Off flavor in light colored beers only

I'm drinking my first AG, Ed's Haus Pale Ale, and it's great, except that it has an off flavor, a slightly minerally taste that most of my lighter-colored beers, except for the wheats, have had. I thought it might be from the extract, but apparently not, since this is AG and the off-flavor is the exact same as it was before, so I'm thinking it isn't my mash process. I used 5.2 stabilizer in the mash, thinking that it might be a pH issue, but again, apparently not.

The next step is to send a water sample to a lab, but I won't live here too much longer and would like to see if anyone here has some experience with an off-flavor that only affects their lighter colored brews before I go to the time and expense. Is there some treatment I should apply to my water? This is tap water that I've run through a Pur filter. Any tips (aside from buying bottled water) are welcome. Thanks!

pH is only one aspect of water chemistry.

I bet you have very hard water. Lots of calcium, and bicarbonates in your water can cause some off-flavors in very light beers (like German pilsners, kolsch, etc)...but its awesome water for anything dark (like a guinness clone).

Do you have kind of a high tap pH? Do you get a lot of mineral deposits on faucets, shower heads, coffee makers? Scale in the tea pot?

New Jersey, I think I've heard the water there is rather hard.

It might age out a little though. If you're moving I wouldn't waste money on a lab test either.

Sometimes just using a little RO water, plus tap water is enough to soften it for these really light beers.

Yeah, we do have really hard water. So if I cut it with RO water, that might help out a bit? I'll give it a shot. You're post makes sense, if that hard water is best for dark beers- my porters always turn out great.

So quick follow up question. How would I find RO water labeled for sale? I know most bottled water is likely just someplace else's tap water, so is there a term I should look for on the label? Thanks for your advice and time!

Best place to buy bulk RO water is a fish store that sells saltwater fish. They sell RO in the quantities you would want (bring a container, they will fill it).

If your water doesn't taste bad plain, then I doubt your water is the problem. Check with your local brew club and see if anyone else has similar problems.

Small beers reveal problems in your process quickly. Many times, the biggest problem is a lack of patience (I am guilty here). A lot of these off flavors disappear after a month in the bottle, but God knows that full bottles have the life expectancy of a housefly.

passedpawn said:

If your water doesn't taste bad plain, then I doubt your water is the problem.

Click to expand...

My water has high permanent hardness and mineral content. Toss in some 5.2 on top of that and anything pale with a decent dash of hops is going to be harsh and minerally. Even minus the 5.2, I cut my water 50/50.

....but the water tastes fine.

Possibly DMS, I wouldn't say its a mineral taste but you stated you only notice it in you lighter colored beers which is where DMS is often noticed. DMS is often described as a cooked corn or vegetable flavor. Try increasing the intensity of your boil to drive off DMS or increase to 90 min boils when doing lighter colored beers. Not sure if this is your problem but wont be to hard to give the above mentioned techniques a try.

How about chloramines? Do you treat your water with campden?

Store bought bottled and jug water (at least in CA, NC, TX and AK) lists the process in really small print on the label.

Charcoal filtered + ozonated works fine for me mosty, but for Pale Ales and lighter I look for the Reverse Osmosis text on the label.

Not the solution you wanted, but I travel a lot (about every 90 days) and built my process around store bought RO with a stash of small vials of gypsum and calcium carbonate and so on for consistency.