limited
Member
I've been lurking on the forums for a while, finally decided to post a question...
I've been doing extract batches for the last few months (3 or 4 total) and while they mostly taste great, they all have a bitter aftertaste. I would probably go as far as to call it astringent or puckering. After doing my reading and searching around on the site, it seems like this might be related to tannin extraction when I steep specialty grains.
I never boil the specialty grains, but usually steep at ~150 for 20-30 minutes in the full 5 gal. I'm using regular Boston area tap water, which supposedly has a pH of 9.3 From what I've read, tannin extraction isn't usually a problem for extract brewers, but I wonder if the combination of high pH and volume of water could be the culprit.
If this is unlikely, what are some other causes I could look into?
I've been doing extract batches for the last few months (3 or 4 total) and while they mostly taste great, they all have a bitter aftertaste. I would probably go as far as to call it astringent or puckering. After doing my reading and searching around on the site, it seems like this might be related to tannin extraction when I steep specialty grains.
I never boil the specialty grains, but usually steep at ~150 for 20-30 minutes in the full 5 gal. I'm using regular Boston area tap water, which supposedly has a pH of 9.3 From what I've read, tannin extraction isn't usually a problem for extract brewers, but I wonder if the combination of high pH and volume of water could be the culprit.
If this is unlikely, what are some other causes I could look into?