Twangy taste in most brews

I keep getting a weird twangy or sharp aftertaste in most of my brews. I thought it was from using extract but just tried one of my first all grain brews and it was still there.The only brew that did not have this was a lager I made where I used RO water for it but also lagered it by moving it to a secondary fermenter and using lagering temps etc. My ales have been temp controlled and never gotten above 68ish degrees. I'm wondering if it is in my water possibly? I used campden tablets so it should not be cloromines. The taste is not super noticeable in really hoppy beers like an IPA but is very pronounced in a low hopped wheat or light beer. I am kind of zeroing in on my water but could it really give this kind of flavor?

Sounds like water is the first thing I would change when trying to fix this problem. I buy my water everytime I brew because my tap really does smell like a public pool minus the amonia. I have not looked to see if it is cheaper to treat my water or to buy it but it is only a few bucks to buy enough for a 10 gallon brew and it seems a lot simpler than trying to tweak my tap with tablets.

I actually have an RO unit but have only used it the one time for beer as I heard RO water is not so good to brew with. Plus it takes a few hours to make enough water to brew.

Yes, it is most likely your water, either chlorine/chloramine or an imbalance of salts is causing something undesirable to stand out.

unionrdr said:

How exactly would you describe this twangy taste? When doing all extract,& putting it all in at the beginning,you can get it. But AG as well? What were your mash temps? What part of your process is the same from extract to AG,in your opinion?

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I would say the only two things that are the same between extract and AG brews are the water and ferment temps. I would describe the twangy taste as similar to an orange peel? but not quite as strong. Mash temps have all been the same at 155F for 1 hour then 2 batch sparges for 20 min at the same temp. It's not such a bad taste it can't be drunk but you would not want it to be your first beer of the night.

Only additives I have used are campden tablets and irish moss.

should not be a chlorine/chloramine issue if you used campden.

Cimerian said:

I actually have an RO unit but have only used it the one time for beer as I heard RO water is not so good to brew with. Plus it takes a few hours to make enough water to brew.

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RO water is actually ideal to brew with. You can add a teaspoon of calcium chloride and make great beer. Or, like in my Bohemian pilsner, not a thing to it!

I think the best way to taste your tap water for off-flavors is to leave a glass sitting out for a few hours (or overnight) to completely de-oxygenate and warm it to room temperature. In a second glass, do the same, but use a good bottled water. I like Coca Cola's Dasani brand, as they use municipal tap water, simply filtered with reverse osmosis, and add minerals back to it. Taste them both, and note the differences.