TommyBoy
Well-Known Member
I just tapped a pale ale and there is a faint iced tea flavor to it. I actually like this as it is my yard work beer but I am curious as to what might be the cause.
sparge temp?
did you vorlauf?
grain bed temp at the end of the sparge?
gravity of your final runnings?
Astringent
Astringency differs from bitterness by having a puckering quality, like sucking on a tea bag. It is dry, kind of powdery and is often the result of steeping grains too long or when the pH of the mash exceeds the range of 5.2 - 5.6. Oversparging the mash or using water that is too hot are common causes for exceeding the mash pH range. It can also be caused by over-hopping during either the bittering or finishing stages. Bacterial infections can also cause astringency, i.e. vinegar tones from aceto bacteria.
The brown scum that forms during fermentation and clings to the side of the fermentor is intensely bitter and if it is stirred back into the beer it will cause very astringent tastes. The scum should be removed from the beer, either by letting it cling undisturbed to the sides of an oversize fermentor, or by skimming it off the krausen, or blowing off the krausen itself from a 5 gallon carboy. I have never had any problems by simply letting it cling to the sides of the fermentor.
Checking PH will be a must on my next batch!
Probably should get some test strips and Buffer 5.2 to have on hand, huh?
Thank you!
no problem. I'd check the gravity on your final runnings as well. I've heard that if you're down below 1.010 you can get some astringency. (I'm always near 1.020 for my final runnings, so I can't personally vouch)
maybe post your recipe and hop schedule as well, and we can maybe find something in there (or I can steal it and brew it, because an APA with a slight hint of iced tea does sound like a great working-in-the-yard-summer-brew)
...I've have plenty of beers that taste like grainy iced tea at 5 weeks, and was smooth as silk at 8 or more...
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