I was going to post this as a reply in the "how important is water" thread but since that is 4 pages long and falling down the list I decided to post it in it's own thread to get folks ideas. I'm not really so much a beginner but find this is a good place to get lots of sound advice.
I've found that although I still definitely like my beer I cant help but feel it isn't as good as it used to be. I used to use store bought water mixed with water filtered with my britta filter at home, but after a couple of batches going full boil all grain or partial mash I got tired of buying, carrying, filtering in a pitcher, etc and have exclusively been using tap water treated with metabisulfite. Most of my beers recently have been more bitter and mildly astringent, especially the first few sips. I keg and wonder if it is possibly over-carbed which could be adding to the tongue burning sensation I get but really dont think so since I don't have a foam issue at all.
But like I'm sure some others can relate, there are so many variables it is hard to pin down what you think might be the next step to take to try to continually improve (and especially prevent taking steps back in quality) as you step forward in technique. I have been thinking possible culprits of the increased bitterness/burned tongue feel could be:
-My water. It's LA area city water and the report actually suggests it should make good ales but to me it tastes bad. In fact I never drink it unfiltered from the tap and even filtered it tastes much worse than average bottled "purified drinking water"
-Water pH, but since all of my stuff I make is partial mashes BIAB and or all grain no-sparge, that seems less likely.
-The age of my Hops. Damn things last forever when you buy in bulk and many of them are 2 years old. I don't use too much per batch and still have at least a Lb left. I also have always stored them in the fridge rather than the freezer which is probably a mistake. They still smell good but maybe are oxidized imparting some "hop astingency"
-My fine grind on my grain. Since I have been doing BIAB I have followed the recommendation of a fine grind and I also have been squeezing the bajebus out of the grain at the end of the mash. I can't help worry that this could be adding more bitter compounds even though I know most BIAB'ers grind fine and squeeze with no apparent ill effects.
So what do you think? I thought I would start by simply adding one of the RV filters and using that still with a small amount of sodium metabisulfite to see if that makes a difference. It does seem like I had less of thos effect when I used store bought water so seems like a reasonable place to start.
Thanks for any replies.
I've found that although I still definitely like my beer I cant help but feel it isn't as good as it used to be. I used to use store bought water mixed with water filtered with my britta filter at home, but after a couple of batches going full boil all grain or partial mash I got tired of buying, carrying, filtering in a pitcher, etc and have exclusively been using tap water treated with metabisulfite. Most of my beers recently have been more bitter and mildly astringent, especially the first few sips. I keg and wonder if it is possibly over-carbed which could be adding to the tongue burning sensation I get but really dont think so since I don't have a foam issue at all.
But like I'm sure some others can relate, there are so many variables it is hard to pin down what you think might be the next step to take to try to continually improve (and especially prevent taking steps back in quality) as you step forward in technique. I have been thinking possible culprits of the increased bitterness/burned tongue feel could be:
-My water. It's LA area city water and the report actually suggests it should make good ales but to me it tastes bad. In fact I never drink it unfiltered from the tap and even filtered it tastes much worse than average bottled "purified drinking water"
-Water pH, but since all of my stuff I make is partial mashes BIAB and or all grain no-sparge, that seems less likely.
-The age of my Hops. Damn things last forever when you buy in bulk and many of them are 2 years old. I don't use too much per batch and still have at least a Lb left. I also have always stored them in the fridge rather than the freezer which is probably a mistake. They still smell good but maybe are oxidized imparting some "hop astingency"
-My fine grind on my grain. Since I have been doing BIAB I have followed the recommendation of a fine grind and I also have been squeezing the bajebus out of the grain at the end of the mash. I can't help worry that this could be adding more bitter compounds even though I know most BIAB'ers grind fine and squeeze with no apparent ill effects.
So what do you think? I thought I would start by simply adding one of the RV filters and using that still with a small amount of sodium metabisulfite to see if that makes a difference. It does seem like I had less of thos effect when I used store bought water so seems like a reasonable place to start.
Thanks for any replies.