homebrewandbeer.com

Hello.
I have read about 'Kit Tang'on here when refering to the home brew taste you get sometimes when brewing kit beers.
I have been wondering what causes kit tang in the first place? And why you don't extracts and all grains get this problem?

That'd be "kit twang". I'm just guessing here (I'm not sure anyone really knows the reason for it); it might be oxidation, it might be reacting with the inside of the can, it might be flavour changes introduced during the processing of the malt extract. You simply can't beat fresh product, and there's nothing fresher than AG.

Having said that, I've never really noticed it in any of my beers. I suspect it's more of an excuse used to explain bad brewing technique. The only twang I've tasted in my beers was probably because of the use of high temperatures and/or lots of simple sugars and I haven't done that since my first few batches.

I have never seen written a definite cause, or even that it exists by any scientific evidence.

My best guess is that the concentrated wort has gone stale in the tin.

I brewed kit and bit brews for over 4 years and am certain of one thing, a fresh kit from the LHBS that has been treated properly (ie. stored and transported in ideal conditions) will be 100 times better than one that you get from Big-W. Also the older they get, the worse the kit twang seems to become, this seems to be more of a problem for the cheaper kits for some reason (Tooheys, Brewiser, Malt Shovel, etc).

Fresh steeped grains and fresh hops do seem to mask the kit twang, also bottle aging of the finished product seems to help.

This is all just my experience/opinion and should be treated as such.

EDIT: rwh posted while I was typing. I did forget to mention the temperature bit. Kit twang seems to be greatly reduced by holding a steady ideal temperature for the duration of fermentation.

Yeah, I'd definitely agree with the statement that temperature seems to have something to do with it. I've made one or two decidely twangy kit beers - one Muntons, one Black Rock and one Coopers - and the only thing that they had in common was that they were all made in warm weather when temperature control was all screwy. I've found that if the temperature is stable and preferably a little on the cool side of things, kit twang is pretty damn minimal... and I've made some pretty cheap kit brews in my time. I also suspect old or stressed yeast may contribute a bit to twang - the Muntons and Coopers were running close to use by date (the Coopers may have been past it), and I used the kit yeast.

There is a solution to kit twang.
Don't brew with kits.
Use unhopped malt extract, either dry or liquid.
Steep some specialty grains, and do your own hopping.
I'd wager there won't be any of that infamous kit twang.

In saying all this, I make the same disclaimer as Kevnlis, as I have personally not experienced it.

Of course, the ultimate solution, and this one's guaranteed, is to brew AG.

Thanks for the replies.
I would have to agree, the fresher tins don't get the twang. I have had it a couple of times, and those times wee with coopers kits bought from Big W.
I always wondered if it may be somehting to do with the tin itself. Maybe the wort causes the inside of the tin to release some of that twang flavour. Bit like commercial mega swill in cans. I think thats why many people these days don't like drinking beer from cans. You get that same sort of twang flavour.

scanman wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I would have to agree, the fresher tins don't get the twang. I have had it a couple of times, and those times wee with coopers kits bought from Big W.

Now Coopers are adding wee to their kits?
They`ll try anything to match the big breweries

i have experienced this with a black rock IPA kit i did awhile back

it was just kit and Dex.

the twang seems to be dissapearing over time though, it could be that adding dex instead of Malt unbalances the beer and you need to wait until some of the Battery acid-type hops they use have faded?

just a random thought

PaulSteele wrote:it was just kit and Dex.

Yup. Too much dex. With simple sugars, don't go over 20% of the total fermentables.

or "twang" as it is referred to on American forums.

I think the answer to this is how the LME is stored. There is one supplier I know that specialises in Coopers kits, but keeps them at 2 deg C and they go into cold storage the instant its delivered from Coopers. It costs a few bucks more to cover his storage costs, but the difference is remarkable. Of course there are other things you can do around the edges to improve the brew, such as your process, liquid yeast and adjuncts etc, but if that base malt is not fresh you are going to get a brew with the tang.

It is definitely true that the older the kit, the more of a twang you will get. You will probably get a darker than expected end result as well. The problem, is, even if you buy a can with a long sell by date, you have no idea how its been treated before it has got to the store. Thats why I have to trust one supplier of the same product to ensure that what he is selling me is fresh and stored cold. The proof, as always, has been in the tasting.