Will astringency be apparent in the immediate post-boil wort?

I attempted a way-over-complicated step-mashed belgian-style strong golden ale last night and noticed a possible problem. I tasted the wort from the hydrometer test jar sample and it had a strong astringency to it -- my girlfriend commented that it tasted like a cough drop, very tannic.

I have alkaline tap water and used a pale malt with a fine crush and no pH adjustment, so I think I ended up extracting tannins from the husks.

This may be a no-brainer, but is this type of astringency noticeable immediately in the wort?

Will it mellow over time or will this likely be a dumper?

I think I'll go back to simple single infusions until I get the pH and water mineral thing down pat.

It is difficult to separate bitterness from astringency in the wort. It should improve as it ferments.

(Your GF has odd tastes in cough drops.)

No reason to dump it before you've seen it through. If it's just absolutely terrible after it's fermented and aged a little, then you can call it quits.

In my limited experience of tasting wort post boil...I have found it to be waaaay different than the finished beer...ride it out. Way to early to evaluate IMO unless of course you are experienced in this regard. RDWHAHB!

Thanks for the replies. The taste was mouth-drying, like some cough drops can be, especially the zinc supplement kind. The astringency worried me since my local water is pretty alkaline and I didn't add any salts or buffers.

I'll ride it out, at the very least the smell is nice and spicy. I like the character of the styrian goldings and saaz hops together, maybe I'll try a pale ale with these two next.

-HAHBRN (having a home brew right now)