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Bitter aftertaste

Math1119

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Hi,

I have been brewing all grain for the past year and every brew has had a bitter aftertaste to it.ive eliminated a couple of thinks but I'm running out of ideas.

It's not a hop issue.
I've had my water analysed. I've added DWB to the grains as advised.
My mash temperature is 65C
I've got a fermentation fridge to regulate the temperature of fermentation

Is there anything else it could be??






 
Sound to me like tannins.  Is it a dry, astringent type of bitterness? 

First thing to check is your mash pH.  Do you perform a mash-out rise in temperature?  If so and if your pH is reading higher than 5.8 or so, then try adding a bit of acid to your mash to bring the pH down to the 5.2 to 5.6 range.  Next, try skipping the mash out step. 

Tannins are extracted with high pH (over 6.0) AND high temperatures (over about 76 C).

 
Thanks for the response Oginme.

Yes I think it's tannins. It's not a very nice bitter taste.

Ye I sparge at the same temperature. Should i sparge at a lower temperature?

Thanks
 
First thing I would recommend is to get some method of measuring your mash pH.  Keeping your sparge temp below 75C or 76C will help, but if your pH is high, you are also getting poor conversion efficiency of the starches.
 
Do you use a hydrometer to measure the gravity of the runnings?
After you reach 1.010, tannins are extracted from the grainbed. Running too much water through the grainbed was an issue I had, resulting in bad flavours until I did this. You will need to cool your samples quickly with a icebath to get accurate measurement and the gravity drops quickly once down to that range, so it is a critical moment to stop the runnings on time. Top up boil kettle to compensate for any lost water to achieve your preboil volume. If you fly sparge you can simply put the hot sparge water not yet used into the boil kettle. If you batch sparge, don't add all your sparge water all at once to the mash, hold some back just for this purpose. I now check SG from the moment runnings start, and all through the sparge process tasting along the way. If you taste the  runnings you will pick up when the  sweetness stops and the tannins start. Sparge should be no higher than 75c. I like to mash at 66C for saccarification, do an iodine test to make sure no residual starches will affect your brew before sparging.  Many times it took another 15 minutes longer than beersmith or the recipe calls for. Ensure you vorlauf runnings until clear before collecting them.  Performing an acid rest at 40C for twenty minutes to start the mash ensures the proper ph  without any additions or testing. I do all step mashes now and have had always excellent results.
 
Had the same problem back in the day... Then some wise man on BeerSmith told me to reduce my mash temps to eliminate the high temp tannin pull. Worked perfectly. Haven't had the problem since.
I mash around 155 df for @ 1 hour and then rinse and pull of to boil. My ph is usually around 5.2, but that can vary. The big thing is not to get your grain temps too high in the mash. At least that is what did it for me.
 
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