Astringent IPA

[Darkhorse01]

Hey everyone.

Hope this is the right place to post this and such. I just finished brewing an IPA using a recipe that I brewed months ago. To my horror when tasting the beer (my siphon skills were not perfect and ended up drinking some, also the grav reading test I tasted, same thing) there was an incredibly astringent taste to it, like how the very bottom of the boil kettle tastes. It has been over a year since I have brewed and I am pretty gutted I hope the whole thing isn't wrecked but I am not sure guess I will have to taste it when the yeast has done its job.

I have some theories on why I got the astringency.

1 I accidentally scooped a lot of the side bits in the boil kettle back into the wort
2 I used too many hops (see hop schedule below, I am really bad with deciding on hops, I need to read more on it I think. Last time I made this it tasted okay but I didnt really have much of a hop aroma or taste so wanted to add more this time. Maybe I added too many though :/
3 My mash was incorrect. Now while I don't have a ice cooler mash tun anymore (new place to brew at) I think the temperature stayed consistent and was okay(Iodine test was good).

Hop schedule
60min
5g Cascade

30 min
2.5g Cascade

10 min
6g Citra

5 min
10g cascade
5g mouteka

1 min
5g mouteka
7.5 g cascade
7.5g citra

Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. I certainly don't want to brew again next time and the same happen.

 

[Darkhorse01]

Also just to say, I have never posted on here before. So if this isn't in the right place or doesn't fit the rules somewhere or anything please let me know and how to change it.

Thanks :)

 

[The Baron]

I am guessing its for a 1 gallon batch also have you put the figures into a recipe builder to see the IBU' s as it looks quite high on IBU's for a 1 gallon batch as a guess and if so you could be confusing a harsh fresh IBU taste. If it is definitely astringency ( which can be confused for bittering) we will have to look at other possibilities

 

[Darkhorse01]

You are right yes this was for a 1 gallon batch. The total IBUs were calculated to be around 60-65. I am not quite sure if it is astringency or bittering. I think the problem I have here is that I have never had it taste like this before at this stage of the brewing process.

 

[The Baron]

You have a reasonably high IBU there as most average bitters range between 25 and 40 IBU's so it is possibly high bittering you are tasting also this very raw and rough as it has just been done. Usually it mellows a little with time but it is still a high IBU for most people. Astringency is usually described as a puckering that draws in the sides of the mouth or like sucking on s teabag is another description which can also be confused with high bittering. Just go with it and see if it mellows/subsides once bottled ans conditioned

 

[An Ankoù]

I agree with the baron. Let it ferment out, bottle it, and see what it's like when it's drinkable. I've found that the suspended solids give the beer a bitter taste and have (even) been disappointed when the beer is perfectly clear. See what it's like two weeks from now.

 

[Austin]

Agree with the above, most likely just too much hop made it really bitter. Astringency apparently comes from boiling the mash or using a pH of sparge water that's too high. Both leach undesirable stuff from the husks. You should be able to rule this out if:
1) you used a modest amount of sparge water and the grain wasn't completely draining out with clear, tasteless liquid at the end.
2) A decent sieve was used to minimise husky material in the boil

So you messed up. Better luck next time.

 

[peebee]

I've successfully used isinglass finings to neutralise astringency - it binds to astringent polyphenols much like milk binds to tannin in tea. But it wont fix over-bittering and mixing up bitter with astringency is common. Note that astringency is not a flavour, it's a sensation.