chrryghst
Member
Hello experts! Can you review my brew day process and tell me if I'm on the right track to preventing a certain off flavor from appearing my next batch?
I've brewed three extract w/ specialty grain batches so far. They were all good, but all contained a certain flavor I wasn't fond of. After doing a lot of reading, I think it might be due to oxidation because it most closely matches the description of "wet cardboard."
One of the suggestions to prevent oxidation included avoid splashing hot wort. While I am very careful about avoiding splashing during racking and bottling, I tend to have a lot of splashing on brew day.
I recently learned that by pouring hot wort (> 80 F) through a strainer will oxidize it and give it the "wet cardboard" flavor. I typically cool my wort down to 95-100 F and add it to refrigerated bottled water for dilution to 5 gal. It does the trick to get the overall 5 gal down to about 75 F for pitching.
I also practice the late addition extract method and steep in a small quantity of water (3 qts/lb). After steeping for 30 minutes, I take an additional quart of hot water from a tea kettle and rinse the grain bag (this causes more splashing!). Then I pour the gallon of steeped water into my brew pot which contains 2 more gallons of heated water (more splashing!). I add about 1/5 of my extract, then I bring that 3 gallons of wort to a boil and proceed with the hop schedule, adding the remaining 4/5 of extract for the last 10-15 minutes of my boil.
For my next batch I will cool the wort all the way down to below 80 F before pouring it into the primary, and I will very gently rinse the grain bag without splashing.
Is anyone else familiar with this "wet cardboard" flavor?
I've brewed three extract w/ specialty grain batches so far. They were all good, but all contained a certain flavor I wasn't fond of. After doing a lot of reading, I think it might be due to oxidation because it most closely matches the description of "wet cardboard."
One of the suggestions to prevent oxidation included avoid splashing hot wort. While I am very careful about avoiding splashing during racking and bottling, I tend to have a lot of splashing on brew day.
I recently learned that by pouring hot wort (> 80 F) through a strainer will oxidize it and give it the "wet cardboard" flavor. I typically cool my wort down to 95-100 F and add it to refrigerated bottled water for dilution to 5 gal. It does the trick to get the overall 5 gal down to about 75 F for pitching.
I also practice the late addition extract method and steep in a small quantity of water (3 qts/lb). After steeping for 30 minutes, I take an additional quart of hot water from a tea kettle and rinse the grain bag (this causes more splashing!). Then I pour the gallon of steeped water into my brew pot which contains 2 more gallons of heated water (more splashing!). I add about 1/5 of my extract, then I bring that 3 gallons of wort to a boil and proceed with the hop schedule, adding the remaining 4/5 of extract for the last 10-15 minutes of my boil.
For my next batch I will cool the wort all the way down to below 80 F before pouring it into the primary, and I will very gently rinse the grain bag without splashing.
Is anyone else familiar with this "wet cardboard" flavor?