Too Bitter Bitter

Just tasted my Highland Heavy Ale (a Munton's kit that my wife bought me), and by gads is it bitter! Leaves a very strong aftertaste on the roof of the mouth.

Is this an off flavour, or just the style of ale?

I am assuming that the Highland Heavy is a scottish ale?

if so, they are supposed to be very malty with little to no hop profile... certainly not bitter in any way.

Did the kit come with steeping grains?

You describe the flavor as being on the roof of your mouth, which makes me think (wild guess) that you had grains that were steeped at too high of a temperature and you extracted tannin from the grain husks... this will leave a bitter/astringent flavor (puckering bitterness.)

-walker

-walker

I was thinking the same thing as Walker (malty), but as I don't know a lot about the style I found this on Munton's website:

Highland Heavy Ale - In the Highlands of Scotland, centuries ago, small breweries began producing rich, dark, hoppy ales know locally as "Heavy". In addition "Light" beers were also brewed, known south of the border as Milds, but it was a pint of "Heavy" which typified the highlanders' preference.

You can now recapture this distinctive rich bitter flavour, with its dark, malty brew, balanced by a generous helping of hops. To enjoy Highland Heavy Ale at its best it should be served at cellar temperature.

Typical analyses when canned
Colour (EBC Units) 50 - 60
Bitterness (EBU's) 45 - 55
Solids (by refractometer) 80% - 82%
Acidity (as lactic) 1% max
pH 5 - 6
Free Amino Nitrogen 0.15%

http://www.muntons.com/homebeer/countries/uk/gold_highland.htm

Should get a reasonable hoppy bitterness I would guess, especially if it's a kit from a can with no flavouring (uk spelling favoured for the purposes of this thread) or aroma hops.

There were no grains, it was a simple hopped LME and yeast kit (Muntons). I didn't do any boiling, steeping, hop additions etc.

interesting, BeeGee. I believe that contradicts what I read in my "Designing Great Beers" but I'll have to double check when I get home.

Still... the fact that he noticed this on the roof of his mouth leads me to think this is not coming from hops.

-walker

just ready Blighty's latest post. Ignore me. It can't be from grain if you didn't use any.

-walker

BeeGee said:

......
You can now recapture this distinctive rich bitter flavour, with its dark, malty brew, balanced by a generous helping of hops. To enjoy Highland Heavy Ale at its best it should be served at cellar temperature.

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Ahh, I think the "Rich Bitter flavour" probably says it all. I must say, I am not keen.

Should have read the box! D'oh!

Thanks BeeGee.

heh-heh.. it turns out I have "Designing Great Beers" in my laptop case here with me.

Anyway, it classifies a Scottish Heavy as having 10 to 19 IBUs of bitterness with little to no hop flavor/aroma. (For reference, it states that a typical Mild or Brown ale has an IBU rating of 15 to 30, so this should be less bitter than the average Mild).

*shrug*

Beats me. I'm sorry you don't enjoy the beer though. That's a damn shame.

-walkre

BlightyBrewer said:

Ahh, I think the "Rich Bitter flavour" probably says it all. I must say, I am not keen.

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Maybe you just need a cellar!

BeeGee said:

Maybe you just need a cellar!

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You're right, now, where the hell did I put that shovel...

Walker said:

Anyway, it classifies a Scottish Heavy as having 10 to 19 IBUs of bitterness with little to no hop flavor/aroma.

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I think you're right. A little more research turns this up from the BJCP:

History: More recent commercial interpretations from Scotland have begun to drift towards English bitter in terms of bitterness,balance, attenuation, esters and dry-hopping. These guidelines don't account for these recent commercial examples which would more accurately be described as bitters.

Maybe this intense bitterness will mellow out with time?

If you are thinking about burying it anyway, you might consider trying some Kieselsol finings. This is a product used in wine making to remove bitter and astringent flavors. I haven't tried it myself, but there's a thread about someone using it (accidentally) and ending up with no bitter flavors at all.

Spoke to my LHBS today, and she told me that this was a very bitter ale, and it will mellow out with time, so I'll have to wait

Better than pitching it! In the meantime, brew up a nice malt-laden brown ale...

The world needs more good brown ales! I just put the lastest Church of Chocolate Brown in the kegerator, along with the wet-hopped IPA.

david_42 said:

The world needs more good brown ales! I just put the lastest Church of Chocolate Brown in the kegerator, along with the wet-hopped IPA.

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I'm all about the brown ale. My current commercial favorite is Edenton Street Brewery's Uncle Nut's Brown...very malty. Probably next to impossible to get out your way, but then you're not hurting for decent ales in that part of the country.

There are very few browns, though. Oregon Trails has a good one. Pelican's Dorryman is really fine, but a little heavy. My favorite has to be Half Moon Bay's Bootlegger's Brown Ale, but that's in S.F.

david_42 said:

There are very few browns, though. Oregon Trails has a good one. Pelican's Dorryman is really fine, but a little heavy. My favorite has to be Half Moon Bay's Bootlegger's Brown Ale, but that's in S.F.

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Is it actually in Half Moon Bay or there abouts? I think I drove past that place once or twice while I was working in San Mateo for a few weeks a year or two ago. Kept meaning to stop in, but kept meeting up with a friend in SF proper each night and never got the chance.

I wish Rogue made a straight up brown ale as we would most assuredly be able to get that out here. The hazelnut brown is great, but just as a dessert beer.

It's north of the city. And I hate hazelnut anything!