A few questions to improve my beer hopefully

[OHIOSTEVE]

As I posted in another thread, I had someone critique couple of my beers. One that I thought was great he said had a bit of astringency in it.. another he said had DMS. I cannot determine the cause of the DMS as I boil hard, cool quick and generally pitch a big starter. So any ideas with that would be appreciated.............. The asringent beer MIGHT be the recipe as it has 1/2 pound black patent in it and the bitterness could be from that.....However I have been thinking about my sparge method and am wondering if I am getting the grains too hot on the second sparge. I mash at the appropriate temperature and then double batch sparge with 185 degree water( give or take a degree or two) The first sparge is being poured into 150 or so degree grains, but the second would into higher temps. Could that be an issue? Could or should the second sparge be with cooler water? I mean the conversion is done and basically the sparge is a simple rinsing process. is getting the water that hot even necessary?
Also, my water is EXTREMELY hard. I can run water into a white bucket and it will have little black specks all over the bottom of the bucket ( iron) it is so hard I do not use it for priming the beer because of the sediment in it. I use bottled water. Could THAT be causeing the bitter astringent after taste this guy tasted? I taste it but am not bothered by it 99% of the time.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Ok after reading another thread on sparging, when I sparge I simply dump the water in, stir the crap out of it again, let it set 10 minutes or so, vorlauf and drain into the kettle. The vorlauf wort I slowly pour back in as the grains are draining. I THINK my wort is clean but maybe I am getting some astringency from not having the wort as clean going into the kettle as possible?
I am using a rectangle cooler with a copper manifold.

 

[BendBrewer]

I do my first batch sparge at 180 and the second at 170. Do you take a temp reading of your grain bed while sparging?

Some grains release more DMS than others and require a 90 minute boil.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I do my first batch sparge at 180 and the second at 170. Do you take a temp reading of your grain bed while sparging?

Some grains release more DMS than others and require a 90 minute boil.

No I do not take a temp reading of the grain bed.. I make sure my mash temp is right, then cover and let it set.. I stir it about 2-3 times during the mash. But no temp readings after the initial one..... I have contemplated going to all 90 minute boils

 

[Homebrewtastic]

What is the percentage of the black patent in your recipe? I find that if I use more than 5% I get astringency.

If you're using a large amount of pilsner malt you almost HAVE to have a 90 minute boil to blow off the DMS.

 

[Hopheader]

Astringency can easily come from sparging with water that is TOO hot (keep your grain bed below 170F)---- pH is also important. And, yes, DMS needs a good vigourous un-covered boil (standard 90 min) to blow off.

What's your grain:water ratio in your mash? Are you oversparging?

J

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

What is the percentage of the black patent in your recipe? I find that if I use more than 5% I get astringency.

If you're using a large amount of pilsner malt you almost HAVE to have a 90 minute boil to blow off the DMS.

of 12 pounds total it is half a pound

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Astringency can easily come from sparging with water that is TOO hot (keep your grain bed below 170F)---- pH is also important. And, yes, DMS needs a good vigourous un-covered boil (standard 90 min) to blow off.

What's your grain:water ratio in your mash? Are you oversparging?

J

1.25 qts per pound of grain.. sparge from there to my preboil volume. On my stove it is 1 gallon over post boil volume...outside 1.5 gallons over. I think I am sparging too hot however. Is there ANY reason that sparge water has to be over say 160 or so degrees?

 

[slomo]

I brewed a sierra Nevada clone, and accidently sparged with 180 degree water. The batch had the same off flavor. So I made another batch and made sure that i was around 165-170, and the off flavor was not present in the second batch.