First all grain taste grainy/husky. What went wrong?

The question says it all. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU

0.50 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 4.3 %
5.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.8 %
5.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.8 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.20%] (60 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.041 SG (1.044-1.052 SG)
Measured Original Gravity: 1.040 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.010 SG (1.010-1.014 SG)
Measured Final Gravity: 1.004 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM (2.0-8.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 15.1 IBU (8.0-15.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 0.8 AAU


I had a little trouble with the mash temp. It was a little high, then a little low but finally got it right and mashed at 151 for 60 minutes, then batch sparged with 3 gal at 168 to achieve my boil volume of 6.5 gal.

What could be the reasons for the grainy/husky taste?

I mash my Hefe's for 90 minutes. Your OG is a bit low for a Hefe.

Did you vorlauf your sparge?

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed with the OG. My efficiency was crap(55%), but I just chalked that up to my first AG attempt. My second attempt was about 65% so I guess I am learning.

I vorlaufed about a gallon back through the tun.

I would say 50% wheat is pretty high.

However, the crush. How did you crush and what was the dispersion of particle sizes? Crush coarser and see if it helps next time. I always add around a half pound rice hulls, so I don't think that is it.

Hmmm, now that I see the two posts before mine...

What is your mash tun hardware?

On the other hand, I think too fine a crush can kill efficiency too. This may still be the reason.

Since you are tasting it, have you brewed a second and even third batch since this one?

Do you have particles floating in the beer or is it pretty clear?

knipknup said:

Hmmm, now that I see the two posts before mine...

What is your mash tun hardware?

On the other hand, I think too fine a crush can kill efficiency too. This may still be the reason.

Since you are tasting it, have you brewed a second and even third batch since this one?

Do you have particles floating in the beer or is it pretty clear?

Click to expand...

Its a hefe so its not clear. My mash tun is a 5 gal igloo w/ a ss braid. I have brewed a 2nd batch and the wort runoff looked pretty clear with no floating grain particles.

I had the grains crushed at my lhbs so I wouldn't know whether it was a course or fine grind. Is there a good way to tell what grind I am getting?

Any other ideas?

clindt said:

Any other ideas?

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do you have a water report for the water you were using. Maybe your pH was off and you extracted an excessive amount of tannins. This could also be the reason for the poor efficiency.

Kai

Too high a sparge temperture and too much sparge water will also cause it.

My city water report says the pH is 7.9. Is that too high and if so, what should I do to lower it?

My sparge water was dead on at 168.

clindt said:

My city water report says the pH is 7.9. Is that too high and if so, what should I do to lower it?

My sparge water was dead on at 168.

Click to expand...

It's the PH of the mash, not the PH of the water, that's important.

clindt said:

My city water report says the pH is 7.9. Is that too high and if so, what should I do to lower it?

Click to expand...

pH doesn't matter because its is just a measure of the current state of the water's chemistry which will change during mashing. I need Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity (as HCO3 or as CaCO3).

Kai

So, I need to get some test strips to test the mash water? What should my mash pH be?

read this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Mash_pH
and the link to Palmer's site that is mentioned in there.

Feel free to provide feedback on the Wiki content. We want to make it as understandable as this subject can be.

Kai

Thanks, I'll check out that link. It looks very informative.

How long ago did you brew this? My first AG had that grainy taste when I transfered it to secondary, but it was gone a couple weeks later. Now it is very, very good.

Did you measure the gravity of the last runnings? If it was at 1.010 or below, that could explain the tannins.

Were your rice hulls old? If you have any left, do they smell stale?

This was only brewed 10 days ago and was bottled 2 days ago. I did not rack it to the secondary since hefe's are not suppose to be clear anyways.

I don't know if the rice hulls were old, they were just what my LHBS had. As far as the last runnings it was around 1.015 if I remember correctly. Maybe with some time in the bottle the grain taste will be more subdued.