Holy cripes thats bitter/astringent...

OK,

For my first batch, I made a honey brown ale extract kit from Midwest Supplies. In my infinite newbie wisdom, I got my kit, and promptly made the best of newbie mistakes. I'll list the ones that I know about, and all the expert EAC's can tell me what else I did wrong.

1. Steeped the specialty grains in 5 gallons of water.
2. Dumped out the specialty grains, and added the hops to this bag (I don't know if this was bad, or not, but I don't think I'll do it this way again.) There may have been a few husks left in the bag, but I tried to get them all out.
3. Added all the hops for a partial boil to my full boil.

So, bottom line, the beer after 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 1 week bottle conditioning had a very bitter/astringent aftertaste... I don't know how to tell the difference, but I just don't think it tastes right. It has the same flavor as the foam that formed when I first dumped/stirred into the primary, so I don't think that it is an infection, but I could be wrong.

I know it's a bit soon to be trying it , but I couldn't wait to try my first batch :cross:

Questions:
Is there any thing else that could cause this taste?
Will the taste mellow as it ages longer?

Good news: At approximately 6.4% ABV, by the time I was getting to the bottom of the beer the flavor was still there, but it wasn't bothering me as much.

So is it bitter or astringent? Bitter is a flavor astringency is a mouth feel, dry, puckering.

Beerrific said:

So is it bitter or astringent? Bitter is a flavor astringency is a mouth feel, dry, puckering.

Click to expand...

Yes... Honestly I think some of both. I'll open another one tonight and see if I can distinguish the difference.

I'll take door #3. Higher utilization due to the lower gravity. It will mellow a bit. That's a high ABV for a brown, so once it's aged a bit the bitterness will be a good thing.

Astringent is a "strong boiled tea" flavor.

I did that same kit, drinking it right now. Mine came out to 7% abv. I conditioned it for 3 weeks to get it to mellow a bit, but now it's very good. However it's more bitter (or bitterer) than what I expected.

qbrew estimated the bitterness at 50. I don't know if thats ibu's or what.
Hops: Galena for 50mins @ 13.1% and Fuggles for 5 mins @ 4% Extract partial boil.

Well, I wouldn't classify it as a mouth feel, but there is definitely an aftertaste. I guess I'd classify it as a bitter aftertaste. Especially the first few drinks of it. It seems to mellow after a few sips, but it seems to hang on for a bit. I'll just wait a couple more weeks till I try another one. It's being stored in a fairly cool basement, so it could use a bit of time yet as the carbonation isn't where it probably should be.

Well you can't have a beer thats too bitter. Wish my IPA turned out a little more bitter. Just bottled her tonight, great tasting, for a flat young beer. Can hardly wait! Sounds like its more astringent...

Astrigent is tasted everywhere on the tongue. Think bitter-beer-face.