Homebrew Twang??

[Drunkula]

DME is reputed to not be prone to twang.

Only a sample size of me but I haven't had it in my dry malt extract beers. And I don't think the boil would be the issue because not many kits get boiled and I did a comparison of making a beer kit (can) completely without hot water and that still had twang.

Was just listening to a Brulosophy podcast and they were talking about oxidation changing tastes and said oxygen can transform some flavours in the bottle so that a nice crispness might get rolled back to an unpleasant sweetness which a lot of us might recognise as a certain type of twang. I'm bottling my priming sugar/oxidation/sulphite split batch tomorrow and I'll make sure I'm really bad with splishy splash and filling from a height.

Brulosophy said you can take the cap off a beer, blow over the top to get some oxygen in there and in two weeks check it against a bottle you didn't do it with and also check for colour changes. I'm up for that.

 

[terrym]

1 x 650g jar of Potters Liquid Malt Extract - (I assume this equals to 1kg of Crushed malt.)

I used to use the Graham Wheeler equivalents of 750g LME =1000g Pale Malt if it makes any difference to you.
Best of luck with it.
At the volume you have brewed it should all be gone in a couple of days at the most

 

[Drunkula]

I am now to make a simple Liquid Malt Extract Brew to see if, for once and for all, LME is responsible for the Home Brew Twang.

Buy two extra jars, age them for two years, do triangle tests with the one you brew today! Then the stale LME hypothesis can get busted up, too.

Somebody else on here was doing a funbonkers experiment like this but I don't think they ever posted the results.... they never post the results..... sigh.

 

[ExpatBrewer]

Have you considered a switch from LME to DME? DME is reputed to not be prone to twang.

Here in NZ DME is almost twice the price so for that reason alone I've avoided it. But really, all I need do is what I usually do and simply NOT boil the LME. Boiling also darkened the beer significantly.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

This is really interesting. I’ve made a few brews from kits now and every one has had this twang. Some more than others, but it’s always there. It only come to light to me yesterday whilst reading another thread that it isn’t necessary to shake the bottle to dissolve the priming sugar which is something I’ve done with all mine, potentially oxidising them all to some degree. Doh. I can’t wait to get the next lot bottled with my new found knowledge!

 

[GhostShip]

I think it was @terrym who mentioned in another thread that when he siphons into PET bottles, he squeezes some of the air out of the bottle and then caps to remove most of the oxygen. I'm going to try this with my next brew - hopefully there's enough 'give' in the PET bottles for the build-up in pressure to not then become a problem.

I should also say that when I first mentioned the 'twang' to the (very knowledgeable) guy in my LHBS a couple of years ago, he immediately said "That's oxidation".

 

[Pete21]

This is really interesting. I’ve made a few brews from kits now and every one has had this twang. Some more than others, but it’s always there. It only come to light to me yesterday whilst reading another thread that it isn’t necessary to shake the bottle to dissolve the priming sugar which is something I’ve done with all mine, potentially oxidising them all to some degree. Doh. I can’t wait to get the next lot bottled with my new found knowledge!

could it be due the the carbonation? as that can make your tongue fiz a bit at first another reason that beer can have a twang is if it's still a bit green, some years ago I read that it was a good thing too skim the dead yeast off the top of the fermenting liquor and rouse the liquid to help prevent yeast bite caused by the dead yeast, any thoughts on that?

 

[pms67]

It'll be at least a week until I get the brew on. I'll brew at 19c. I was going to do a partial mash to make up the kit but remembered that when I did the 10 litre B&M IPA kit a while back it was a lot more like an IPA with the dextrose that came with it than the split I did with spraymalt. Even though I've eliminated sucrose as the twangster when used with all grain but I'll just stick with dextrose to make for less variables.

I'll then update week by week as they age to see not just the sugar effects but if the sulphite does change how the hops taste over time. Some of you might already be thinking for the ones bottled conditioned then that yeast will scrub oxygen anyway but it's always good to have a fanny about in the name of science (cough).

I can see there being no twang in any of them just to annoy me.

EDIT: I might overly aerate a few bottles, too.

Did this happen?

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi all don't know if this will help, when I started brewing I did 6 kits mostly from wilko 1.5k and 1k of tinned malt, the first five all had in them 500g dme and various amounts of gran sugar white and brown all were dry hopped with exqiunox at various stages in the fv and fermented with the yeast that came with them one with 2 pks one was brewed with gervin hence the one with 2pks, all had twang to some degree, the 6th one was wilko larger 1kg tin and added 500g of dme and the yeast that came with it, I tasted this last night out of the pb after 6 days crystal clear and no twang at all it's lovley and no dought get better or develop twang, one I did do with this one it was in the fv for nearly 3 weeks

 

[GotOneBrewin]

Hi, when I started using kits I always got the twang. Currently I brew with Meriden Malt Extract, no more than 500g of brewers sugar and CML yeast; English Ale or US Pale in summer, Kolsch or Cal Com in winter due to my cellar temperature. Two weeks in primary, two weeks in secondary, two weeks in bottle before sampling. I only get an occasional slight hint of a twang. The only thing I do that I realised from reading this thread is stupid is tipping up my bottles after capping to mix the sugar.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I don't think anything is stupid with this brewing malarkey after the **** up I made with my first all grain, but I finished up with 24 bottles of very strong ale 6.7% had a taste earlier its good but will be better in another 3 weeks

 

[GotOneBrewin]

I once 'invested' in 25kg of Muntons Dark LME. I then proceeded to make a series of 'stouts' which all looked and tasted like cheap whisky and coke. I ended up making one last massive RIS and tipping the rest away. Said brew has been banished to the shed for over a year now, I tried one the other day and it looked amazing, as was the mouth feel, but it tasted like cough mixture. Now I'm not sure if my whiskey and cokes just needed a few months more to condition.

 

[bobukbrewer]

I found by accident (I forgot to prime the bottles with a level teaspoon of sugar) that they conditioned completely as normal - but - I do bottle in 3 to 6 days depending on OG...............

 

[GotOneBrewin]

Do you mean after 3 to 6 days in Secondary?

 

[bobukbrewer]

no 3 to 6 days from yeast pitch bottles are my secondary.............

 

[GotOneBrewin]

Wow, do you do that for all your beers? Do you get it down to predicted OG or just above? Do you transfer into bottling bucket? What are your final results like compared to conventional?

 

[bobukbrewer]

ok, last comment from me, I bottle with a jug and funnel and have done for 45 years....over and out

 

[bez]

In my limited opinion. Ferment as low and slow as possible. Also longer than stated. Leave in secondary for a combined three weeks. Make sure all malted sugars have gone. Leave for long enough in bottles and don’t overdo the priming sugars.

 

[Bigcityjps]

This proves your point Bez,
I started a Wilko Wheat beer I've had till best before date has run out and thought get it used up before it way long out of date,
I started it on the 8th of July and due to brewing it before and it blowing the lid off the fermenting bucket twice I set up a blow off vessel,
when it calmed down after a week I then swapped it for the airlock, its now the 1st of August and its still bubbling every 30 seconds,
24 days so far and looking like a few more to go,
it says on box instructions wait 4-6 days in fermenter then bottle and ready in 16 days, lol,
never had it take this long might be the hot weather not sure just hope its as nice as the last time i brewed it.

 

[terrym]

This proves your point Bez,
I started a Wilko Wheat beer I've had till best before date has run out and thought get it used up before it way long out of date,
I started it on the 8th of July and due to brewing it before and it blowing the lid off the fermenting bucket twice I set up a blow off vessel,
when it calmed down after a week I then swapped it for the airlock, its now the 1st of August and its still bubbling every 30 seconds,
24 days so far and looking like a few more to go,
it says on box instructions wait 4-6 days in fermenter then bottle and ready in 16 days, lol,
never had it take this long might be the hot weather not sure just hope its as nice as the last time i brewed it.

I suggest you take an SG reading. Whilst its not uncommon for some beers to take a long time, 24 days for a fairly standard brew is pushing it. The fact that you blew the lid off etc could have got your beer infected and what you are experiencing now is the infection fermentation. A really low SG (say < 1.004) might confirm that. On the other hand it might be fine. But an SG check is still a good idea