[ynotbrusum]

I just tapped a lager that turned out a bit dry. I take that to mean astringency and that I will need to get a Ph meter and use it going forward (I have resisted water chemistry issues in the past by simply using a home delivered spring water that had great numbers per a long ago prior post confirmed by those in the know -- I still use the same bottled water, but I have long since lost the water analysis data from the company). What is the preferred method of raising acidity to counter the astringency?

The lager isn't so dry as to be undrinkable, but it isn't where it needs to be, either.

[denny]

I just tapped a lager that turned out a bit dry. I take that to mean astringency and that I will need to get a Ph meter and use it going forward (I have resisted water chemistry issues in the past by simply using a home delivered spring water that had great numbers per a long ago prior post confirmed by those in the know -- I still use the same bottled water, but I have long since lost the water analysis data from the company). What is the preferred method of raising acidity to counter the astringency?

The lager isn't so dry as to be undrinkable, but it isn't where it needs to be, either.

I use lactic acid to lower the pH when I'm doing very light beers.  I assume you weren't talking about increasing acidity at this point.

[mabrungard]

There are several ways to create the perception of dryness.  Creating a highly attenuable wort is one way.  Another is to have elevated sulfate content that creates a perception of dryness.  Another is to oversparge or improperly sparge and infuse a slight amount of tannin in the wort. 

All of these causes can can be created by the water used for brewing.  Of course, you should also recognize that water may also not be the cause.  It is wise to know what your water is and understand if there are things that can be done with the water to avoid creating this result again.

[weithman5]

i guess my question also is that the beer actually dry?  final gravity?

[ynotbrusum]

i guess my question also is that the beer actually dry?  final gravity?

OG 1.042; FG 1.012

[ynotbrusum]

I use lactic acid to lower the pH when I'm doing very light beers.  I assume you weren't talking about increasing acidity at this point.

I mean to lower the Ph, which I equated with adding acidity through some means.  I was also just reading another thread on batch sparging, which may have impacted this beer, as well.  I use about a 1.25 quarts of water per pound mash ratio, then after mashing (90 minutes), I add sparge water at 170 or so to get it to one-half of the total water, then drain, then add the other half of the total water at 170 or so and drain.  I was under the impression that getting the water total to roughly half before the first draining was important when batch sparging.  Could that be part of the problem?

[weithman5]

doesn't sound like you were over attenuated.  i don't think the way you sparged by itself was a problem because by the amount of time the sparge water was there is small compared to the rest of the time.  your mash thickness seems okay.  so ph may have been a problem but i usually don't get too hung up on this in terms of astringency. maybe more for efficiency. 

[nateo]

I had a run of astringent beers I traced back to a couple things. When crushing my malt, I was getting a lot of shredded husk bits, then when lautering I was getting a lot of those husk in the boil. A longer vorlauf and more careful malt conditioning took care of it.

[ynotbrusum]

I had a run of astringent beers I traced back to a couple things. When crushing my malt, I was getting a lot of shredded husk bits, then when lautering I was getting a lot of those husk in the boil. A longer vorlauf and more careful malt conditioning took care of it.

I like this idea.  Plus it is the first and easiest thing to do in terms of changing my routine.  I had been skipping vorlauf and just straining the wort through a double strainer (which caught the few husks that got through the false bottom and it seemed like the wort was running very clear, but now you have given me a reason to go back to vorlauf for the first quart or so.)  Thanks for the input!

Cheers

[veldy]

I am going with the likelihood that the sparge water was too hot.

Veldy

[ajk]

Where on your palate are you perceiving the dryness?  I perceive astringency forward of my front teeth, just inside the lips.  Feels like my teeth have been sucked dry.

Dryness contributors I didn't see mentioned here are roast level and hop bitterness, which I perceive mid-palate and at the back of the mouth, respectively. You might need to back off on one of these.

I don't think 170°F is too hot for batch sparging.  The thermal mass of the grain and mash tun are going to reduce the water temperature considerably.

Btw, I've never heard of sparging twice like that.  I think what is meant by "roughly half" is that the runoff from the *mash* should be roughly equivalent to the runoff from (only one) sparge.

[denny]

170 is definitely not too hot for sparging.  I usually use 190ish water for sparging.


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