The Homebrew Twang experiment.

[HSD]

Water treatment made biggest difference to mine with kits, even just letting water sit overnight with a campden tablet in to dispel chlorine, don’t use table sugar if possible, also temperature control keeping even as possible and tweaking with mini mash and hop additions all. Doing mini mash and small batch all grains now and no “twang” in the brews I leave bottled long enough!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

There is a huge thread about home brew twang here -

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/the-homebrew-twang-experiment.82710/

 

[Darren Jeory]

How are you brewing, kit, extract or all grain?
There are many reasons for off flavours in beer, but the usual 'homebrew twang' is usually put down to the use of liquid malt extract, as used in kit beers.
Are you doing any water treatment?
What are you cleaning and sanitising with, as some can cause issues?

No I'm doing all grain...no water treatment (I live in the lake district and our water is excellent) and sanitise with VWP

 

[Darren Jeory]

My next brew I will use bottled water.

My all grain brews have less than my kits. It's a shame because my pilsner is really quite good...then the slight after twang ruins it

 

[Covrich]

With a pilsner there is really no place to hide

I have made a pilsner a few times and it turned out amazing, but then I have repeated it and a minor thing here and there just didnt make it quite as good such as mashing a fraction too high or not fermenting quite as cool..

But I think letting the water rest with a campden tablet could also make a huge difference too..

 

[MmmBeer]

VWP is a chlorine based cleaner / sanitiser. As it contains chlorine, it must be rinsed off after use, however rinsing with tap water could reintroduce microbial infections.

Failure to rinse off sufficiently could lead to high chlorine levels in the wort, which can lead to a TCP or 'sticking plaster' like aroma in the beer. If you recognise this aroma then that is probably your problem, or try searching for beer off flavours, you may fine on that matches your own experience. Treating your water with half a Campden tablet, split between the mash and sparge water as Covrich suggested should reduce this, but I believe prevention is beter than cure.

It might also be worth visiting your water suppliers website and search for 'my water quality', you should be asked to enter your postcode and it will return the test results for your supply.

A further step that many homebrewers follow is a dedicated sanitiser after the wash and rinse, chemsan and starsan are the most common, they are quite esxpensive, but a little goes a long way.

 

[Darren Jeory]

Right...ill change that too then

 

[Darren Jeory]

OK I'm gonna brew a belgian ale this week and have ordered Campden tablets to treat water...I read different treatments where ever I look but trust this forum...how many tablets should I use for 5 gallons of water?

Thanks

Darren

 

[StJayJay]

OK I'm gonna brew a belgian ale this week and have ordered Campden tablets to treat water...I read different treatments where ever I look but trust this forum...how many tablets should I use for 5 gallons of water?

Thanks

Darren

I use 1/2 a tab in 5 gallons, sometimes a whole one of I can’t be bothered cutting them before I crush them.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Bump.