Bitter beer thread continuation

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namyarb3

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Long story. Here goes.
Extract.
Made an iipa that turned out way ****in bitter. This was experimental. Dumped it.
Made a half batch with the same malt/steeping grains as a batch I've made 4 other times. This turned out way bitter too. Malt/grains were half to maintain ratio. Just dif hop schedule. Did half recipe of the bittering hops at 60 min. All the other were 10 min and later. Dry hoped hard with 2oz Citra for a week.
Still off.
The only difference is I have an immersion chiller now and I cool from boil to pitch in 10 minutes.
Thoughts? I'm lost.
 
I think either your brewing water is enhancing the bitterness of the hops way too much or, simply, you need to dial back on the hops.

Made an iipa that turned out way ****in bitter. This was experimental. Dumped it.

ಠ_ಠ


Time heals nearly all things in the brewing world. Never ever ever ever ever ever dump a beer, especially if you think it's too bitter. That's one of the flavors that fades quickly, much to the dismay of hopheads.
 
Time heals nearly all things in the brewing world. Never ever ever ever ever ever dump a beer, especially if you think it's too bitter. That's one of the flavors that fades quickly, much to the dismay of hopheads.

+1

Hops mellow out quickly if it is indeed a hop bitterness you are tasting. a month or so in bottles, taste...repeat as necessary
 
It is illegal to dump beer. I will PM you an address and you should send all unwanted beer to that address for proper disposal...

:drunk:
 
I thought that the aroma and flavor of hops will fade, but the teeth whitening bitterness will remain...
And it's the same water source that I have used for all of (11) my batches.

The only difference is that I now use a chiller that gets me from boil to pitching in 8-10 minutes. Would that affect it?
 
The only difference is that I now use a chiller that gets me from boil to pitching in 8-10 minutes. Would that affect it?

Would it make your beer crazy bitter? No.

But seriously, no need to dump it. I had a beer once that, when you went in for a sip, all you could smell was farts (sulfur.) Left it alone at room temp for a couple months and it was stellar.

And yes bitterness most definitely fades.

However I'm shocked at how bitter you're perceiving it. I've made a 5 gallon batch of Cascadian Dark with an entire pound of 6.9%aa hops and it was not only drinkable but delicious.
 
Water chemistry can change seasonally, but i would lean towards it being your hops. What was the schedule?
 
2.5g batch
.75oz chinook at 60
.5oz citra 10min
.5oz citra 5min
1oz citra at flameout
DH with 2oz citra at 2 weeks for 1 week.
 
Should be 12 to 14. I would think that would make a bitter beer. Have to control for extraction rates which I am too lazy to do right now.
 
.75 oz of 12-14 AA for 60 is kinda high. Try a lower alpha hop or less of the higher alpha hop. For your recipe i would only do .33oz - .5oz that should fix you problem. The rest looks great.
 
Are you sure bitterness is the flavor you are tasting?

Could be chlorephenols. Some water utilities change their levels of chloramine and chlorine seasonally. I also am of the opionion that hoppy beers bring out the phenols.


BTW, if that is indeed the issue no amount of aging will mellow them.

perhaps you got better attenuation with your yeast which threw off the balance.
perhaps the AA in the chinook were far higher due to a diff crop or freshness.
Did you bitter with chinook previously? It does have a harsher flavor than some bittering hops(I like it, some do not)
 
I have bittered with Chinook before, with the same ratio but for a 5g batch. Couple different times actually.
Never thought of a season water variable.
This was a new yeasty to me. Notty for this one. Fermented at a steady 64, 5 days. Slowly raised to 70 for another week-ish. Att was higher than s05 for me. This finished at 1.012 compared to 18 or 20 for the safale. Less sweet, more bitter? 2nd batch in a row that wants to whiten my teeth...
 
a FG of 18 or 20 would definitely balance out a lot more bitterness than a FG of 12. I believe you found your difference.

That will mellow out with time if it is indeed bitterness that is bothering you.
 
I've heard different things from dif people. Bitter taste will mellow, or not? I know, for sure, that the aroma and flavor of the hops will fade. But the bitterness?
 
Dug this one out.
I had a thought.
Since my late additions (esp flameout) didn't sit long, maybe I didn't get the flavor or aroma out of them. My chiller with my wicked cold tap water only took 6 or 7 minutes to get to pitching temp.
I'm reading about a whirlpool or hopstand at 170 degrees for a half hour.
Almost like I made a beer with bittering hops, and hardly anything later.
Am I dumb, or does that make sense?
 
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