SpanishCastleAle
Well-Known Member
I brewed a Vienna Lager on 1/31/09 and did a decoction. The recipe was mostly Vienna malt, some Pils malt, and a little Crystal. The beer is still young by lager standards but it has a weird astringency to it that it has had at every taste along the way. It may be tannins but I don't really know.
This off-flavor is sort of bitter but not anything like hop bitterness. It's less bitter than it is astringent (I wish I could come up with a different word besides 'astringent'). The off-flavor does linger for a bit.
If it is tannins then I would assume they are either from the decoction or the sparge...maybe a little of both. The decoction was def not burned or scorched...it never smelled burnt in any way (it did smell caramel-sweet though)...and the bottom of the decoction pot showed no signs of scorching whatsoever. I cooked for many years so I know what scorching would be like.
Mash pH was ~5.3 and the sparge water was 180 F but the mash never got anywhere near that hot while sparging.
Does this sound like tannins? Any ideas?
This off-flavor is sort of bitter but not anything like hop bitterness. It's less bitter than it is astringent (I wish I could come up with a different word besides 'astringent'). The off-flavor does linger for a bit.
If it is tannins then I would assume they are either from the decoction or the sparge...maybe a little of both. The decoction was def not burned or scorched...it never smelled burnt in any way (it did smell caramel-sweet though)...and the bottom of the decoction pot showed no signs of scorching whatsoever. I cooked for many years so I know what scorching would be like.
Mash pH was ~5.3 and the sparge water was 180 F but the mash never got anywhere near that hot while sparging.
Does this sound like tannins? Any ideas?