I am usually an AG brewer. But recently I wanted to try something Jamil Z. had suggested. His contention is that all other things being equal, you can still make an extract beer equaling the quality of an AG beer. A good yeast starter, oxygenation and proper temp control would yield a solid beer provided you used a fresh, high quality extract kit.
I made the Brewcraft dry stout kit. I will say I completely overwhelmed the 5 gallon kit beer with my 10 gallon B3 3-kettle system.
I did the whole thing in my boil kettle and know exactly where I caused my problems.
I put the steeping grains in a bag and hung it off the side of my brew kettle (3/4# roasted barley; 1/2# crystal 80; and 1/4 each of chocolate and black malts). I knew I was in trouble when I saw the crush. Most of this stuff was shredded. But I thought I might be OK using a fine mesh bag.
As soon as I dunked the bag in the water, I got a LOT of husk material into the brewing liquor. I steeped at 150F for about 20 min, making my second mistake. I already had my pump hooked up for the post boil whirlpool. So during the 20 min steep, I ran the pump for a few seconds 2 or 3 times to mix the liquid. I should have known better, especially since I was already getting husk material into the liquid.
Fast forward through a great boil, O2 and a flawless fermentation. I have a highly astringent stout on my hands. I can taste the roast and malt underneath. But the most prominent character is the mouth-puckering astringency.
I've read up on astringency over the last few days and listened to the Brew Strong podcast on tannins. It sounds like, this being the only issue, I should be able to get it to age out. But I've not had a great deal of experience with tannins.
I pulled the tap off the keg of stout and am just leaving it hooked up to the gas in my kegerator. A couple of questions though:
1. How long should I let it sit before I try it again?
2. I assume tannins are a solid material and with time and temp they should drop out. Do I need to pull a couple of ounces from the keg each week to remove anything that has settled?
I made the Brewcraft dry stout kit. I will say I completely overwhelmed the 5 gallon kit beer with my 10 gallon B3 3-kettle system.
I did the whole thing in my boil kettle and know exactly where I caused my problems.
I put the steeping grains in a bag and hung it off the side of my brew kettle (3/4# roasted barley; 1/2# crystal 80; and 1/4 each of chocolate and black malts). I knew I was in trouble when I saw the crush. Most of this stuff was shredded. But I thought I might be OK using a fine mesh bag.
As soon as I dunked the bag in the water, I got a LOT of husk material into the brewing liquor. I steeped at 150F for about 20 min, making my second mistake. I already had my pump hooked up for the post boil whirlpool. So during the 20 min steep, I ran the pump for a few seconds 2 or 3 times to mix the liquid. I should have known better, especially since I was already getting husk material into the liquid.
Fast forward through a great boil, O2 and a flawless fermentation. I have a highly astringent stout on my hands. I can taste the roast and malt underneath. But the most prominent character is the mouth-puckering astringency.
I've read up on astringency over the last few days and listened to the Brew Strong podcast on tannins. It sounds like, this being the only issue, I should be able to get it to age out. But I've not had a great deal of experience with tannins.
I pulled the tap off the keg of stout and am just leaving it hooked up to the gas in my kegerator. A couple of questions though:
1. How long should I let it sit before I try it again?
2. I assume tannins are a solid material and with time and temp they should drop out. Do I need to pull a couple of ounces from the keg each week to remove anything that has settled?
