Experiment gone wrong

[Nevermind5]

Hi everyone, I have a quick question regarding steeping grains. I decided to add some carapils to my extract brew. First time using grains, I steeped 200 grams in 4 litres of water @ 74 degrees, unfortunately I've only just realised that that's way too much water. Now I'm worried about excessive tannins in my brew. I had a taste test from my hydrometer sample and it tastes way too bitter. Is there anyway of removing tannins and make it less bitter?

 

[madscientist451]

You sure its not bitter from the hops? Also, bitterness fades during fermentation and when bottle conditioning, so its a little early to think about trying to fix the beer.
If you're just starting out brewing, there are thousands of established recipes that have been fine tuned over many years, and they can be found right here on HBT.

 

[Dland]

My guess it is the hops too, they can taste pretty bitter early on in process. Unless you steeped for a very long time, I doubt you'd get noticeable tannin at 74F.

 

[Jag75]

I think tannins aren't an issue until 170f

 

[VikeMan]

Hi everyone, I have a quick question regarding steeping grains. I decided to add some carapils to my extract brew. First time using grains, I steeped 200 grams in 4 litres of water @ 74 degrees, unfortunately I've only just realised that that's way too much water. Now I'm worried about excessive tannins in my brew. I had a taste test from my hydrometer sample and it tastes way too bitter. Is there anyway of removing tannins and make it less bitter?

I'd say the likelihood that you got excessive tannins may depend on your water profile, and your tolerance for tannins. If your water has a lot of alkalinity, your pH might have been in the somewhat arbitrarily defined "danger zone." Temperature is also a factor. 74C (165F) is generally considered "safe," but here's the thing... Tannins are extracted in every mash. You'll see arbitrary temperature and pH boundaries stated (for example 170F and 5.8 pH) , along with statements that if don't exceed both, you won't get tannins. But it's not really that simple.

Think of tannin extraction as a function of temperature, pH, and time. Increase any, and tannin extraction increases. Decrease any, and it decreases.

 

[eric19312]

Agree tanins are unlikely at 165F also if I did the math right 200 grams carapils in 4L water should be enough to get to 1.013-1.014 SG which is also too high for tanin extraction.

 

[VikeMan]

Agree tanins are unlikely at 165F also if I did the math right 200 grams carapils in 4L water should be enough to get to 1.013-1.014 SG which is also too high for tanin extraction.

Tannin extraction is not a function of gravity. Do you mean to say that the water to grist ratio was low, and therefore there was probably enough acidity from the carapils to keep the ph low? That may be the case, depending on the alkalinity of the water.

 

[VikeMan]

@Nevermind5 by the way, when you're doing extract plus steeped grains batches, you might consider using RO or distilled water. Not only will that keep the steeping pH low, it also recognizes that the LME or DME already has minerals from the water in the manufacturer's mash.

 

[eric19312]

Tannin extraction is not a function of gravity. Do you mean to say that the water to grist ratio was low, and therefore there was probably enough acidity from the carapils to keep the ph low? That may be the case, depending on the alkalinity of the water.

OK I understand what you are saying but when I learned fly sparging the rule of thumb was I would be safe to continue sparging (from tanin extraction point of view) so long as gravity stays above 1.010 and pH stays below 5.9.

But I realize that is not same scenario as this case. Running the numbers in Bru'n Water, if brewed with my tap water I'd expect the steeping pH would of been 6.1 which combined with 165F would seem plausible for tannin extraction while with 100% distilled water would of been 5.67 so would have been safe.

So maybe OP but along with what others have said brew it and see if you can really notice astringency in the final product. Maybe give a sample to a friend without telling them what you are concerned about and seeing if they notice it too.