Grainy Taste

[chris_reboot]

Can anyone explain why my AG brews seem to have a grainy taste to them?
This is most apparent when sampling the first week of maturation in the keg, then it seems to subside.
I know new beer will taste 'green' and the true flavour will come out 3/4 weeks+ onwards - which it does.

I would describe the taste as quite whisky like, and obviously there are similarities to whisky in the malt etc.

This is not a problem, more an observation, and want to know if this is normal really, or have I got acid levels in my mash wrong or something?
I have to date done 3 AG's, and am just getting into perfecting my water treatment, hence the question.

Thanks for reading.

[chris_reboot]

bumping this up as I couldn't cope with the swamp of replies

[Les_Howarth]

Can anyone explain why my AG brews seem to have a grainy taste to them?
This is most apparent when sampling the first week of maturation in the keg, then it seems to subside.
I know new beer will taste 'green' and the true flavour will come out 3/4 weeks+ onwards - which it does.

I would describe the taste as quite whisky like, and obviously there are similarities to whisky in the malt etc.

This is not a problem, more an observation, and want to know if this is normal really, or have I got acid levels in my mash wrong or something?
I have to date done 3 AG's, and am just getting into perfecting my water treatment, hence the question.

Chris,

For many years, a grainy taste was a feature of my beers too. However, I wouldn't describe it as whisky-like. If it is the same thing that you are experiencing then I think I've fixed it by adjusting my water treatment. I used to use the standard Dave Line/Graham Wheeler additions of 2 tsp gypsum, 1/2 tsp Epsom salt and 1/4 tsp table salt.

Now I routinely add sodium metabisulphite to my liquor to remove chlorine and chloramine. I don't think that this will affect the grainy flavour but it will increase the sodium concentration so I no longer add any table salt. I also add 1 tsp of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to my liquor. This will drop the pH of the liquor which should help to keep the mash and sparge in the right pH range to avoid extracting tannins from the grain husks. It is also an antioxidant to may help a bit with hot side oxidation. I have no idea if it helps in either respect but it certainly has had no bad effect so I still add it. I've also omitted the Epsom salt additions. It is possible that reducing the amount of magnesium in my liquor has been the main factor in reducing the grainy flavour.

When I lived in Scotland I found that I was able to brew a lovely soft 80/- style beer by making no salt additions to my very soft tap water. However, I definitely had to throw in some gypsum when brewing a pale ale.

My water here in Saffron Walden is a bit harder than it was in Scotland (it is actually similar to a Munich water profile) and I hope that the vitamin C is dealing with the bicarbonate. I still don't have that grainy taste though. I'd like to know what caused it because it wasn't unpleasant, but you wouldn't want it in all of your brews.

Cheers,

Les

[Northern Brewer]

Another possibility is that you're not vorlaufing properly, therefore allowing too much grain matter to leave the mash tun and get into the boil.

[chris_reboot]

Les: thanks for the comment. Trying to get my water treatment perfected, so that's one possible reason.

northern brewer: yes, it could be that too. I've not been that perfectionist about making sure the wort is that clear, there's always some bits coming through into the boiler, so I shall try vorlaufing (god I love that word!) more in future.

As I said, it's not really an issue, it seems to be week 1-2 in conditioning that its noticable, after that, gone. Beer is great after that.

[Zatoichi]

One possibility is that the fermentation temp was a little on the high side, especially if the whiskey taste has a spirit or solvent like bite to it due to the fusel alcohol produced. On the other hand if the grainy taste is more like a stewed tea like taste then it sounds like a lack of vorlaufing.

[booldawg]

I have to ask; what the hell is 'vorlaufing' ?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I have to ask; what the hell is 'vorlaufing' ?

I think it's pseudo-German (the German word would not end in 'ing') for recycling the wort.

[booldawg]

I have to ask; what the hell is 'vorlaufing' ?

I think it's pseudo-German (the German word would not end in 'ing') for recycling the wort.

Thanks 'for clearing that up' OSB

[delboy]

I sometimes get a grainy tastes in my beer, although experince has taught me that I can only really detect it in light coloured beers (ie no dark and v. little speciality malts) or in beers with reasonably low hopping/bitterness. Its presence is more noticable in lagers since there is nowhere for the flavour to hide but i imagine its in all my other beers but the subtleness of it gets swamped by the other flavours.

Even in lagers and light coloured beers though i find its only present in v. green beer and that its something that dissappears over time (certainly the time it takes for the beer to be ready for kegging/bottling).

[Northern Brewer]

I have to ask; what the hell is 'vorlaufing' ?

The German equivalent to the prefix 'pre' is 'vor' (which is also the word for 'before')

The German noun for 'run' is 'laufen' (the auf bit being pronounced as in auf wiedersehen).

To 'vorlauf' is therefore to 'pre-run'

I must admit to not getting too obsessed when vorlaufing personally, and usually settle for returning the first 1 - 1 1/2 (very cloudy) litres back to the mash tun.