Slight tang in stout. Grain or water issue?

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AMyd666

Regular.
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
373
Reaction score
203
Hey Folks.

I'm really enjoying my sweet stout, but it's the second (first being coopers original with added mashed crystal, chocolate and roast barley) that has a slight tang to it. I don't know if it's mashing the roasted grains instead of steeping?
It's nice and I'll do it again, but I'd prefer it without. I was aiming for a roastier flavour like Loch Ness' Dark Ness, or Hawkshead Dry Stone Stout.

My recipe was nicked and scaled down from a Malt Miller recipe (for the roasted grains at least):
12 litres
1.5kg lager
750g Pale
100g chocolate
100g Roasted Barley
100g Crystal
200g Rolled Oats
120g lactose
30g EKG
5g rehydrated Safale S-O4

Would water profile affect this? I've checked the details and if I've understood correctly then it's soft with a mean ph of 8.
 
Keen to see any possible answers to this. I bottled an Imperial Stout 2 weeks ago and it had a slight, almost sour tang to it. Never really experienced that before. I did read somewhere that adding sugar to the wort (demerera in my case, possible lactose in yours) can add a tang that dissipates over time? Mine is sitting in bottles for the next 6 months so hopefully thats the case. I also just mashed without any steeping and no visible signs of infection.
 
I don't think it's the grain or water. Yes, darker malts are more acidic which can cause a lower than ideal mash pH, especially when coupled with soft water, but I don't think that has much of an impact on post-fermentation pH.

In my experience tanginess is almost always from the yeast. I dont know much about S04 but I believe it's known to often produce a bit of a sour tang.
 
I'm dubious about that. Lactose isn't fermentable and if anything I would say it would counter sourness.
Yeah, I wasn't sure but adding sugar was something (in my case) that was new to me and was also first time I experienced sourness. Likely 2 + 2 = 5 scenario.

Interesting you mention darker malts and soft water though. Living in Scotland I definitely have soft water and the recipe had a fair amount of darker malt. Sounds more likely for me

Apologies if thread hijacked!
 
No problemo. It bugs me a little. I'll try a different yeast (kveik perhaps). Thanks Steve đź‘Ť
 
Sweet stout or oatmeal stout for me, I have always found it better to cold steep the grains to avoid astringent bitterness, for a dry stout I do mash the grain to get the bitterness.
 
That's what I wondered too Foxy. My Imperial Stout that's fermenting both used steeped dark grain and also kveik, so maybe it won't be astringent in comparison? Mind you it's a different beast to my current sweet stout recipe!
I've got MJ M42 so I can use that to compare another time.
Something to play about with; targeting those areas of possibility. Thanks guys.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top