Extract Twang....?

[Murcluf]

I have recently seen alot of references to "extract twang" when people are talking about issues with kit or extract brews. Maybe I'm lucky or lack any taste but as an extract brewer I don't believe I have experienced this so called extract twang. So could some be kind enough to explain to me what extract twang is, how you get it and what it tastes like would be nice.

Cheers

 

[Coodgee]

It's just a slightly sweet/candy/honey sort of smell and taste that disipates over time. If you want to compare the difference of extract and full grain, try drinking the beer the day that it finnishes fermenting. the full grain beer, while not at it's best, will taste like a really good beer. while the extract will have a very pronounced twang that is often referred to as "green" beer.

 

[Murcluf]

Excellent Coodgee, I try to leave majority of my brews at least 2 months before getting in to them, and only crack the occassional to see how it is developing along the way. I have noted how much the beers improve along the way. So yes I was aware of the "green beer" state of it but didn't know of it as "extract twang" thanks

 

[Kingy]

here here, i was consious of that but never really anylized it deeply enough,that just covered another question on brewing.And yes i found that age with beer is by far the best

 

[pint of lager]

I percieve the extract twang as a lingering sourness. It is especially prevelant in old extract. Stronger hopped beers may disguise the flavour.

When I was brewing lots of kits, I never noticed it. After moving onto AG, I went back and tasted some bottles from a favourite award winning brew, and there was the twang standing out.

Some kit beers do not show this flavour. Many do.

So use fresh quality ingredients from a decent HBS and some specialty grain and hops to help your beer along.

 

[Kingy]

yea after adding hops my first bag of hops i havent looked back,
hops are the go in my brewing adventures from now on :beerbang:

 

[MHB]

This one is a bit of a poser, every mash brewer tells me they can taste it, until it comes down to demonstrating this ability when they are judging beer in a blind tasting (like a comp).

Extract beers still pick up around half the places in any comp.

Personally I think there is no such thing as a uniquely identifiable extract twang. I want to qualify that by saying that stale extract, stale (slack) malt and antique hops all give bad outcomes; this is exasperated by cheep yeast and bad brewing practice.

My observation is that as progresses toward all grain brewing, a lot of things change, we use better ingredients, we control the temperature of the ferment our technique improves, we become better brewers, and we make better beer.

We do and should also become more critical of the final product; we also get better at identifying faults. I am not saying that a lot of bad K&K doesnt get made, just that it doesnt have to be bad just because its based on extract.

A fresh quality kit, good hop and yeast choices combined with good practice will make great beer.

MHB

 

[sah]

Graham Sanders interviewed John Palmer about this topic recently. It was very interesting. I think it was this program http://radio.craftbrewer.org/shows/September2-06.mp3

regards
Scott

 

[fasted]

As described by Mr Palmer and Mr Sanders, it tastes inky. I agree that it's a good description.

Cheers, Ed