I did a batch of Am. brown, a Moose Drool clone, and tasted a bottle of it today. It has a pronounced astringency to it. The desired flavors are there, but the astringency is front and center. I used a recipe I spotted on BrewToad.
My brew:
11lbs M.O., 1.5lbs crystal 80, 6oz. choc. malt, 1oz. black malt. I crush my own grains in a MM-2, at a gap of 0.039. The crush looked good, with the hulls intact. Six gallons strike water, mashed at 152F, 60 min. sacc. rest (came out 150F after 60 mins.). Did a pour-over sparge with 2 gallons of 165F water, to bring the kettle volume to near 7 gallons. I used bottled spring water (Ice Mountain), no added salts. I did not measure pH at any point; I have no paper or a meter.
For the boil: 1oz. EKG at 60 mins., 1oz. Willamette at 15, and 1oz. Liberty at flameout. Also added a whirlfloc and 1/2 tsp. Wyeast nutrient at 15 mins.
Had a lot of boiloff (my 10 gal. kettle is wider than tall). Post-boil volume was just over 4.5 gal. and I added bottled water to bring it up to 5.5. Chilled down to 68F in about 20 mins., and racked to a 6.5 gal. glass carboy. Gravity was 1.064.
Oxygenated 60 secs. with pure O2 through a 2-micron stone. Pitched 1.8L starter of WLP002, and added a blowoff tube.
Fermentation was rocking within a few hours, but never to the point it came out the blowoff tube. Nice, 1" layer of kreusen. Temps ran away, up to 76F for the first 12 hours or so (I didn't have a swamper--I do now), then back down to around 70. By the second day it was in the mid-high 60s, where it remained during the rest of the primary.
Kept in primary 1 month, then bottled. F.G. was 1.016. Sample I tasted seemed OK. I stored the bottles at around 70F. Yesterday I put one in the fridge to cold-crash overnight, after 3 weeks in the bottle. Opened it today--carbonation was good, color looked great, and it had a decent, 1/2" head in the glass.
I know there are a bunch of things that can cause astringency: too high mash pH, too hot/too much sparge water, bad crush (shredded husks), etc.
I know I had a few screwups while making this batch. Does anything stand out in my process that may be the most likely culprit? Any thoughts would be helpful.
I plan to let it condition a few more weeks and try another bottle. I'm not giving up on the beer yet.
My brew:
11lbs M.O., 1.5lbs crystal 80, 6oz. choc. malt, 1oz. black malt. I crush my own grains in a MM-2, at a gap of 0.039. The crush looked good, with the hulls intact. Six gallons strike water, mashed at 152F, 60 min. sacc. rest (came out 150F after 60 mins.). Did a pour-over sparge with 2 gallons of 165F water, to bring the kettle volume to near 7 gallons. I used bottled spring water (Ice Mountain), no added salts. I did not measure pH at any point; I have no paper or a meter.
For the boil: 1oz. EKG at 60 mins., 1oz. Willamette at 15, and 1oz. Liberty at flameout. Also added a whirlfloc and 1/2 tsp. Wyeast nutrient at 15 mins.
Had a lot of boiloff (my 10 gal. kettle is wider than tall). Post-boil volume was just over 4.5 gal. and I added bottled water to bring it up to 5.5. Chilled down to 68F in about 20 mins., and racked to a 6.5 gal. glass carboy. Gravity was 1.064.
Oxygenated 60 secs. with pure O2 through a 2-micron stone. Pitched 1.8L starter of WLP002, and added a blowoff tube.
Fermentation was rocking within a few hours, but never to the point it came out the blowoff tube. Nice, 1" layer of kreusen. Temps ran away, up to 76F for the first 12 hours or so (I didn't have a swamper--I do now), then back down to around 70. By the second day it was in the mid-high 60s, where it remained during the rest of the primary.
Kept in primary 1 month, then bottled. F.G. was 1.016. Sample I tasted seemed OK. I stored the bottles at around 70F. Yesterday I put one in the fridge to cold-crash overnight, after 3 weeks in the bottle. Opened it today--carbonation was good, color looked great, and it had a decent, 1/2" head in the glass.
I know there are a bunch of things that can cause astringency: too high mash pH, too hot/too much sparge water, bad crush (shredded husks), etc.
I know I had a few screwups while making this batch. Does anything stand out in my process that may be the most likely culprit? Any thoughts would be helpful.
I plan to let it condition a few more weeks and try another bottle. I'm not giving up on the beer yet.