Astringent oatmeal stout?

[Pelican521]

Hi all, I tried one of my chocolate oatmeal stouts last night after 2.5 weeks since bottled and it had an astringent taste to it.

I know, know, stouts can take months to mellow but is this normal and will it mellow with a few months.

It was a PM kit that I added 4oz cacao nibs to in the secondary for 2 weeks after 2 plus weeks in the primary. I also used bottled spring water.

It was actually carbed enough but not very tasty with the astringent flavor.

 

[twistr25]

What were your temperatures? How did you do the extract additions?

 

[Pelican521]

Looking back at my notes, everything went pretty smoothly (so I think). Kept a consistent temp of 152 for the hour of mashing, added all of my extracts at the last 15 mins of the 1 hour boil (1lb of DME and 4 lbs of LME).

Ambient fermenting temps were low to mid 60s. 2 or so weeks in the primary, 3 weeks in secondary (the last two weeks had the cacao nibs in).

2.5 weeks in 70 degrees after bottling...

I really thought it was going to be tasty but it wasn't so much. I could smell the chocolate but not taste it so much, and like I said, it had a sort of astringent taste.

I'm hoping this is a normal thing with stouts that have nibs added and will mellow out after a few months or so...Yes?

 

[twistr25]

Yeah, there's a pretty good chance it should mellow out from all of your notes. What temp did you pitch at? Possible you may have scorched some of the ME?

 

[mojotele]

Astringent tastes are usually process related. The most common reasons would be overheating or over-sparging the grains. Did you vorlauf? Could your sparge water have been too hot? Did you sparge more than usual?

Of course, what you're describing as astringent may not quite be what is commonly referred to as "astringency." It has a mouth-puckering flavor like tea or red wine?

 

[Pelican521]

I used 6 qts of sparge water at 170 and pitched when temps were below 70 degrees.

It's not like tanins you get from red wine or tea so maybe it's not astringent I'm tasting since it's not mouth puckering or anything.

I guess it's really hard to describe the off flavor except maybe a "bite" that seemed to be enhanced from the carbonation. It just doesn't have a smooth taste/mouth feel to it...

 

[JUST_BREW_IT]

I used 6 qts of sparge water at 170 and pitched when temps were below 70 degrees.

It's not like tanins you get from red wine or tea so maybe it's not astringent I'm tasting since it's not mouth puckering or anything.

I guess it's really hard to describe the off flavor except maybe a "bite" that seemed to be enhanced from the carbonation. It just doesn't have a smooth taste/mouth feel to it...

Is it a bitter after taste that would be comparable to placing an aspirin tablet on the back of your tongue?

 

[Pelican521]

Funny, thinking back, that could be the taste I get. It's definitely an after taste I get.

 

[Pelican521]

Another question to this, I've been bottle conditioning my beers for 3+ weeks and don't have any carbing issues but I read that having some yeast in suspension could cause some off flavors.

I've read to put your beers in the fridge for a week or so after they've carbed to help settle the yeast. Could this be my problem? Usually I'll put a few in the fridge and have them that night and I always seem to get some sediment to pour out. Would this contribute to any off flavors?

I know my orig post is about my newly bottled stout but I seem to get this similar off taste with the handful of my brews.

I've always used Poland springs bottled water so I'm thinking its not my water.

Any ideas?

 

[flars]

Hi all, I tried one of my chocolate oatmeal stouts last night after 2.5 weeks since bottled and it had an astringent taste to it.

I know, know, stouts can take months to mellow but is this normal and will it mellow with a few months.

It was a PM kit that I added 4oz cacao nibs to in the secondary for 2 weeks after 2 plus weeks in the primary. I also used bottled spring water.

It was actually carbed enough but not very tasty with the astringent flavor.

I brwed NBs Oatmeal Stout 1/21/2013 with 1945 Neo Britannia yeast. OG 1.050, FG 1.012. Bottled 2/7/2013. Two weeks ago the beer had a hoppy bite. Today had another that was refrigerated for three days. Very smooth and mellow. In a couple more weeks I'm going to cool a few and enjoy. I think with more time you will be okay also.

 

[Pelican521]

Hey flars, I got this PM oatmeal stout kit from northern brewer as well.

Being my first PM I made sure to follow the directions well, with the exception of adding the nibs in the secondary.

Good to hear this is normal, I'm hoping it will mellow with age.

 

[VladOfTrub]

You might want to check the mineral content of Poland Spring water. It is usually very soft water. It's difficult to make a Stout turn out with soft water.

 

[Pelican521]

Hmmm, for all of my 5 brews I've done, I've used Poland Spring. I thought that would be the best since it was bottled spring water?

I don't mind paying a bit for water and not using my tap water, what kind /brand of water should I be using instead?

 

[VladOfTrub]

The guy that said as long as your water tastes good, brew with it, is right. You can brew with it. But, it may not be good for brewing a certain style. Start with RO and look up the water profile for Stout. Then, add the needed minerals. Make Munich style beer with Poland Spring. Match the beer style to the water being used. You need to understand how black malt, for that matter, how any malt works and what it does. Then go from there. Stout is brewed with very hard water. Poland Spring is too soft to make a good Stout, unless you add chemicals.