schol-R-LEA- i steeped the grains below 170

inkman15- for both of the suspect batches, i was using Nottingham dry yeast. i am fermenting in our spare bedroom. i may have been a bit high on the temps (70-72) for that strain of yeast. possible source of astringent flavor?

thanks again everyone!

Any English ale yeast is much happier in the low 60's. I brewed a brown ale with S-04 (not exactly the same as nottingham, but similar in principle) at 70-72, and I got a lot of sickly-sweet flavors...almost a metallic taste. For this reason, I stay away from English yeasts.

belowfellow said:

To sanitize, I washed with unscented dish soap then soaked in/with One Step. I used my tap water, unfiltered. From what information that I can gather, the water contains chlorine, but no chloramine

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I could be wrong, but I thought One Step isn't really a sanitizer? I know some people use it for that, but I thought it was more of a cleaner?

I wouldn't wash with unscented dish soap unless you're really meticulous with rinsing.

Unfiltered water with chlorine is probably the biggest issue.

One Step is not a sanitizer. It is a cleaner. You should try Iodophor, Star San or Sani Clean for sanitizing. This may or may not be your problem, but it's important to clean(use OneStep or whatever) and sanitize your gear.

belowfellow said:

kewlceo- thanks for the info!

Schol-R-LEA- i steeped the grains below 170

inkman15- for both of the suspect batches, i was using Nottingham dry yeast. i am fermenting in our spare bedroom. i may have been a bit high on the temps (70-72) for that strain of yeast. possible source of astringent flavor?

thanks again everyone!

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I'm going to say that it's likely your fermentation temperatures. Happened to me on multiple batches that I know were not infected. See if you can keep your fermentation temperatures in the mid 60's at the highest and I'll bet you'll have a much tastier result. Easier said than done, though. I was only able to do it once I got my kegerator that I use partly as a fermentation chamber.

Are you sure what you're tasting is astringency??
It is normally not related to fermentation temp issues but rather:
1. Lack of mash control/wrong sparge condition (not an issue with extract!)
2. Hop astringency related to extraction of polyphenols from vegetative matter.
3. Water issues

belowfellow said:

adiochiro3, I am brewing extract. Super basic set up. Both kits used specialty grains and LME. To sanitize, I washed with unscented dish soap then soaked in/with One Step. All equipment and bottles. I used my tap water, unfiltered. From what information that I can gather, the water contains chlorine, but no chloramine.

kewlceo, I have read of others trying the Campden tabs. What dosage do you use? Sounds like some use much more than others.

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I'd be willing to bet there is in fact chloramine in your tap water. Most everywhere does, it seems.

Most municipal water treatment facilities have to use chloramines because it stays in water longer (longer residence time) compared to chlorine, thus ensuring that no matter how far somebody's house is from the source, the water coming into their house is still disinfected

This is good news for water treatment people (and the general public) but bad for brewers. As was mentioned previously, I would crush up a campden tablet and toss it into your brewing water before doing anything else, this will force the chloramines out of solution. Unlike chlorine, you cannot just let the water sit overnight or boil it to get chloramines out, gotta be proactive and force it out!


Don't worry, though, I am sure that you will be making delicious home brews in no time

I would agree with using the campden tabs. While you "can" use a whole tablet, the consensus is that a half a tab is plenty for 5 gallons of water. Not that it would create major issues if you used the whole tablet, but it is a chemical you are adding to your water. If you don't need more, why add more?

Also, you indicate you steep your specialty grains below 170. How sure are you? I ask this because some thermometers are woefully inaccurate. Check your thermometer in boiling water and in ice water to verify it reads 212/32 where it should. You may find your thermometer is not accurate which could mean you could steep your grains in water that is too hot. The consensus for leeching tanins (one cause of astringent flavors) is high temp and high PH (over 6.0). Since you are using tap water, I would almost guarantee your ph is well over 6.0 as many municipal water systems are going to keep the PH rather nuetral in the 7-8 range.

Definitely agree on the fermentation temps. Nottingham yeast fermented warm throws some weird flavors which I do not like. All yeast produce better beers when fermented on the low end of the spectrum (Belgian yeasts excluded.)

Foosier said:

Also, you indicate you steep your specialty grains below 170. How sure are you? I ask this because some thermometers are woefully inaccurate.

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Yep, I ran into this my last batch. I was steeping grain at "160" based on the dial thermometer that came with my pot. I started thinking that water looks hotter than that. Checked with a digital thermometer … 183.

Cursing ensued.

YIKES! I never considered that. Makes me want to check my thermometer...