Tannins in beer?

Fairly new to this, brewed about a half dozen batches now, working my way from extract kits to my first trial at a self-made partial grain recipe. In a few of my beers there is a bitter, astringent aftertaste that reminds me of the tannins in red wine. I am hoping that these will fade with a little time in the bottle.

My questions:

1. What causes this aftertaste? What am I doing wrong?
2. Will bottle conditioning help the beers I've already done?
3. What would be the best temperature range for bottle conditioning?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Improper mash temps and pH are usually the cause of tannin extraction. What are your temps? And are you making sure your pH is below ~5.8? 5.2 is 'ideal'.

Most common cause is steeping your grains at too high a temperature, typically over 180, and ph issues. If tannins are the issue you are actually having.

Bottle conditioning around 70F is best for a minimum of three weeks.

twistr25 said:

too high a temperature, typically over 180

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I think "too high a temperature" is anywhere above 170F, for either steeping, mashing, or sparging.

As said previously, mash temperature is a big issue regarding tannins. Also be mindful of mash pH ( this means you might want to get a water analysis done if you have the ability to do so), and the amount of grain particles that are making their way into your boil kettle. Boiling grain obviously will extract tannins and if enough is in your boil they will be noticeable in your final product as an astringent flavor.

as far as getting rid of this flavor, conditioning may help reduce it over time but I would think this wont be very likely. I would say condition the beer from two to three weeks at room tempature, then place the bottles in the fridge for about a week to crash out the yeast and cold condition the beer for a little bit before you drink it. Its really a trial and error process so pop a few bottles open during the time frame to check carbonation and whatnot.

I never let the temp get above 160F during steep or mash. The county water quality report shows the pH of the the water varied from 7.1 to 7.8 last year, although I haven't checked it at my tap. If I understand the process correctly, the pH should be measured after adding the malts so I suppose I need to get some test strips.

And I'm really just guessing at the tannin thing. I'm not very experienced at beer tasting yet so I'm not able to identify all of the flavors. I currently have 2 IPAs in bottle so I will let them condition as suggested and open one of each every week to see if the taste is changing.

pgbrewing said:

I never let the temp get above 160F during steep or mash. The county water quality report shows the pH of the the water varied from 7.1 to 7.8 last year, although I haven't checked it at my tap. If I understand the process correctly, the pH should be measured after adding the malts so I suppose I need to get some test strips.

And I'm really just guessing at the tannin thing. I'm not very experienced at beer tasting yet so I'm not able to identify all of the flavors. I currently have 2 IPAs in bottle so I will let them condition as suggested and open one of each every week to see if the taste is changing.

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Just get some 5-Star 5.2 pH stabilizer from the HBS. A water report will also help, it's good to know if you have chlorine or chloramine and the levels of other minerals and contaminants. Camden tabs will take care of the chlorine and the 5.2 stabilizer will take care of the pH, but it helps to know what's in your water.

david_42 said:

Right, water pH doesn't make much of a difference.

If it tastes like tannins, it probably is.

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Not always true. He said that he tastes an astringent flavor, this can be associated with tannins but does not always have to be derived from them due to heat. It is true that high temp or residual husks in the boil can cause tannin extraction, but mash pH can also cause an astringent flavor as well. According to Bru'n water a mash pH above 6 can cause similar tannin and astringent off flavors. So to get a ball park on the pH of your "mash" is a good idea. cheap pH strips can help, take a sample while it is room temp, and use five star 5.2 if needed, if you want to get more in depth use the spread sheet from the bru'n water webpage to fine tune your water.

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

Tannins are really like nothing else- so if you're tasting something like tannins, that's probably what you've got.

I'll disagree with the others and say do NOT add 5.2 stabilizer, as it rarely works and then you'll have salty tannins instead of just tannins.

I'd suggest two things- one, checking your thermometer for accuracy. The second is to get a water report. Sometimes highly alkaline water (in my case, high bicarbonate) causes an astringent flavor very tannic in nature especially in lighter colored beers. A water report can be had from your water company, or you can get a report for $16.50 from Ward Lab. That will make a huge difference in handling your mash.

For now, to see if it's the water or not, you could try one batch with 100% reverse osmosis water from the "water machine" at the grocery stores. If that fixes the problem, you know it was the water. I'd also make sure to have an accurate thermometer.