dry mouth?

I was wondering, i've only made two batches, both are/were really good, yet they have a kinda dry mouth sensation after taking a drink, not bad, just wondering what it comes from. Both brews were extract, one was a red ale one was a citrus wheat ale.

Nick-

I am generalizing, but with both beer or wine you could be on the sweet side or on the dry side (unsweet). I would guess that your yeast worked really well and ate up a large amount of the fermentable sugars, thus leaving you with a dryer beer.

Were both beers full extract or did they have steeping grains? I expect the latter.

Did you boil the grains or steep them higher than 170*F?

I ask because tannins can give you a "dry" pucker kind of mouthfeel. But, they prolly just attentuated really well.

Someone told me it might be astringent, but im not sure what that means, taste like, or what it comes from.

i did have steeping grains in both .5# 120 in the red and 1# 80 in the wheat. I kept a pretty close eye on the thermometer keeping it around 155 to 165, but it could have gone over when i walked away for a little.

how long should i boil steep them for? i steeped them for around 20-30. dont remember exactly.

Gila has a good point as well....if you don't know what tannins taste like, get a really young, bold cabernet...will also give you almost a dusty taste because it's so dry.

NickThoR said:

Someone told me it might be astringent, but im not sure what that means, taste like, or what it comes from.

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That is a whole nuther ball of wax. Have some more people try it and ask them to describe the flavor to you in common similarity terms. "Astringent" usually refers to medicinal, band-aid, or Iodine like aromas and taste.

It does indicate where to look but, small steps first.

First, you need to determine that you actually have THAT problem. Do you have any beer clubs or brew clubs in your area?

The only lhbs within an hour has one worker and he doesn't brew, and i wouldn't know where to look for a club.

NickThoR said:

The only lhbs within an hour has one worker and he doesn't brew, and i wouldn't know where to look for a club.

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Try the beertown.org site and or google the heck outta yours and nearby towns. That is how I found my local club.

Taking your beers to a club function can tell you volumes about how close to style you are and or how to diagnose a potential flaw.

See, without a taste, your descriptions are vague enough to be one of three things; a really dry beer meaning the yeast ate up all the available sugars, tannins meaning the grains steeped too hot, or water source. I'll not go into any detail on the water stuff cause it's easy to get your head spinning on those details.

Barring a club for advice.

Did you use tap water for your brews?

Did you dechlorinate (active carbon filtration)?

You can also get some insight into beer off flavors by googling the term or reading through any brewing book. How to brew by John Palmer is a staple reference for anyone just getting started.

I use store bought spring water. thanks for the advice, ill check around for some clubs and keep an eye on the temp a little better next time. Also, idk if this has any thing to do with it, but the lhbs has only one kind of yeast, it doesn't have any numbers, string, or anything on it, just "great for any ale".

NickThoR said:

I use store bought spring water. thanks for the advice, ill check around for some clubs and keep an eye on the temp a little better next time. Also, idk if this has any thing to do with it, but the lhbs has only one kind of yeast, it doesn't have any numbers, string, or anything on it, just "great for any ale".

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Yeah. Typical of kits sometimes. Time to look on-line for some yeast I think.

As to the bottled water, that eliminates chlorine as the culprit for the medicinal phenols. So, don't fret about the water.

But, it might also be the dreaded "extract Twang" you are experiencing. This is the result of liquid extract being stored too long in the can. An experience hard to eliminate if your LHBS has slow moving stocks.

Astringent, as it pertains to taste, describes a situation where it feels like all your saliva has gone away. Do you have any tea on hand? Drop a bag in a cup of hot water and let it steep. Without adding sugar or anything else, taste the liquid or better yet, the spent tea bag.

Astringency is different from band aid flavors and the like. Ever chew on a grape or apple skin and you get that odd not quite sour taste that drys your mouth out? That's astringency.

ChshreCat said:

Astringency is different from band aid flavors and the like. Ever chew on a grape or apple skin and you get that odd not quite sour taste that drys your mouth out? That's astringency.

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Yes. Astringency is also associated, often, with the Chlor-a-septic medicinal character as caused by chlorophenols. But, is usually the result of tannins as in the grape skin/tea bag flavors as you suggest.

For the OP.

were the steeping grains in a net bag or floating free? Did you squeeze ever last drop out of the net bag?

And did you boil the grains or take them out after the steep?

I think the problem is in the steeped grains. Kaiser posted something around here about how pH is the real culprit for extracting tannins from grains, not temp. This explains why decoction mashes don't lead to astringent beer.

Think about steeping grains in a large amount of water. A normal mash will bring the pH to 5.2ish rather quickly, but a small amount of grain might leave the pH really high, extracting tannins from the grains. This might be exaggerated by the bottle water.

Are you doing full 5 gallon boils? If so, this could be your problem.

Maybe if you bought some 5.2 Stabilizer from your LHBS or somewhere online, you might throw some of that in before you steep your grains. It's pretty easy to get a hold of.

Nyxator said:

Maybe if you bought some 5.2 Stabilizer from your LHBS or somewhere online, you might throw some of that in before you steep your grains. It's pretty easy to get a hold of.

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I don't think you need to do that. You should be able to steep grains without getting harsh tannins. Less water is one way. Less time and lower temp should also help.

Do not squeeze the grain bags at all. It seams very intuitive to want to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of your steeping grains but your gonna get those nasty tannins.

I agree. Steeping the grains in less water should do the trick.

i did use a bag, i did not squeeze, i used dme not lme, and i only boiled 2 gallons adding 3 to the fermenter.
is there any kind of chemical to add to my secondary to get rid of that taste? my cousin makes wine and im pretty sure he uses something to get rid of tannins... or i might just be imagining that.