VERY bitter!

I just finished bottling my first 5 gallon batch of "amber" beer, it is sitting in a nice dark spot. I sampled a glass while bottling and it was TOO bitter! Which doesn't make sense considering I didn't use more than 1 ounce of bittering hops while brewing.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Perhaps it's because it hasn't finished the process as it is now sitting/aging/carbonating in bottles. Hopefully it will be better in a couple of weeks.

What were your hop additions? Qty's, AA%'s, Utilization%'s ? This information will be helpful in figuring this out. Another thought - What temp was your fermentation?
mark
www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com

What hops was the 1 oz.? how long boiled? How much fermentables?

It was just one of those "true brew" kits and I don't think it gave those detailed specifics, sorry. I fermented between 63-72 degrees Fahrenheit. I boiled for 50 minutes.
Here is a picture of it, only after four days, I'm simply sampling it again as I type.
VERY harsh tasting....damn.

It was just "bittering pellet hops". Like I mentioned, it didn't give those details/percentages. Next brew I'm definitely buying better quality supplies and taking my time in picking/making a good recipe.

Describe your chill down process after boiling. After getting a coil chiller, my beers are much less bitter, almost too much.

It will mellow with age. You'll be surprised what it becomes.

duckredbeard said:

It will mellow with age. You'll be surprised what it becomes.

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I sure hope so, thanks man! And how long do you recommend I age it for?

badbrew said:

Describe your chill down process after boiling. After getting a coil chiller, my beers are much less bitter, almost too much.

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In chilling, all I did was fill my sink 3/4 full of cold water and ice and then stuck the batch of wort ( still in pan ) in the sink to cool off. I had to re-add cold water, as the warm overwhelmed and heated up the first cool bath. That's all....probably not the best method, eh?

I did NOT strain anything before pouring wort into carboy though. So I'm a assuming in not straining the hops out, that is what has made it so bitter...?

ScottMathsonPro said:

In chilling, all I did was fill my sink 3/4 full of cold water and ice and then stuck the batch of wort ( still in pan ) in the sink to cool off. I had to re-add cold water, as the warm overwhelmed and heated up the first cool bath. That's all....probably not the best method, eh?

I did NOT strain anything before pouring wort into carboy though. So I'm a assuming in not straining the hops out, that is what has made it so bitter...?

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NO. Leaving hops in does nothing to affect bitterness post boil.

What beers are you used to?

Is this more bitter than SNPA?

Can you describe the bitterness? Is it clean, sharp/harsh, or astringent?

ScottMathsonPro said:

Here is a picture of it, only after four days, I'm simply sampling it again as I type.
VERY harsh tasting....damn.

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Four days is way too soon to evaluate any beer! It will change dramatically over the next 2-5 weeks.

Was it a recipe kit that you bought, or did you throw the ingredients together on your own?

Do you prefer illuminated tap handles? I heard that illuminated tap handles enhance the perception of bitterness.

It may not be hop bitterness, could be astringency. My first brew had a harsh dry flavor that would dissipate with time or if I let the beer sit out in the glass and breathe. It faded with time and at 4 months the beer is incredible.

I started with the very same kit. It comes with 1 oz of cluster hops. From boil to taste I waited 4 weeks like instructions recommend. It came out great. How long before u tasted? Might be water issue

wilserbrewer said:

Four days is way too soon to evaluate any beer! It will change dramatically over the next 2-5 weeks.

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Yeah, way to early to start figuring out how the end product will taste. What you might be tasting is just the "yeast bite" that you get from too much yeast. Sampling it that early you've still got a bunch of yeast going to town on the sugars in the wort. Give them enough time (3-4 weeks) and most of them will drop out of solution, also pulling down some of the alpha acids with them.

I'm certainly not saying not to sample it as you go, its certainly an excellent way to learn how things change over time. Just don't start to worry about how its going to change in the end because things will change a lot with time. As you get a bunch more batches under your belt you'll start to be able to pull out flavors from the mess that it probably tastes like now.

The bitterness diminish a bit after bottling.


But if it's too bitter as you said you might have picked some hops with a too high AA%

Just thought I would update everyone that the bitterness indeed did dissipate and I want to apologize for being so amateur in my approach to asking such a silly question. It's been two and a half weeks now and it is tasting mighty fine with decent carbonation and some foam.

ScottMathsonPro said:

Just thought I would update everyone that the bitterness indeed did dissipate and I want to apologize for being so amateur in my approach to asking such a silly question. It's been two and a half weeks now and it is tasting mighty fine with decent carbonation and some foam.

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No apologies needed. It's happened to almost all of the people on here at one point or another. Thanks for the update though. More fuel for the RDWHAHB crowd and good info for beginners.

I will not touch a beer that is bottle conditioning within my set 28-day limit.

27-days is unacceptable to me.

It also needs to cold crash in a fridge for at least 2 days.

I've experienced a couple of arsh / bitter beers when they weren't supposed to.

As just everyone have said, time will help taming it quite a bit. In fact, your last beer will most likely be your best

My problem was that where I live, we basically get wet chlorine out of the tap. Correct me someone if I'm wrong but I've read somewhere that chlorine really extract harsh stuff from the grains and hops.

I now carbon filter the water I use and haven't had this problem again.

ScottMathsonPro said:

Just thought I would update everyone that the bitterness indeed did dissipate and I want to apologize for being so amateur in my approach to asking such a silly question.

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I appreciate all the "silly questions" on HBT.com. Helps the other newbies out there like myself. I'm having a similar problem and, after reading this thread, realize it is likely related to the "yeast bite" discussed by erikpete18. Learning a lot on here. Would be learning a lot less if it wasn't for the "silly" stuff!

Cheers!
Erik in Eugene