Whats that twang?

[Snipersunset]

I've not been brewing long, maybe nine or ten kits. I've noticed a twang in all of my beers and its similar ina 'll of them. I wouldn't say it's sour but that's the closest thing I can describe it as.
I've done shouts, ipas, saison so different types but this 'taste' is there in each of them. Anyone got any ideas what it could be? I've heard tales of beer having a home brew taste, is this what people mean? And if it is do you get it in all grain brewing, before I invest in New kit?
I think my sterilisation regime is good, I use star San. I don't have a fermentation chamber so could it be that most of my fermentation is happening at about 25°

Any ideas gratefully received as this taste is beginning to bother me and I just want to make beers that I thoroughly enjoy.

Cheers

[davew]

I think it comes from the reaction of malt extract with the can.

Could also be your water. Do you treat with a Camden tablet? You could always try a brew with supermarket bottled water to eliminate this from the equation.

[Ditch]

SS; I genuinely thought ye were asking 'What does talk of this HB Twang mean / refer to?'. Because that'd be me. I hear about it enough. The all grain lads like to point out how They don't get it.

Well, I don't. Not in any sense of the word.

Accepting, for the discussion, that it exists then; I only use the one brand of kit. And that one's completely removed from anything now made in england. So, reversing that: Maybe it's the kits many people use that are bringing it as inherent?

I treat my own water. Many do. Many don't. Many use bottled. Not much for us there then.

My attention was focused, straight away, on your insane fermenting temperatures! 25?! Jesus wept!

But; I don't think I've even ever Heard of anyone else fermenting in bath water like that! Yet; Plenty talk about this " Twang ".

I expect the answer's out there. I've just never experienced the 'question'

[bigtoe]

Ditch

Coopers stout does not have it, brewed like 7 kits now and not 1 had the twang.

However I have brewed st peters IPA, St peters ruby red, and a few other UK based kits and they all had it. Now the last brew i did was a Coopers real ale brewed mega short to 15L or so, and I am just about to do another to 14L and that did not have it. I over carbonated another different brew i did so that tastes gassy but no twang (coopers ale and APA mixed) but the other I did tastes awesome.

So you may have something when you say you do not use UK based kits

I only used bottled spring water, PH 7.8, i do not treat further than this.

personally I feel the safest kits to make are Coopers stout, add DME, add sugar, add treacle or golden syrup, or what ever else takes your fancy and brew wonderful beer everyone becomes addicted too , the kits fly off the shelves at my local tesco in Stockport when they have the 10quid offer on

I have a feeling coopers just use totally neutral water when they make up the extracts, PH7, no minerals etc, probably distilled or multi stage RO etc, and this means when you add your own water you add your own profile to it...just guessing like

[Ditch]

Very interesting and constructive input there, Bigtoe

Personally I feel the safest kits to make are Coopers stout .....

However; Have ye seen what I did to my last one?! F**king surreal ....!

[bigtoe]

Very interesting and constructive input there, Bigtoe

Personally I feel the safest kits to make are Coopers stout .....

However; Have ye seen what I did to my last one?! F**king surreal ....!

how many stout kits have you made?

how many from that total have gone bad?

I started cleaning a lot of my kit with a steamer a while back, not every time mind (I should do really) but i do think that is the way forward. Modified wall paper stripper or a Karcher etc.

I also started looking at yeasts, got a feeling the kit ones may contribute to the twang also...hard to experiment however without ruining a brew.

[Ditch]

I think it'd be fair to say I've made my share .....

Bad one's? Half a dozen, max? Pretty much Always down to human error / mechanical failure. And I simply only ever use Coopers kits.

[twentyfootwilf]

Home brew twang? In my experience two things cause it. Fermenting at too high a temperature and using too much table sugar. Some kits cope with warmer temps better than others, darker beers have a better chance of masking the off flavours caused by high temps and too much sugar. Pale beers will certainly suffer. Try to brew between 18c and 22c and you should be okay, however I have brewed Coopers stout at 24 to 25 this summer (not through choice) and it is one of the kits that seem to survive, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Yeast can get lazy when you feed it table sugar, and then it gets stressed when it tries to metabolise the malt sugar.

[Snipersunset]

It can't be the sugar thing as most of my brews or two cans. The water and temp are worth looking into. I'm after a cheap fridge if anyone knows where I can get one!
I've done a couple of Ditch shouts and if memory serves they didn't have the twang?
Cheers for the help everyone, any other ideas are welcomedt though.

[Ditch]

I've done a couple of Ditch shouts and if memory serves they didn't have the twang?

I'm taking it, in the year 2015, ye know better than to go near f**king table sugar? So, That's out the window.

Water, we've already done.

Try this then: Any other Coopers kit that takes ye fancy. (Their Dark Ale is always my next go to) Sample a few more. Look for this " Twang " in them.

Hunt the elephant

[Snipersunset]

Someone pass the blunderbuss I'm off hunting

[Ditch]

I got ye back .....

[Snipersunset]

This shouldn't take long with that kind of back up!

I'm still not sure how an elephant got in my fermenter!!

[Ditch]

I'm still not sure how an elephant got in my fermenter!!

Because ye never used a f**king air lock!