Grainy/Husky Flavor from BIAB

Brewed up my first BIAB on Thanksgiving and pulled a sample last night (4 days into fermentation) to taste and find the SG.

When I sampled it, it had a grainy/husky flavor. I read that a cold crash at the end of primary will drop out those flavors. Can anybody verify this?

Also, what could have caused this? Too high of a mash temperature? I used the iPhone app - iBrewmaster- for my strike water calculations. It suggested I get the water up to 166. I thought this was high, considering in was only a 9lb grain bill. I was right because I ended up mashing at 159.

Just looking to salvage this session beer (it's a cream ale) and prevent these flavors from happening again.

If this helps, my efficiency was over 90%. Could there be too many unfermentable sugars causing the off-flavors?

I would not expect any beer to taste anywhere near right at 4 days after fermentation. Your beer will be fine. Wait more.

There are SOME flavors you can detect early on from big brew day problems, but grainy/husky/fruity/yeasty/grassy/banana-y/buttery/etc/etc/etc are all flavors that the yeast is creating or are in suspension that will get cleaned up later in fermentation. And yes, a lot does change when cold crashed as certain proteins and yeast will fall out of suspension as well. At 159, you will have a lot of body and you might finish a couple of points high, but it will probably still be delicious.

Your beer is very very young and it's too early to begin worrying. Leave it be for a few more weeks and I bet it'll be on target. I don't take a sample until at least day 9, and usually primary 3 to 5 weeks

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Home Brew Talk

Ya and also I dont even like to taste my beer before its carbonated. It adds a lot!

How long are you planning for your primary fermentation to last? Granted my brewing experience is quite limited (a few Brewhouse kits, a few wine kits and one AG attempt that I'm working through at the moment) - but 4 days would seem pretty early in the process to me.

I would think a great deal of the sugars are still being worked on by the yeast?

Mash of 159 is dandy to my taste... my target is 158 for my brews. You'll be fine, the beer is still young, it knows what to do...

RDWHAHB

I definitely agree that the beer is young and it's too soon to worry...but that doesn't stop me from doing it, haha.

I plan on primary lasting 2 to 3 weeks before bottling. I also plan on skipping a secondary because I want some of the yeasty goodness.

Generally I sample my wort and then the beer during ferment whenever I pull an SG reading.

This was the first time I've noticed a strong grain aroma and flavor. I wasn't sure if it was from brewing with all grain or the mash temp. Maybe it's just the way this beer is supposed to taste (its the Speckled Heifer AG kit from Northern Brewer if you're wondering).

My plan after another week is too sample it, cold crash if need be, and if the grain flavor/aroma is still too strong I may dry hop it. These are just ideas I'm having. I just need to play the wait and see game.

Thanks for everyone's input!