Super Bitterness Fix?

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Hi,

I am brewing only a few months now and wanted to make a super hoppy ale.

After reading some forums and articles, I was of the impression that you can never add too much hops, but now I am thinking that there is a limit when dry hoping only.

After about 10 days fermentation, I added 2 oz of Citra and 2oz of Galaxy, along with an oz of lemon verbena leaves.

I left the hops sitting in the brew for about 4 days and was saddened to smell such bitterness.

I added another 2oz of Citra and 2oz of Equinox (for another 4-5 days) in the hope that maybe they might balance it out. Silly me! Even more bitter now...

Is there any way of saving it? Or is the only thing that I can do is leave it for months and months to loose some of its bitterness?

Thanks in advance to anybody who takes the time to read and reply.
 
Dry hops do not add bitterness. Bitterness can only come from boiling hops. The longer you boil them, the more bitterness is imparted. Dry hopping only adds aroma.

As for how to mellow out an overly-bitter beer, the easiest solution would be to brew another batch with very low bitterness, and blend them.
 
Let it sit for awhile. IPAs are best drank very fresh, because the hop bitterness and aroma fade over time. If your beer is too bitter, use this to your advantage, and let it mellow over a few months.
 
Not sure how you are smelling bitterness, since bitterness is a taste sensation. Aroma acts along with the perception of taste, so maybe your aroma is so strong that you are perceiving bitterness when it is really hop aroma. Like others have implied, "bitterness" is extracted from the hops strictly from boiling them. Not sure you "can never add too much hops". You've added a total of 8 oz. dry hops (plus how much in the boil?). This can cause a beer to miss its style mark, if not be downright disgusting. I did a double IPA which turned out excellent, but for me, an in-your-face hoppiness I think you would like. However, it was 5 oz. in the boil/late addition, and only 2 oz. dry hops. Could also be that the kind of hops you used (# of IBUs) has also affected the outcome. Hops can't be treated arbitrarily as "hops". Different hops with different IBUs and aromas will affect styles and bitterness in different ways to different degrees.

Both suggestions above (blending with a lower IBU batch or letting it age out) are about your only logical solutions with this batch.
 
Another thing to consider is if you are smelling your batch in the fermentor you are probably sniffing a good bit of CO2 which can sometimes have a slight burning sensation - don't know if that is along the lines of what you're describing. Also the hop aromas are super concentrated in your fermentor, I bet it will smell delicious when you pour that first glass of the finished product.
 
Also you can't smell bitterness. Maybe you mean it smells way too hoppy, but that just means you got what you were asking for with all those dry hops.

Well, it's hard to explain, but it smells bitter/sour and not at all hoppy.

I will have to taste to conform I suppose. I will get back to you.
 
Not sure how you are smelling bitterness, since bitterness is a taste sensation. Aroma acts along with the perception of taste, so maybe your aroma is so strong that you are perceiving bitterness when it is really hop aroma. Like others have implied, "bitterness" is extracted from the hops strictly from boiling them. Not sure you "can never add too much hops". You've added a total of 8 oz. dry hops (plus how much in the boil?). This can cause a beer to miss its style mark, if not be downright disgusting. I did a double IPA which turned out excellent, but for me, an in-your-face hoppiness I think you would like. However, it was 5 oz. in the boil/late addition, and only 2 oz. dry hops. Could also be that the kind of hops you used (# of IBUs) has also affected the outcome. Hops can't be treated arbitrarily as "hops". Different hops with different IBUs and aromas will affect styles and bitterness in different ways to different degrees.

Both suggestions above (blending with a lower IBU batch or letting it age out) are about your only logical solutions with this batch.

I did not use any hops in the boil as I used a kit with a liquid malt extract. 60 grams of Citra was the recipe for dry hoping.
 
I did not use any hops in the boil as I used a kit with a liquid malt extract. 60 grams of Citra was the recipe for dry hoping.

so this kit was one that you just added warm water and then topped off with cold water? a pre-hopped kit?

as others have said, dry hopping will not cause any bitterness. there is something to be said about perceived bitterness, but again, bitterness is perceived by the tongue, not the nose. i honestly don't think i've smelled something that smelled bitter, so it's really hard to understand what you're trying to convey.

what was the name of the recipe? was it double IPA? IPA? citra pale ale?

what made you decide to add all the extra hops instead of following the recipe?
 
so this kit was one that you just added warm water and then topped off with cold water? a pre-hopped kit?

as others have said, dry hopping will not cause any bitterness. there is something to be said about perceived bitterness, but again, bitterness is perceived by the tongue, not the nose. i honestly don't think i've smelled something that smelled bitter, so it's really hard to understand what you're trying to convey.

what was the name of the recipe? was it double IPA? IPA? citra pale ale?

what made you decide to add all the extra hops instead of following the recipe?



This is the kit. I did not know it was a pre-hopped kit until now - http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/index.php?topic=7692.0

I added an extra 100% sugar (1300 grams in total) and 26 grams of yeast instead of 15 grams.

Then instead of adding just 60 grams of Citra, I added it along with 2 oz of Galaxy, along with an oz of lemon verbena leaf. Then another 50 grams of Citra with 50 grams of Equinox for a second dry hoping. Both dry hopings were left in the fermentation for 4-5 days.

I added the extra sugar and yeast to bump it up from 5.7% to about 7%.

And I hoped all of the extra hops would give it extra "hopiness".

The best way of describing the smell is besides being bitter/sour, is that it is kind of similar to the sell of whiskey or a similar spirit.

I have now tasted it. The taste is similar to the smell, only not as intense.

I think it will be fine in time, but not at all like I was aiming for. I wouldn't describe it to be very hoppy, even though I've used so much.
 
random question: are you German? i have a German friend, we've even brewed together quite often, and his translation of "tart" (whatever it is in German) is describing what you're describing; a sour/bitterness. we don't really have a word for that in English, as tart is basically sour for most English speakers. But I wonder if you're talking about astringency (because that's another definition of tart, although pretty much never used).

but either way, none of those words above are sensed by the nose. all of them are senses of taste.
 
random question: are you German? i have a German friend, we've even brewed together quite often, and his translation of "tart" (whatever it is in German) is describing what you're describing; a sour/bitterness. we don't really have a word for that in English, as tart is basically sour for most English speakers. But I wonder if you're talking about astringency (because that's another definition of tart, although pretty much never used).

but either way, none of those words above are sensed by the nose. all of them are senses of taste.


I'm Irish. :)

awaiting moderator permission to publish my last comment, as I linked another site which reviewed the kit I used...
 
Can you just tell us the brand and style of the kit? We can look it up ourselves, but it would be very helpful to know if it was a pre-hopped LME kit, since if you boiled that, it would indeed render it considerably more bitter than intended.
 
Can you just tell us the brand and style of the kit? We can look it up ourselves, but it would be very helpful to know if it was a pre-hopped LME kit, since if you boiled that, it would indeed render it considerably more bitter than intended.


What's in this kit? (Craft Range Citra IPA Kit )
This kit comes with 3kg hopped LME, 650g sugar, 100g priming sugar, generous 60g (citra) hop pellets, muslin bag, 1pk West Coast ale yeast (15 grams)


I did not know that the malt extract was pre-hopped until I had read the above.

I added an extra 100% sugar, so it was 1300 grams altogether.

Along with extra yeast. 26 grams altogether.

Then with hopping I added the 60 grams of Citra with 2 oz of Galaxy, as well as an oz of lemon verbena leaf. the hops were left for 4 days.

Then I added an extra 50 grams of Citra, and 50 grams of Equinox for 5 days.

The best way to describe the sour/bitter smell is probably something similar to the smell of whiskey or another similar spirit. Maybe "acidic" is a better description.

I tasted it, and that smell comes through in the flavour, but its not nearly as strong. so I'm sure in time the beer will be fine to drink, but it wasn't what I was aiming for. I couldn't taste any super hoppy flavours.

I was aiming for an imperial IPA, but maybe have ended up with an english bitter? :)

Thanks for all the replies guys! :tank:
 
Did you boil the extract at all? If so, for how long?

Even if you did, that shouldn't have increased the bitterness too much, since the description of the kit seems to indicate that the pre-hopped LME only contains bittering hops anyway, relying on your dry hops to add the aroma. Since you (correctly) didn't add the dry hops to the boil, but added them later, then the bitterness should have come out relatively close to the recipe's specifications.

The nature and variety of descriptions you're using ("whiskey" and "acidic", "sour/tart") descriptions suggest to me that maybe you've inadvertently produced some off-flavours in your beer by stressing your yeast somehow. Did you aerate the wort prior to pitching the yeast? If so, how? How much yeast came with the kit? Was it liquid or dry? If it was dry, did you rehydrate it prior to pitching, or just sprinkle it directly into the wort? Did you employ any kind of temperature control to the beer during fermentation? If so, how? What temperature did the beer ferment at?
 
What's in this kit? (Craft Range Citra IPA Kit )
This kit comes with 3kg hopped LME, 650g sugar, 100g priming sugar, generous 60g (citra) hop pellets, muslin bag, 1pk West Coast ale yeast (15 grams)


I did not know that the malt extract was pre-hopped until I had read the above.

I added an extra 100% sugar, so it was 1300 grams altogether.

Along with extra yeast. 26 grams altogether.

Then with hopping I added the 60 grams of Citra with 2 oz of Galaxy, as well as an oz of lemon verbena leaf. the hops were left for 4 days.

Then I added an extra 50 grams of Citra, and 50 grams of Equinox for 5 days.

The best way to describe the sour/bitter smell is probably something similar to the smell of whiskey or another similar spirit. Maybe "acidic" is a better description.

I tasted it, and that smell comes through in the flavour, but its not nearly as strong. so I'm sure in time the beer will be fine to drink, but it wasn't what I was aiming for. I couldn't taste any super hoppy flavours.

I was aiming for an imperial IPA, but maybe have ended up with an english bitter? :)

Thanks for all the replies guys! :tank:

Is this your first brew?
 
Did you boil the extract at all? If so, for how long?

Even if you did, that shouldn't have increased the bitterness too much, since the description of the kit seems to indicate that the pre-hopped LME only contains bittering hops anyway, relying on your dry hops to add the aroma. Since you (correctly) didn't add the dry hops to the boil, but added them later, then the bitterness should have come out relatively close to the recipe's specifications.

The nature and variety of descriptions you're using ("whiskey" and "acidic", "sour/tart") descriptions suggest to me that maybe you've inadvertently produced some off-flavours in your beer by stressing your yeast somehow. Did you aerate the wort prior to pitching the yeast? If so, how? How much yeast came with the kit? Was it liquid or dry? If it was dry, did you rehydrate it prior to pitching, or just sprinkle it directly into the wort? Did you employ any kind of temperature control to the beer during fermentation? If so, how? What temperature did the beer ferment at?

No I didn't boil the extract. The instructions state that you add 3 litres of hot/boiled water to the extract and sugar, mix it up until it is completely diluted, then slowly add room temperature water (22 litres) all the while mixing thoroughly. Then sprinkle the dry yeast on top without mixing.

I think you are more than likely correct about those off-flavours being created by stressing my yeast. I read about stressing yeast by adding too much sugar for the yeast to be successfully able to work on. Can a fluctuating temperature cause this too?

I aerated the worth quite a bit. All i used was a mixing paddle, but I mixed it up so much that there was an overflowing foam coming out of the fermentation bucket.

15 grams of yeast was what was stated in the recipe, but I added 26 grams (almost 2 packets). I didn't re-hydrate it.

The correct fermentation temperature for this recipe/type of yeast was 20-24 degrees celsius/ 68 - 75 farenheit. After first preparation, the temperature would have been 23-24 degrees, slowly going down to a steady 20 (20 is the perfect temperature). But at times this went to as low as 18. When it got so cold I would use a sleeping bag to try and keep it from getting any lower, as the yeast would stop working at 15. Once or twice I left it beside a radiator, with the temperature going back up to 24. This quick change in temperature would likely stress the yeast? I am sure that it didn't go below 18, and not above 24.
 
2nd. My first was the same kit with added lime zest before bottling. Turned out lovely. Drank 40 pints in 2 weeks! :D

My advice is always to get a few brews under your belt doing nothing but following the instructions to a tee. Then after you have the process down, and know why you're doing what you're doing, then start tweaking recipes.
 
I think temperature was probably your problem. Yeast are very sensitive little critters, and if you let 'em get too excited (hot), they throw off a very different set of flavours than when they're comfortably working away. Moreover, if you subject them to varying temperatures, they get confused and stressed, throwing off different flavours. I think what you're likely tasting and interpreting as "bitterness" is really just potent esters and phenols (and possibly fusels, that "hot" alcohol bite) from stressing your yeast. It sounds like you aerated sufficiently and pitched enough yeast, so I would work on stabilizing those fermentation temperatures and I think you'll notice a big improvement.
 
i agree with kombat. i don't know what kit this was, but 18 is not a bad temp to be fermenting at. were you measuring ambient air temps or fermenter temps? the reaction of the yeast eating all those sugars produces lots of heat. so if your ambient temps were 18 at the lowest, around 20 average, then inside the fermenter they were likely around 22-23 at the lowest, 24-25, maybe more, at the warmest. When I was fermenting without a ferment chamber, I would try to keep ambient temps around 17 for at least the first 5 days.

But I will say that I just kegged an Oktoberfest hybrid that had a pretty "hot" alcoholic flavor before kegging. It was already at the top of the abv range for the style, but then I got really good efficiency, and good attenuation from the yeast. But after it was fully carbonated, that flavor was completely gone. So give it some time. It might mellow out a bit. Never judge a beer until it's completely finished. And I honestly never dump a beer until I've let it bottle condition for many, many months.
 
I would say that you probably thinned out the beer too much with all that sugar and accentuated the bitterness. It's also possible the herbs you dry hopped with added some bitterness.

1300 grams is a lot for that extract amount
 
i agree with kombat. i don't know what kit this was, but 18 is not a bad temp to be fermenting at. were you measuring ambient air temps or fermenter temps? the reaction of the yeast eating all those sugars produces lots of heat. so if your ambient temps were 18 at the lowest, around 20 average, then inside the fermenter they were likely around 22-23 at the lowest, 24-25, maybe more, at the warmest. When I was fermenting without a ferment chamber, I would try to keep ambient temps around 17 for at least the first 5 days.

But I will say that I just kegged an Oktoberfest hybrid that had a pretty "hot" alcoholic flavor before kegging. It was already at the top of the abv range for the style, but then I got really good efficiency, and good attenuation from the yeast. But after it was fully carbonated, that flavor was completely gone. So give it some time. It might mellow out a bit. Never judge a beer until it's completely finished. And I honestly never dump a beer until I've let it bottle condition for many, many months.


The type of yeast used needed a perfect temperature of 20 degrees. 24 max.

15 would stop the yeast from changing the sugars.

I had it between 18 - 24, with some extreme fluctuation at times. This was the readings of a thermo strip on the side of the fermentation bucket.
 
The type of yeast used needed a perfect temperature of 20 degrees. 24 max.

15 would stop the yeast from changing the sugars.

I had it between 18 - 24, with some extreme fluctuation at times. This was the readings of a thermo strip on the side of the fermentation bucket.

That's what I wanted to know, was if this was ambient temps, or fermenter temps. As I stated, the 15c was ambient temps, not fermenter temps.

But you have misunderstood one thing, 15 will not stop the yeast from working. If you start out at 20, and then it drops to 15 in a matter of hours, this could possibly shock the yeast and make them stop working. But if that was the case, you could likely just warm the fermenter back up to 20, and rouse the yeast a bit, and they might start working again. If your yeast temps are 15 and you pitch it into 15-degree wort, they will indeed consume the sugars. That oktoberfest hybrid I talked about earlier (a lager style fermented with an ale yeast) was fermented at 14.5.

Also, there is no such thing as perfect temperature. There is usually a wide range given, and an optimal range given.

What do you mean by extreme fluctuations? Like from 18-24 in a matter of hours, or a matter of a days?

Either way, just bottle this thing when it's time and see how it turns out. If it tastes like **** after it's carbonated (around 3 weeks), then let it age for a few months. If it still tastes like ****, then let it age for some more months. Then if it still tastes like **** and you need the space the bottles are taking up, keep a six-pack back and age it for a couple of years.
 
That's what I wanted to know, was if this was ambient temps, or fermenter temps. As I stated, the 15c was ambient temps, not fermenter temps.

But you have misunderstood one thing, 15 will not stop the yeast from working. If you start out at 20, and then it drops to 15 in a matter of hours, this could possibly shock the yeast and make them stop working. But if that was the case, you could likely just warm the fermenter back up to 20, and rouse the yeast a bit, and they might start working again. If your yeast temps are 15 and you pitch it into 15-degree wort, they will indeed consume the sugars. That oktoberfest hybrid I talked about earlier (a lager style fermented with an ale yeast) was fermented at 14.5.

Also, there is no such thing as perfect temperature. There is usually a wide range given, and an optimal range given.

What do you mean by extreme fluctuations? Like from 18-24 in a matter of hours, or a matter of a days?

Either way, just bottle this thing when it's time and see how it turns out. If it tastes like **** after it's carbonated (around 3 weeks), then let it age for a few months. If it still tastes like ****, then let it age for some more months. Then if it still tastes like **** and you need the space the bottles are taking up, keep a six-pack back and age it for a couple of years.

for this particular type of yeast, 20 degree fermentation leads to them releasing more desirable flavours. They were described as a kind of bananna flavour. Above 24 degrees and these flavours start to change. Below 20 and they give much less of those desired flavours.

I still haven't bottled up yet. i took out the hops bag but i've left the beer in the fermentation bucket. bottling tonight though.

Thanks again for all the replies. And i hope people have learnt from this thread, like i have.
 
Update: The more carbonation, the less of that undesirable taste was present.

Gave some to friends and they thought it was nice. It just wasn't what i was aiming for.

The moral of the story - don't use lemon verbena leaf again (or at least so much), and don't heat up your brew too fast.
 
Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice in desperation to try to resolve a repeated issue I've had with my homebrew. Wondered whether this thread would be a good place to post...

The flavour I'm getting is massively bitter, but it has a really bad taste to it. Not like a big iipa, more like a really really green beer. The flavour overwhelms all other flavours in the beer. It also has a slight smell to it too.

Other symptoms: not sure about this brew (it's only been bottled 3 weeks) but in other batches I've had really over carbed gushers. I think largely because I have under pitched yeast and unfinished beers have then fermented in the bottle and created what I think is carbonic acid flavour. All of those batches have had the same flavour in that my recent batch had.

My recent batch was a pale ale, expected OG was # and actual was # but I used the exact amount of grain, exact mash temp and time.

I've detailed my brew process as it was for my last batch (which had this issue) in the hopes that this will help someone to help me work it out!

Cheers guys

Brew process
- Sterilise/clean with VWP (similar to PBW) - I take everything apart inc taps, then rinse
- Use tap water - cold - from Manchester uk - and heat to mash temp. Our water is known to be quite soft and I've had 2 fantastic IPAs and 3 good said one from it (with 1 teaspoon of gypsum) turn out great in the past
(I mash in with 25L water as its BIAB)
- add brew bag and gradually add grains when water had reached mash temp (I use BIAB inside a 32L/ 5uk gallon plastic brew kettle)
- cover over with the lid (this has a small hole to vent steam) and leave to sit in bag for mash time - always 60 minutes
- sparge - this has varied over time. I have almost always run off all the wort, then poured it straight back in to the run over the grains - then drain off. Then, run about 4L water at 77c slowly over grains and drain off
(This last batch my friend and I circulated the 77c sparge water repeatedly through the grains a bit more - this could have been over sparging)
- bring to the boil and then after hot break, add hops to recipe (recent batch was only meant to be 40IBU or less) and boil for 1 hour. NB I always have the lid mostly over - at least half covered - to try to keep liquid from evaporating. I've learned recently I shouldn't cover it.
- add (sterilised) copper chilling coil @10mins
- at flameout - add 0mins hops and steep for 10 mins before turning on chiller. All 5 batches I have successfully done in the past I didn't steep and chilled right away.
- cover kettle during steep and period of chilling to avoid oxidation
- when chilled, add to primary fermenter (bucket), splash as much as possible, pitch yeast and put lid on - then shake up as much as possible
- leave at around 18-20c for fermentation time
- ferment for usually 10 days before dry hopping for about 7 days - all in primary - pellet hops in hop socks/mesh bags that have been sanitised and rinsed (as don't want VWP in the beer)
- transfer into bottling bucket with tap and bottling stick - all of which have had hot water soak with VWP - and bottle

That's pretty much it. I figured I'd had at least a few infected batches, as they end up with the same terrible bitter taste and are massively over carbed. Although often I haven't hit exact OG or FG with these brews so figured it might be that. However with recent batch OG was too high, FG was spot on, stayed stable for 10 days before bottling.

Sorry that's so long but I'm dying to get my process right as I've made some great beers and know I can do it - so don't know where I'm going wrong!

Cheers!

Chris
 
Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice in desperation to try to resolve a repeated issue I've had with my homebrew. Wondered whether this thread would be a good place to post...

The flavour I'm getting is massively bitter, but it has a really bad taste to it. Not like a big iipa, more like a really really green beer. The flavour overwhelms all other flavours in the beer. It also has a slight smell to it too.

Other symptoms: not sure about this brew (it's only been bottled 3 weeks) but in other batches I've had really over carbed gushers. I think largely because I have under pitched yeast and unfinished beers have then fermented in the bottle and created what I think is carbonic acid flavour. All of those batches have had the same flavour in that my recent batch had.

My recent batch was a pale ale, expected OG was # and actual was # but I used the exact amount of grain, exact mash temp and time.

I've detailed my brew process as it was for my last batch (which had this issue) in the hopes that this will help someone to help me work it out!

Cheers guys

Brew process
- Sterilise/clean with VWP (similar to PBW) - I take everything apart inc taps, then rinse
- Use tap water - cold - from Manchester uk - and heat to mash temp. Our water is known to be quite soft and I've had 2 fantastic IPAs and 3 good said one from it (with 1 teaspoon of gypsum) turn out great in the past
(I mash in with 25L water as its BIAB)
- add brew bag and gradually add grains when water had reached mash temp (I use BIAB inside a 32L/ 5uk gallon plastic brew kettle)
- cover over with the lid (this has a small hole to vent steam) and leave to sit in bag for mash time - always 60 minutes
- sparge - this has varied over time. I have almost always run off all the wort, then poured it straight back in to the run over the grains - then drain off. Then, run about 4L water at 77c slowly over grains and drain off
(This last batch my friend and I circulated the 77c sparge water repeatedly through the grains a bit more - this could have been over sparging)
- bring to the boil and then after hot break, add hops to recipe (recent batch was only meant to be 40IBU or less) and boil for 1 hour. NB I always have the lid mostly over - at least half covered - to try to keep liquid from evaporating. I've learned recently I shouldn't cover it.
- add (sterilised) copper chilling coil @10mins
- at flameout - add 0mins hops and steep for 10 mins before turning on chiller. All 5 batches I have successfully done in the past I didn't steep and chilled right away.
- cover kettle during steep and period of chilling to avoid oxidation
- when chilled, add to primary fermenter (bucket), splash as much as possible, pitch yeast and put lid on - then shake up as much as possible
- leave at around 18-20c for fermentation time
- ferment for usually 10 days before dry hopping for about 7 days - all in primary - pellet hops in hop socks/mesh bags that have been sanitised and rinsed (as don't want VWP in the beer)
- transfer into bottling bucket with tap and bottling stick - all of which have had hot water soak with VWP - and bottle

That's pretty much it. I figured I'd had at least a few infected batches, as they end up with the same terrible bitter taste and are massively over carbed. Although often I haven't hit exact OG or FG with these brews so figured it might be that. However with recent batch OG was too high, FG was spot on, stayed stable for 10 days before bottling.

Sorry that's so long but I'm dying to get my process right as I've made some great beers and know I can do it - so don't know where I'm going wrong!

Cheers!

Chris

You probably could've just created a new thread, but I suppose it works here too.
The only thing that stands out to me as far as a reason for a bitter flavor is that you didn't rinse the cleaner/steriliser.

From their website:
I forgot to rinse out the equipment. Will my beer/wine be OK?
All equipment should be rinsed before use. Anything left in a fermenting vessel will affect the taste.

As far as brewing techniques, though, some questions/comments:

1) Are you saying that you pour the wort back over the grains after transferring it into the BK? After your mash is complete, just give it a really good stir, then transfer the wort out, then pour in your sparge water. What you're doing is called batch sparging. Then when you pour in the sparge water, stir the ever-living crap out of it, and transfer that into the BK. There's not really any need to be doing all that transferring and re-pouring. It is slightly possible that your sparge water pH is getting too high, and combined with 77C temp, could possibly be drawing out some tannins, but I doubt it. Though you may look at getting a water report.

2) If you can, try to keep that lid off during the boil. You want the vapor to escape. Even while chilling, I would have the lid off. This will allow you to stir while chilling to be able to chill as quickly as possible. But also the compounds that could possibly form DMS will still be driven off while there's steam coming off the wort. The hot-side aeration (HSA) thing has been proven by quite a number of homebrewers to not really be a problem at our scale. Especially if the beer is being consumed fairly quickly (like less than 6 months). I always start stirring hard when I start chilling. You really do want lots of oxygen going with the wort into the fermentor. Though if you're really worried about HSA, you should start stirring really hard at about 40C.

3) If you don't cool before you do the hopstand addition, you probably need to account for about another 5 IBUs or so. That number will go up the more hops you have in the boil, aka the more IBUs you're getting out of the boil. But those extra 5 shouldn't be causing an overwhelming amount of bitterness.

4) Even if you're under-pitching, if you make sure your FG is stable (by getting 2 similar readings that are 2 days apart), it's likely your yeast has finished fermentation. Though, of course you want to use a calculator to make sure you're pitching the correct amount of viable yeast each time to ensure a healthy fermentation with the appropriate levels of flavor compounds. So if you're constantly getting gushers, then you need to start making sure you're using the correct amount of priming sugar, or you're getting an infection somewhere.

5) Again, not going to cause your major bitterness problem, but you want to make sure that 18-20C is the temperature of the beer. If it's room temperature, depending upon the yeast and the OG of the beer, the fermentor temperature can be 5-9C hotter than that. Check out this thread for proof of that: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=553916

Hope this helps. The biggest concern though, for that extreme bitterness off-flavor, seems to be that you're not rinsing off that VWP from your bottles.
 
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