Bitter Taste, normal or possibly water?

[dirtyb15]

Hi all, i have done 2 extract batches, a pale ale, and an imperial pale ale. I also have done several all grain batches, (a sierra nevada clone, sweetwater 420 clone, and an american blonde). I have been drinking the sierra clone, the others are not ready yet. Anyway, all have turned out well and are very enjoyable, but i notice a bitter lingering aftertaste on the back sides of my toungue. Since then i have been paying more attention to other beers i have had from local breweries and commerical and none of them have the same bitterness on the back of the tongue. I have been careful to mash at the correct temperatures, and on the extract batches i made sure not to seep at too high of a temperature. I am wondering if maybe my water is the cause? I tried to get a water report but was unsucessful. I have been using camden tablets. Could the water i am using be causing this taste? I thought i might try my next batch with spring water to see if it was any different. Or would i be better off with distilled, or RO water? Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sky4meplease]

What is your water source? Well water or city water?
If it's city water you should be able to get the report from the water treatment facility.
If you have well water try a local business close by that uses the water for commercial use. They will be required to get a water report.
I didn't care for the unpredictability of local water sources so I started building up r/o water from scratch for the style I am brewing.
At a minimum get a ph meter so you have an idea what your starting with. Water with nothing in it will be neutral (ph 7) and anything above that is likely driven by dissolved solids. Without a water report you won't know what those solids are but at least you can try to get your ph in range and dial it in from there.
To answer your question though r/o water would be fine for light beers, spring water for medium and you would probably want to add salts to the water for dark beers.
Hope this helps.

 

[sputnam]

next brew day i plan on doing two identical pale ales except one will be using tap water and the other bottled. Fortunately, I'm in the opposite situation in that I feel my tap water is making my beer better.

 

[CastleHollow]

It may be your water, however if you encountered the same lingering bitterness in your extract batches, it may be other factors (since water chemistry plays a bigger role in the mash/sparge process.) You could be detecting astringency so tell us a bit about your yeast management/fermentation process, and your hop schedules.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

I had the sameproblem with my first batch and narrowed it down to chloramine. City i live in uses it to sanitize water. Now, i use campden tablets (1 for 20 gal of water to be treated) and never had that bitter, astringent taste again.

 

[dirtyb15]

It may be your water, however if you encountered the same lingering bitterness in your extract batches, it may be other factors (since water chemistry plays a bigger role in the mash/sparge process.) You could be detecting astringency so tell us a bit about your yeast management/fermentation process, and your hop schedules.

Well, i have used both dry and liquid yeast, but have not used a starter to date. Hit my FG on all batches so far at 3 weeks. Pitched all yeast at about 70 degrees. I keep fermenters in basement which holds a steady 68 degrees. Hop schedules vary depending on recipe...but followed recomended times carefully.

As far as water report, it is city water, and this is what they sent me

http://www.ci.springboro.oh.us/file...gboro Water 2013 for Print CCR 5 28 2014.pdf

But looks like it does not have most of the info i am looking for?

Thanks!

 

[flars]

Well, i have used both dry and liquid yeast, but have not used a starter to date. Hit my FG on all batches so far at 3 weeks. Pitched all yeast at about 70 degrees. I keep fermenters in basement which holds a steady 68 degrees. Hop schedules vary depending on recipe...but followed recomended times carefully.

As far as water report, it is city water, and this is what they sent me

http://www.ci.springboro.oh.us/file...gboro Water 2013 for Print CCR 5 28 2014.pdf

But looks like it does not have most of the info i am looking for?

Thanks!

First, don't use municipal water for brewing unless you treat it to remove chlorine and chloramines.

An ambient temperature of 68° may allow an active fermentation to warm the wort well over the optimum fermentation temperature for the yeast being used. This can cause off flavors.

70° pitching temperature is high for most yeasts. It is a better practice to pitch cooler than the fermentation temperature.

Astringency is usually associated with grains being raised over 170° with a liquor pH exceeding 5.8.

What details can you provide on your brewing procedure?

.

 

[dirtyb15]

Okay, procedure. (this would be for the AG sierra clone).


Using gravity tier setup, heat 3.5 gallons and half camden tablet to 173.5 degrees. Add to mash tun (round cooler, copper manifold), stir in grain and i got the desired 153 degree temp. Hold for 60min. Get clear runnings then add to boil kettle. Start heating wort in boil kettle. Then heat 4.7 gallons and other half camden tablet to 180 degree and add to mash tun, and restir. I got the desired 165 degree temp. Hold for 15, get clear runnings then add to boil kettle. Bring to full boil. Hop schedule is
0.333 oz Magnum into boil for 60.000 min.
0.500 oz Perle into boil for 30.000 min
1.000 oz Cascade into boil for 10.000 min
2.000 oz Cascade into boil for 0.000 s
Then i run wort through counterflow chiller, pitch yeast at 70deg, put it in the closet.

I guess next batch i will try some spring water and see if i notice any difference. (I also have two other AG batches that will be ready in about a week so I'll see if i have the same aftertastes on those. I should mention, my water tastes great, but it is pretty hard.

 

[flars]

You are probably correct in changing your water for the next brew. Hard water, the bicarbonates, can be elevating your mash pH.

Do you have the same problem with darker beer recipes with more acidic malts?

 

[sky4meplease]

Based on the information you have provided my gut tells me your water would be fine, not perfect but fine, for styles with SRM 11 and higher and you would want to boil the water first or dilute with R/O water for styles lighter than that. Without knowing specifically what is in your water you will get what you get for balance but at least your ph should be close.
Additionally, lower your fermentation temps.
JMHO

 

[bu_gee]

Shallow aquifer water likely means your water won't be that hard so you will have relatively low buffering power. It also looks like they're scared of contamination so they're probably chlorinating near the legal limit.

I'd start with a charcoal filter and see what happens. If the water is indeed soft, you may be looking at needing to add buffering to make darker beers.

Also, ask your water company if they have a water testing summary/analysis instead of an overall water quality report. Usually, the latter is formulated to not alarm a scientifically ignorant populace.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

Aquarium shops usually sell cholrine/chloramine test kits. Get one. They're cheap.

90% of the bitter/astringent taste problems are related to chlorinated water. During fermentation, yeast will process chlorine and produce chlorophenols which can be associated with bitterness/astringency/medicinal taste.

Chlorine can be boiled off, but chloramines are tougher and are used more often by water companies for exactly that reason. Chloramines (and chlorine) can be broken down with campden tablets (available at any LHBS). 1/2 a tablet will treat 10 gallons.

 

[dirtyb15]

Well.... having a blonde ale from my second AG batch right now and it is all good. I think i may have forgotten to add the campden tables on the first AG batch so maybe that was the cause....