Bitter Aftertaste- Steeping Grains

I've been lurking on the forums for a while, finally decided to post a question...

I've been doing extract batches for the last few months (3 or 4 total) and while they mostly taste great, they all have a bitter aftertaste. I would probably go as far as to call it astringent or puckering. After doing my reading and searching around on the site, it seems like this might be related to tannin extraction when I steep specialty grains.

I never boil the specialty grains, but usually steep at ~150 for 20-30 minutes in the full 5 gal. I'm using regular Boston area tap water, which supposedly has a pH of 9.3 From what I've read, tannin extraction isn't usually a problem for extract brewers, but I wonder if the combination of high pH and volume of water could be the culprit.

If this is unlikely, what are some other causes I could look into?

It could be pH related. I'd try using bottled water, and steeping with the correct amount of water, to see if that fixes the issue. Also, if you're doing a full 5-gallon boil, are you reducing the bittering hops if the recipe was designed for a 2.5 gallon boil? Just another thought..............

Another good idea would be to check the calibration of your thermometer, if it's rerading cool you could be in the 170 range and not know it.

I have read to steep the grains in less water, 1-2 gallons, then add the water after to boil. I do this with good results.

I am not sure that steeping even at a high temp for 20 minutes in a full 5 gallons would cause that. I think Yooper is right. If you are using recipes or kits designed for partial boils, if you do a full 5 gallon boil, you get better hop utilization (more bitterness is extracted by the boil) and will have a much more bitter beer.

Learned that the hard way!

Thanks for the great advice. I went back and doublecheck my recipes- sure enough I didn't adjust for the hop utilization. So my next question- how to adjust for a different boil volume? If I'm doing twice the volume of the recipe, do I cut the hops in half? Something tells me its going to be more complicated than that

Most people usually use some type of Brewing software. I use BeerSmith and there is a free trial so you might want to give that a shot. I find being able to scale recipes and change boil volumes the most helpful feature. There are also a lot of free online calculators, Brewers Lair and Tasty Brew are two I know of.

I have also heard that as a general rule that 20 to 25% reduction of your bittering hops will do the trick.

If you'd like, send through the recipe and one of us can run the numbers for you.

You really should consider moving into malting
your own barley. There is a certain "twang"
in store-bought malt, especially if it's been
sitting around for awhile. If not, try to get
the freshest malted barley you can, or the
freshest extract.

Chris

Cipper said:

You really should consider moving into malting
your own barley. There is a certain "twang"
in store-bought malt, especially if it's been
sitting around for awhile. If not, try to get
the freshest malted barley you can, or the
freshest extract.

Chris

Click to expand...

Malting his own barley?!?!?
This seems like an extreme step in most cases!

I do extract with specialty grains (steeping with 5 gals) and a full boil. My first few batches were real bitter. With advice from this forum, I started using beersmith and try my best to enter the ingredients called for, sometimes winging it if i cant find a specific grain or extract. Some recipes I have had to scale back as much as 50 % of the 60 minute hop addition. So far, it is working good.

Cipper said:

You really should consider moving into malting
your own barley. There is a certain "twang"
in store-bought malt, especially if it's been
sitting around for awhile. If not, try to get
the freshest malted barley you can, or the
freshest extract.

Chris

Click to expand...

Well, then all of my beer will forever have a certain "twang" because I sure as hell ain't malting my own barley. Neither do most brewpubs (or microbreweries that I know of) in the US, so I guess they have bad beer also.

All snideness aside, I don't know a single brewer who malts their own barley. We all produce acceptable beers. I think that's a ridiculous suggestion for anybody, but particularly for someone in the extract forum!

I'm willing to bet it's the full amount of bittering hops that seems to give such bitterness in this case, and a reduction of 25% (or using software to get a better % than my guessing) will fix it.

That was his first post YooperBrew. Best to take advice from someone who has more than one post....

Me thinks the poster is perhaps using the phrase "malted barely" incorrectly here.

I suppose large brewers don't malt their own because of the
space required. No special equipment needed though and
it is economical for the home brewer. More info:

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/12/05/malting-barley-grain-at-home/

Chris

Cipper said:

I suppose large brewers don't malt their own because of the
space required. No special equipment needed though and
it is economical for the home brewer. More info:

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/12/05/malting-barley-grain-at-home/

Chris

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone's arguing it can't be done. It's just seems an extreme solution for someone who's experiencing a little bit of bitterness in their homebrew.

No one mentioned it that it could also be the additives in your city water. If your using the Boston Tap water, check with the city as to what they add to it. There could be floride, chlorine, and chloromines, which can give you some off flavors.
My city does the same, and I use bottled spring water for that reason. Another alternative is buying a carbon filter to filter the additives.

also noone has addressed the fact he/she might be sqeezing his/her grain bag after the steep. if you are doing this it will add alot of extra tannins you don't want and cause "off flavors". i used to do it and learned the hard way as the OP might.