Home brew twang

Ale · May 15, 2017

Anyone tracked down exactly what causes it yet?

Usual suspects seem to be cleaner, water (chlorine in particular), sugar, etc but I'm wondering if anyone has got to the point where they think they have cracked it and can make beer with no twang. Im thinking could it be a plastic taste from fermenting in a plastic bucket or something like that which would be simple (but expensive) to rectify?

henteaser · May 15, 2017

IMO it's usually down to process rather than ingredients.

Chlorine is an easy fix. Quality malt is easily sourced. Stale hops are readily smelled! So my focus for eliminating "the twang" is;

- sanitisation
- preventing oxidation
- ensuring yeast health/quantity
- proper conditioning

If you get one of these wrong or impatiently taste your beer when it's green and still a wonderful muddle of weird flavours, it's very easy to get paranoid about ingredients. When in reality, short of something disastrous (like mouldy malt or cheesy hops) you can pretty much guarantee your off-flavour is down to one of the above.

simon12 · May 15, 2017

I thought is was from the metal tins LME & kits come in but not sure if you are talking about the same thing

Godsdog · May 15, 2017

Too much table sugar has been and is IMO the guilty party and is an ever presence in the old kit & kilo way

dad_of_jon · May 15, 2017

Ale said:
Anyone tracked down exactly what causes it yet?

Usual suspects seem to be cleaner, water (chlorine in particular), sugar, etc but I'm wondering if anyone has got to the point where they think they have cracked it and can make beer with no twang. Im thinking could it be a plastic taste from fermenting in a plastic bucket or something like that which would be simple (but expensive) to rectify?

i've never had it but have used 3 different plastic fermetors I have used one can kits, I dont use tap water and I never add a 1kg of ordinary sugar to a brew.

I did have a nasty plastic twang from a tower glass kettle (with a plastic filter mesh), which broke under its 3 year guarantee and the replacement had the same twang, so it was replaced with a stainless steel kettle. Fortunately for my bank balance i haven't needed to replace my plastic fv's with ss ones

johnnyboy1965 · May 15, 2017

Godsdog said:
Too much table sugar has been and is IMO the guilty party and is an ever presence in the old kit & kilo way

I agree, though I dont do kits...but years ago my next door neighbour gave me a taste of his kit, and it did have the HB twang. I can only put this down to table sugar.

johnnyboy1965 · May 15, 2017

I dont think its got anything to do with the plastic FV. Its all "Food Safe" which means it wont "leach" any flavours.

mishking · May 15, 2017

I wouldn't say its the plastic fermenters either as i was a kit brewer for many years and i always had the twang to some degree.

When i went over to all grain using the same basic kit the twang went all together.

BeerCat · May 15, 2017

Or the water. Pretty sure I had some twangs when I did kits and only use RO water.

Ale · May 15, 2017

we all assume some things which was why I posted this. Like being food safe, could the activity of the yeast cause it to leach flavours?

And do we all mean the same thing when we say home brew twang? Could it be different flavours that when described sound similar but are in fact something else?

Sugar will cause a twang, but is it the only one? So why do people use table sugar to prime, could that be the cause? I dont think so as using different sugar doesnt seem to affect it for me, its not "the" home brew twang.

terrym · May 15, 2017

This gets recycled regularly.
Last big thread here.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=68929
All the usual theories come out to play when its discussed including
- using table sugar
- using liquid malt extract rather than grain
- cheap kits
- not enough conditioning
- use of tap water
- yeast used
- cleaner/sanitiser
Everyone has their favourite, mine is cheap liquid malt extract.
However as far as I'm concerned, no-one really knows, as it would have been sorted out long ago.

johnnyboy1965 · May 15, 2017

Ale said:
we all assume some things which was why I posted this. Like being food safe, could the activity of the yeast cause it to leach flavours?

And do we all mean the same thing when we say home brew twang? Could it be different flavours that when described sound similar but are in fact something else?

Sugar will cause a twang, but is it the only one? So why do people use table sugar to prime, could that be the cause? I dont think so as using different sugar doesnt seem to affect it for me, its not "the" home brew twang.

A very good post

johnnyboy1965 · May 15, 2017

terrym said:
This gets recycled regularly.
Last big thread here.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=68929
All the usual theories come out to play when its discussed including
- using table sugar
- using liquid malt extract rather than grain
- cheap kits
- not enough conditioning
- use of tap water
- yeast used
- cleaner/sanitiser
Everyone has their favourite, mine is cheap liquid malt extract.
However as far as I'm concerned, no-one really knows, as it would have been sorted out long ago.

All valid points
point 1...this gets my vote
We dont know what they put in LME
Less barley, more sugar
If the twang is there more conditioning wont help
Many kits sold all over the world
yeast....debatable.
rinse properly

mishking · May 15, 2017

Going back to when i did kits i would say i noticed less of a "twang" when i did all malt kits, taste is hard to describe but was always there and much more profound when using table/brewing sugar.

chub1 · May 15, 2017

No longer do kits and only did single can ones BUT all had a 'taste' to them,some more than others ,nonetheless a certain taste,no matter if using sugar or malt additions.
Have done many extract brews and partial mashes since,using both spray and liquid malts and mixes of both and never had that 'taste/twang again.:thumb:

GhostShip · May 15, 2017

Been discussing this in the 'St Peter's Ruby Red' thread today.

It's not the water. I've made two kits, one using tap water and one using spring water - both had the twang.

It's not table sugar - I didn't use table sugar in either brew.

IMO it's either old extract that's been in the can too long (though plenty of people seem to get great results with kits) or, and this is my best guess at the moment, it's a lack of temperature control.

With both kits, I pitched at the right temperature but temperatures will undoubtedly have fluctuated between day and night. I aim to try a brew fridge. If the twang disappears, then that has to be the answer, if it doesn't, then I'm done with kits.

MyQul · May 15, 2017

I definatley think old extract might have something to do with it. I once made an AG brew with stale malt and that had a HB twang

Ale · May 15, 2017

GhostShip said:
Been discussing this in the 'St Peter's Ruby Red' thread today.

It's not the water. I've made two kits, one using tap water and one using spring water - both had the twang.

It's not table sugar - I didn't use table sugar in either brew.

IMO it's either old extract that's been in the can too long (though plenty of people seem to get great results with kits) or, and this is my best guess at the moment, it's a lack of temperature control.

With both kits, I pitched at the right temperature but temperatures will undoubtedly have fluctuated between day and night. I aim to try a brew fridge. If the twang disappears, then that has to be the answer, if it doesn't, then I'm done with kits.

I've had good temperature control with my brew fridge for my last few brews. Its not that.

My last one when first drinking it was ok but as it conditioned the twang got really strong. i threw some away but kept the last few bottles and will try them again in a few months to see if its dissipated again.

Another possible cause is washing and rinsing. i now use water treated with a campden tablet and rinse everything thoroughly to reduce chlorine in the water. Using bottled water made no difference.

GhostShip · May 15, 2017

Ale said:
I've had good temperature control with my brew fridge for my last few brews. Its not that.

My last one when first drinking it was ok but as it conditioned the twang got really strong. i threw some away but kept the last few bottles and will try them again in a few months to see if its dissipated again.

Another possible cause is washing and rinsing. i now use water treated with a campden tablet and rinse everything thoroughly to reduce chlorine in the water. Using bottled water made no difference.

That would leave me thinking it's the extract. All of the kits have 'best by' dates on them, but I guess some have been in the can longer than others.

I have a Festival Golden Stag currently conditioning which will be ready to try in a couple of weeks. If that has the dreaded twang then I think I'm finished with kits. The only difference between this one and the previous two kits I've done (which both had the twang) is that I've used Starsan for the first time.

What gets me is that some people are clearly getting great results from kits, so either I've just been unlucky or I'm doing something wrong. Pointless me putting time and money into something if I'm constantly unhappy with the results.

shepp · May 15, 2017

If we have any song writers on here, can you compose a song titled 'That Home Brew Twang'
I think country and western style would work well.

Home brew twang

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