If your beer was not really finished with primary and you fermented that hot, it could contribute. Too few yeast trying to finish in hot temps could potentially cause a problem, hard to tell.
You may be over thinking this a bit. Just brew another batch, follow the directions exactly and see what happens. Don’t do any real exotic recipe, just make a good simple beer. 90% chance you won’t have the same issue with the taste. If you do, it will be a starting point for figuring out what the issue might be.
what kind of water? city water? Chlorine? Chloramine? that can create a terrible foul bitter taste. It’s not consistant ether. Depends if you run the water for awhile or take it right out of the tap. Campden tablets for wine making knock it out.
It’s Jacksonville florida city water with one of those attach-to-the-faucet carbon filters from Pur. I’ve always heard that with the exception of AG brewing that if the water tastes good then it’s good to brew with.
Maybe I missed it, but in skimming the thread I didn’t see a conclusion on which of these you’re actually dealing with. Before you go jumping into water chemistry, rule out contamination, which is easy to fix (usually).
Acidic: Think lemon juice, “raw” yogurt, or vinegar, depending on what type of acid you’re dealing with.
Bitter: Chew on a non-chewable aspirin tablet. Very distinct flavor that you’re already familiar with from beer.
Astringent: Suck on a used tea bag. Not so much a flavor as a drying or puckering sensation in the mouth and throat.
I haven’t gotten into kegging yet so I’m nobody’s expert…
But is an unconditioned or chemically contaminated keg possibly the culprit here?
I remember Alum tasting incredibly astringent and bitter…with an exceptional mouth pucker quality to it.
If it’s possible to get this kind of flavor from the keg, then maybe check the way you clean your keg vs. the literature as well as the other suggestions here.
Maybe I missed it, but in skimming the thread I didn’t see a conclusion on which of these you’re actually dealing with. Before you go jumping into water chemistry, rule out contamination, which is easy to fix (usually).
Acidic: Think lemon juice, “raw” yogurt, or vinegar, depending on what type of acid you’re dealing with.
Bitter: Chew on a non-chewable aspirin tablet. Very distinct flavor that you’re already familiar with from beer.
Astringent: Suck on a used tea bag. Not so much a flavor as a drying or puckering sensation in the mouth and throat.[/quote]
I would have to call it astringent, then. I don’t know that I’d use the word “puckering” but there’s no flavor associated. The beer is delicious, but it’s like that little hop tingle on the back of your tongue will stay with you for a while. I’ve had one of these IPA’s, enjoyed it thoroughly, but still had that sensation on the back of my tongue twenty minutes later.
I’m just going to chalk it up to contamination and hot fermenting temps. Second batch I will be thorough with my cleaning/ sanitizing and I will let the beer have plenty of time in the temp controlled primary. Wish me luck.
