Tried first batch - good, but bitter aftertaste

My first batch has been in the bottles for 2 weeks (after 1 in the primary and 2 in the secondary) and I could not resist the urge this weekend to try one. It's an English Pale Ale from a kit and is quite tasty, but it's got a bitter aftertaste. Will this mellow with more aging? Also, I didn't realize that you're not supposed to squeeze the grain bag when I brewed it, so that might be contibuting as well.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - I just hope that aftertase mellows.


Next weekend I'm gonna brew up an IPA.

Is it hop bitter or astringent bitter? Hop bitter is often more pronounced in younger beers. Astringency can come from too high a temp when you were soaking your grain. I'm familiar with the squeeze/no squeeze debate, however the jury is out for me. I always squeezed when I brewed with extract and can't say that I ever had astringent beer as a result.

Out of curiosity, what sort of hops did your recipe use? I've found that Perle hops to me have a near astringent flavor, even in commercial examples. This is subjective obviously, but that's my 2¢.

i cracked my first brew the other week after two weeks in the bottles theaftertaste made my tounge feel weird and it it made me scared. i waited one more week and it iwould say it improved 100%

There are six bittering chemicals in hops and some of them are more of an aftertaste. I find too much chinook can cause an aftertaste.

But, the beer will improve.

My first batch, just brewed earlier this year had a similar problem, very bitter aftertaste. To some extent, it was probably due to too high of a fermentation temp, and produced some fusel alcohols --- hard to detect how much is just bitterness and how much is from other effects such as the fusel alcohols. But I noticed an improvement after the third week of bottle conditioning, and an even more dramatic improvement this fourth week. So there is hope!

Not exacly sure what the source of the bitter aftertaste is - it does not seem like hops. I'm a big IPA fan and actually like the dry/bitter hoppy taste.

It's encouraging to hear that it will probably mellow more. I guess more experimenting is in order over the coming weeks

My last brew started out the same way and unfortunately got worse. It became infected with a rogue yeast that gave it an almost metallic bitterness.

Lesson I learned....you can never be too clean and sanitary!

Getting better. Still not great, but certainly drinkable. Had the neighbors over and they were awfully kind to me (well, my beer, actually). I think a few more weeks in the bottles will be the key.

Brewed up an IPA yesterday.