Heavy Cereal Flavor

Shepington

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after the last 4 or 5 brews they all have a common off flavor. Best described as "cereal" or "grain like" I just cant places it, all have been varying styles with malts from different maltsters and different yeasts. I tried to narrow it down by doing a simple SMaSH and it still has the same flavor. I've been over my notes and haven't found a single variable that is repeated that would cause this sort of off flavor. Differing grain crushes, different mash temps, cooling lengths, fermentations temps, fermentation time. Nothing sticks out and says AH-HA. anyone have any ideas? BIAB method, the only real change is I upgraded to a Spike CF 10.
 
Grain-like how? Oatmeal? Cream of Wheat? Raw corn? Can you be a bit more specific?

Just a thought, if you can't isolate it, maybe it's supposed to be there....
 
Grain-like how? Oatmeal? Cream of Wheat? Raw corn? Can you be a bit more specific?

Just a thought, if you can't isolate it, maybe it's supposed to be there....
More like Cheerios's
 
Title: Smash 1

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.047
Efficiency: 77% (brew house)

Hop Utilization Multiplier: 0.99

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV (standard): 5.37%
IBU (tinseth): 39.43
SRM (morey): 3.59
Mash pH: 5.75

FERMENTABLES:
10 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (100%)

HOPS:
8 g - Bru-1, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.7, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 17.05
8 g - Bru 1, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.7, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 10.33
28.35 g - Bru 1, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.7, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 12.05
36 g - Bru-1, Type: Pellet, AA: 15.7, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Steeping, Temp: 155 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 6.6 gal

YEAST:
Imperial Yeast - A01 House
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 73%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 62 - 70 F
Fermentation Temp: 67 F
Pitch Rate: 1.25 (M cells / ml / deg P)


This was the smash I most recently made. It could just be the 2 row flavor.
 
I think you got it with the last statement: It's likely the flavor of the malt. You're doing a mash at 155 degrees, lowering fermentables.... Try switching malts and see if you get the same flavor.
 
You are adding acid right, you need to lower your pH to 5.2 to 5.6 and ro is much higher
 
You are adding acid right, you need to lower your pH to 5.2 to 5.6 and ro is much higher

I haven't dabbled in acids just yet, guess it time to start. i have some of the 5.2 perfect mash or whatever 5 star labels there PH adjuster but heard that it doesn't do a whole lot.
 
I haven't dabbled in acids just yet, guess it time to start. i have some of the 5.2 perfect mash or whatever 5 star labels there PH adjuster but heard that it doesn't do a whole lot.
It's better for you to learn how to treat your water to achieve desired mash pH. I hadn't thought of it but a high pH in the finished beer might accentuate the grainy flavors. Try adding a small amount (a drop) of 88% lactic acid to your beer and see if the flavor you mention diminishes.
 
Shepington, this is a common off flavor I experienced when getting started with all grain brewing. For me it occurred with astringency. To resolve I worked on keeping sparge temps (I batch sparge) below 168*f. I also studied water treatment. Acidification and salt additions are important. Take a look at the free version of Bru’n Water. It helped me tremendously. The type of mill for crushing grains can have an impact. A corona mill can shred the husks while a roller mill will not if set properly. Here are common off flavors for reference. I suspect this is a process issue that you will overcome with time.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/is-my-beer-ruined/common-off-flavors
 
I haven't dabbled in acids just yet, guess it time to start. i have some of the 5.2 perfect mash or whatever 5 star labels there PH adjuster but heard that it doesn't do a whole lot.

That 5.2 is NOT going to help. There are a ton of reasons (and it’s easy to find explanations of why it just can’t work for most people online), so don’t use that at all.

When you put your recipe in brewer’s friend, you can see the projected mash pH. You want that to be 5.3-5.5. It’s easy to link the water calculator on that page, and then just add some lactic acid or phosphoric acid to your mash. You can also add some gypsum and/or calcium chloride which will also help with mash pH as well as flavor.

Sparging with 100% RO water is ideal, so you don’t have to worry about that part at all.

We can help you with that when you create a recipe. Trust me, it’s easy to use and we love giving advice about this stuff so you’ll find it second nature before you know it.
 
Just would like to add that acid malt is a simple way of lowering ph and also works with recipe builder. Looks like a ph meter is in your future too. If you haven't already, read the water guide on this site. Ph is actually simpler to correct than adding salts for specific beers. RDWHAHB, you got this halfway figured out, but you need a ph meter or at least some test strips.
 
I have a meter I was just nailing a few other processes down before moving to PH and honestly didn't think PH had that much of an impact other than making good beer, great. But it seems that this is the next challenge to tackle, I've got acid on the way.
 

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