Astringency

[cpsmusic]

Hi Folks,

I've just done my second brew using a 10L Braumeister. Unfortunately it's come out noticeably astringent. Due to a low efficiency with my first Braumeister brew I thought I'd try sparging the second but I think I've either had the mashout temperature too high or the sparge water temperature too high (or maybe both).

I'm going to have another go using the same recipe but I want to make sure that I don't extract tannins this time!

What would be a safe mashout temperature?

Also, I've read over on the Braumeisters forum that you can sparge with room-temperature water - anyone tried it?

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Dan Pratt]

Sparge with tap water at room temp - yes, no worries

Sparge with water at 78c max, i often set my BM to 76c for 30mins to stay away from the tannins range.

What was the recipe?

 

[MHB]

Really anything under 80oC, especially with all the extract in solution you shouldn't pull too much in the way of tannins.
It's much more likely to be your sparge, again up to 80oC should be fine, especially if your water is acidified. On the other hand alkaline water will pull tannins at most any temperature.
The advantage of being up near 80oC is that the hotter it is the more fluid the extract is, the better it drains and the quicker you get on with the boil. Hotter sparge water will also extract more of the sugars, improving your yield.
You could sparge with tap water, make sure the pH is in the range and that you have de-chlorinated it. you will get better results with hotter sparge water.
Mark

 

[cpsmusic]

The recipe was very simple:

Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.5000
Total Hops (g): 35.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.055
Colour (SRM): 8.3 (EBC): 16.4
Bitterness (IBU): 31.3 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.375 kg Pale Ale Malt (95%)
0.125 kg Crystal 60 (5%)

Hop Bill
----------------
20.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (4.8% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (2 g/L)
10.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (4.8% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
05.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (4.8% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (0.5 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Fermented With:

Danstar - London ESB Ale Yeast

I'm going to try it again but with a lower mashout temperature and a cooler sparge - not sure about the temperature. I'm tempted to try something like 60C so that I get a decent amount of sugar but no risk of tannins.

 

[Reg Holt]

Hi Folks,

I've just done my second brew using a 10L Braumeister. Unfortunately it's come out noticeably astringent. Due to a low efficiency with my first Braumeister brew I thought I'd try sparging the second but I think I've either had the mashout temperature too high or the sparge water temperature too high (or maybe both).

I'm going to have another go using the same recipe but I want to make sure that I don't extract tannins this time!

What would be a safe mashout temperature?

Also, I've read over on the Braumeisters forum that you can sparge with room-temperature water - anyone tried it?

Cheers,

Chris

Would like to know the follow up on this, did you sort it out?

 

[cpsmusic]

Would like to know the follow up on this, did you sort it out?

Yes, took a bottle to Grain and Grape where they had a taste and diagnosed acetobacter infection. I ditched my plastic fermenter and replaced it with a stainless steel one. Got a batch in there at the moment that's ready to be bottled so I'll let you know - so far, so good.