how does flavor change after primary

i just did my first all grain batch, an english brown. I tasted it when i switched to secondary fermentation and taking my gravity. It definitely had more of a bitter taste then i would have thought with 4oz of hops added at various times per normal.

Can i expect the bitterness to mellow out during secondary? I never really tasted my extract batches until bottling.

thanks.

How long was it in primary? You probably racked to the brite tank too soon (and unnecessary). Also, 4oz of hops, depending on WHEN they were added, could be a LOT for a brown ale, especially an English brown ale.

Bitterness WILL mellow with age. Depending on the IBU's and IBU:GU ratio, it could take some time.

BTW, I typically use 2oz of hops in my English brown ale recipe. 1oz at 60 minutes and 1 oz at 10 minutes. Total IBU's is ~24 for the recipe.

It will probably mellow a little during the conditioning phase, but past that, the longer you wait the more the hop character will diminish. I personally wouldn't have used 4 oz of hops for an English brown. Assuming you're trying to stick to style, regardless of hop addition timing, you're going to get too much hop character with 4 oz. You're either going to get too much bitterness or too much flavor/aroma. I probably would have used only a 1 oz bittering addition and maybe a small (.5 oz?) addition for a bit of flavor. Obviously it depends on the hop variety, but any hop I would use in an English brown would be low AA%. It really depends on what you were going for. Long story short, maybe not in secondary, but with the enough time the hop character will mellow out to where you want it.

EDIT: Golddiggie beat me, but we said essentially the same thing.

Don't know enough about your brew to give you a def answer but, i bet the bitterness will be spot on once it's carbed up. Cheers

basilchef said:

Don't know enough about your brew to give you a def answer but, i bet the bitterness will be spot on once it's carbed up. Cheers

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Depends on WHICH English brown ale style he's going for... Northern or southern? Without knowing the recipe, it's virtually impossible to say WHEN (if at all) the batch will be closer to style.

i started with an india brown recipe that called for 8oz of hops which i thought overkill, so i backed itndown to 4oz.

I suppose it could be hop selection as well. i guess this is why it is good to take notes because next time i can step it down a notch or try some different bittering hops.