Water Chemistry and Extract Brewing

I understand the impact of water chemistry on all-grain which is one of the main reasons I no longer do many all-grain or partial mashes, I have to truck in water from a friends or buy it bottled.

I don't recall the pH of my water but I do know that it's in the upper ranges of what my softener can handle and I had to install a filter upstream to the softener so I don't kill the head.

I had one partial mash come out extremely bitter/astringent before I had a good handle on water chemistry's effect on the mash. (water's water, right?) Because of this, I read up on the causes and blamed my water because I've had no issues holding mash temp.

Lately I've noticed increased astringency in my extracts as well. It's masked in heavily-hopped IPA's and heavy dark beers but my last wheatbeer and my current American Amber are less than pleasant to drink. They're not awful, but I drink them in the way that I eat my veggies, because they're there and they're good for me but it's definitely not a delicious homebrew to be proud of.

Will highly alkaline water have the astringency effect on extract brews? Always done with specialty grains and I have them crushed by whomever I order from. This isn't an issue with just the LHBS but ingredients from mailorder as well.

I'm considering buying a couple jugs of bottled water for my next brew and repeat one of the failed brews to see if it makes a difference but I won't be brewing for a while, got 15g in fermenters at the moment so I figured i'd ask if anyone else has run into this issue.

I know astringent flavors could also be a sign of infection however if this is the case, all my beers are infected because pretty much all of them except the extremes on the flavor spectrum, have this bitterness to them.

Another idea: Hot break entering the fermenter. I don't siphon off the wort, I dump the kettle through a strainer into my bottling bucket, carry to basement, add yeast and rack to carboy with drilled stopper and 1/2" "blowoff tube" It was suggested to me that the trub that makes it through the strainer could be adding to the bitterness.

How long do you normally allow the wort to sit in the kettle after cooling? Should I let it settle and then siphon? Or is pouring through a strainer sufficient?

Just looking to consider any causes before I enter experimentation phase again. I've got two recipes that are 100% winners, a bourbon-soaked oaked porter and an IPA but my range of tastes goes much further and would like to brew more than those but out of 100+ gallons brewed last year only those two recipes stood out as excellent, the rest only mediocre.

Any input?

I believe, yes, high pH water will extract tannins from grains. This is often blamed for astringency issues, particularly with light grains, as darker grains tend to lower the pH of the wort. You could try bottled water for grain steeping. You could try adding some lactic acid to the steeping water. How much? I sometimes add 1/4 teaspoon of 88% lactic acid to my partial mash if it consists mainly of pale malts. No pH meter, but some test strips indicate pH between 5.2-5.4. My water is Cleveland, Ohio, city water with pH around 8. I add the same to my sparge water.
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I usually let the wort sit 15 to twenty minutes to allow the aroma hops to steep. I sometimes pour it all into the fermenter after cooling, sometimes I strain. I don't whirlpool, so straining has been a drag lately due to all the hop debris. I haven't noticed a difference from the trub in the fermenter.

There are some technical posts in the Brew Science section of the forum about the effects of water chemistry on beer. See the sticky called "A water chemistry primer." You may have to dilute your water 80:20 with reverse osmosis water or even use all RO water to avoid astringency, if that is indeed the cause of your problems.

Is your water well water or city water?

I think some of the astringency comes from steeping grains in the usual 2.5 gallons of water called for.

Check out this method posted by another user on the forum, I use it with fantastic results.


I think you are on to something here jescholler. When I first started almost a year ago every batch I did had a harsh off flavor that I originally thought was chlorophenols. I tried to fix that and batch after batch had no success. Finally a couple HBT'ers offered to sample my beers, and both of them didn't think I had chlorophenols but instead they detected harsh astrinency. One of them, Saccharomyces, asked me for a copy of my water report so I sent it to him. This was his response:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Saccharomyces
I was right, your water is alkaline... Your water is fine for an AG brew (using 5.2 stabilizer), but for extract I would skip your water and go with 100% RO water; that will give you a less harsh hop bitterness, and will get rid of the pronounced mineral aftertaste I'm getting. For a hoppy beer you can add a tsp. of gypsum to the kettle with the RO water which will help up the sulfates and give you a crisper bitterness, but that is optional... For malty/balanced brews straight RO and extract will yield superior results every time!

I was talking with Chris Colby (BYO editor) a few months back about his method for extract/steeping grains. We were discussing your very problem which is very common -- 99% of brewers will get to the level where you are now with extract/steeping grains and think they have to go to AG to make better beer. Fact is you don't, Chris only does AG batches with a brew buddy. He has been doing extract for 20 years and he makes some GREAT beers. Here's the Colby method:

- Start with 1 gallon of Campden treated RO water and 1 tsp of 5.2 pH stabilizer in the kettle. Stir in 1 lb of dry extract while heating to 165*F. At 165*F remove from heat. Drop in the steeping grain bag, tea bag it to get the grains wet and let it sit 30 minutes. Steeping in a small volume with pH stabilizer and extract keeps the pH around 5.2 which will prevent extracting tannins from the grain husks, which is the most common off flavor in extract beers.
- Drop a strainer over the pot and move the grain bag to the strainer. Run your top-off water slowly over the grains to rinse them until you get to your desired boil volume. Stir in 1/3 of the remaining extract for a partial boil, or 2/3 if doing a full volume boil, and bring to a boil. Add your bittering hops.
- With 15 minutes left in the boil, add a whirlfloc tablet, yeast nutrient, and the rest of your extract (do this off the heat so you don't scorch of course!).
- Stir continuously while chilling until the wort drops below 140*F. Chris uses an immersion chiller in his sink and then moves to an ice bath until he gets down to pitching temp. I already gave you my method, while more hands-on it works too.

Give his method a try and I think you'll be amazed at the results.

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.

To answer the first question: Well water. It's orange, smells like the smell of blood and is quite hard.

I just brewed a pale ale with all bottled water. Picked the cheapest gallon jugs that stated from municipal water supply, charcoal filtered but otherwise untreated. We'll see how that turns out.

If it doesn't turn out well I might try water treatments.

I'm very interested in Saccharomyces method.......what kind of water are you using for top off? Is it RO or city water?

I have been thinking a lot about the liquor (water) in my brews lately. The last few batches I have preboiled my tap water (which is very hard and basic) for 10 mins the night before brew day then pouring off the sediment water to remove the temporary hardness and started blending it RO bottled water. None of these brews are aged enough to drink yet but the test sample seemed to be promising.