That Homebrew taste..

[Goose]

had this old off flavour taste experience rear its head in my most recent brew and I am trying to pinpoint the cause though my no 1 candidate is that I am using old grain... more than one year stored in the tropics.

I'd not brewed for a year while shifting and building a new house and was not keen to dump all my ingredients so gave my first brew a shot with old ingredients. the result was for the most a decent beer in terms of most characteristics except for a mild but dank , treacle, golden syrup type taste at the end... it straight away reminded me of the kit twang I used to experience before AG days.

Going to try and lager it out but my experience tells me I am wasting my time bin it and start afresh.

malt was a bout a year + old but seemed ok. yeast was s-189 also around 18 mths on a repack by Craftbrewer.

So if the theory on kit twang ie older they are the more pronounced the twang, does anyone have the same experience with grain.. ?

 

[Weizguy]

I have used grain that was old and milled 12 months before, and although it smelled a little funky, it made a great extract.
Perhaps because it was stored in a barrier bag.

Sounds like oxidation for you, rather than just age.

I have a kit beer at the moment that is suffering from age (ha, fromage... cheesiness). A dullness and faded malt with darker malt character.

It's always hard to dump a beer that you put a lot of work into, and I feel your pain.

 

[fraser_john]

I have used grain that was old and milled 12 months before, and although it smelled a little funky, it made a great extract.
Perhaps because it was stored in a barrier bag.

Sounds like oxidation for you, rather than just age.

I have a kit beer at the moment that is suffering from age (ha, fromage... cheesiness). A dullness and faded malt with darker malt character.

It's always hard to dump a beer that you put a lot of work into, and I feel your pain.

Very similar experience, I have munich & wheat malt that is now 5+ years old and still makes good beer, whole grains though not crushed and just stored in plastic tubs, not air tight. But....not in tropics too! None of the grains had any mouldy stuff growing on it?

 

[Goose]

Sounds like oxidation for you, rather than just age.

possible.... just left in its original sack ... anyway, proof will be in brews with fresh malt... tks