mfvreeland
Member
Hi All,
Recently I brewed a brown porter that has unfortunately developed a very distinct astringent taste. I bottled it three weeks ago, and today's sample was still quite astringent, yet the beer otherwise tastes good. The beer was brewed using a top-cropping yeast strain (Wyeast London Ale III), and after about a week of letting the yeast just do their thing, I intentionally agitated the krausen to help it mix back into the beer. I did this because I had read somewhere that it is necessary to agitate the krausen with top-cropping strains because otherwise fermentation will not complete (unlike most yeast strains, the krausen produced by the top-cropping types will stick around forever and not fall back in on its own accord). I am pretty sure now that a. it wasn't actually necessary at all and b. the fact that I got some of that brown gunk that usually harmlessly clings to the sides of the fermenter swirling into the beer is responsible for the astringent off-flavor that I'm now experiencing.
Lesson learned for next time, but unfortunately I'm left with nearly five gallons of bottled beer that is awfully astringent. It's drinkable, but the astringent after-taste pretty much ruins the experience to the point where I wouldn't want to give it to anybody. So my question to all of you is this: Is it possible to fix astringency?
My first thought was to use a fining agent to help drop out the tannins, but all of the instructions on fining agents that I've read are for doing it before bottling. Am I past the point of no return, or can I pour my beer out of the bottles and into a secondary, use a fining agent, and then re-bottle? Would prolonged cold storage fix the problem? Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance for any tips.
Recently I brewed a brown porter that has unfortunately developed a very distinct astringent taste. I bottled it three weeks ago, and today's sample was still quite astringent, yet the beer otherwise tastes good. The beer was brewed using a top-cropping yeast strain (Wyeast London Ale III), and after about a week of letting the yeast just do their thing, I intentionally agitated the krausen to help it mix back into the beer. I did this because I had read somewhere that it is necessary to agitate the krausen with top-cropping strains because otherwise fermentation will not complete (unlike most yeast strains, the krausen produced by the top-cropping types will stick around forever and not fall back in on its own accord). I am pretty sure now that a. it wasn't actually necessary at all and b. the fact that I got some of that brown gunk that usually harmlessly clings to the sides of the fermenter swirling into the beer is responsible for the astringent off-flavor that I'm now experiencing.
Lesson learned for next time, but unfortunately I'm left with nearly five gallons of bottled beer that is awfully astringent. It's drinkable, but the astringent after-taste pretty much ruins the experience to the point where I wouldn't want to give it to anybody. So my question to all of you is this: Is it possible to fix astringency?
My first thought was to use a fining agent to help drop out the tannins, but all of the instructions on fining agents that I've read are for doing it before bottling. Am I past the point of no return, or can I pour my beer out of the bottles and into a secondary, use a fining agent, and then re-bottle? Would prolonged cold storage fix the problem? Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance for any tips.
