Bitter Pale Ale

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
W

Wildmanrob

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Alabama
I brewed a Pale Ale last month. It's been in bottles for three weeks now and it is rather bitter. My first batch, an Autumn Ale, was a little bitter at first, but after 6 weeks bottled, it's mellowed out nicely.

Should the Pale Ale also mellow with age or am I stuck with a really bitter beer?
 
Bitterness will very slowly subside, but it could take years for that change to be noticeable. Hop flavour and aroma on the other hand can disipate rather quickly.
 
Ooops, it was actuall a Cream Ale not a Pale Ale.

I used a Midwest Supply partial grain kit: Liberty Cream Ale.: 6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Carapils specialty grains, 2 oz. of Cascade pellet hops, yeast, priming sugar, and a grain bag. Liberty Cream Ale w/ Munton's 6 gm dry yeast. -- 1oz of the hops in the full 60min boil and the 2nd ounce in the last 2 minutes.

beerkrump said:
Recipe please...

We may be able to look at that and say, "Yup. Dat'll be bitter."
Click to expand...
 
The hop and grain ratio doesn't look to be really bitter. How long was it fermented before going into the bottle? Fermentation temps? What was your process for steeping the specialty grains?
 
Fermented in Primary for one week at house temp (76 degrees avg) then bottled and stored also at house temp. The grains were steeped in 3-gal water at 155 degrees for 30 minutes. Removed grains, added extract, brought to boil and added 1oz hops at 60 min then 1oz at 2 min.

beerkrump said:
The hop and grain ratio doesn't look to be really bitter. How long was it fermented before going into the bottle? Fermentation temps? What was your process for steeping the specialty grains?
Click to expand...
 
Your fermentation was a little hot and short. This could account for some off flavors. Fermentation temperatures are normally 5-10 degrees higher than the ambient temperature. Also, for yeast to complete their job, they really need, at the very least, two weeks. Preferably, most beers will need to be in contact with the yeast cake for 3 to 5 weeks for optimal results.
 

Similar threads

B
Dry stout intense bitterness
Replies
11
Views
675
beren
beren
theirondude
Adding Hops
Replies
3
Views
241
flipster
flipster
Zigs6
EKG and Idaho 7 for a Pale ale?
Replies
7
Views
437
Erik the Anglophile
Erik the Anglophile
Ali01
All my beers have this overpowering off flavor after bottling
2
Replies
76
Views
4K
WesBrew
WesBrew
F
Transferred to secondary too soon. Dump it?
Replies
10
Views
821
WesBrew
WesBrew
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top