Bitter...what did I do wrong?

[schilkedog]

I just finished brewing a Cerveza Imperial

Steeped grains for 20min @150 F
5 1/2 lbs dry light malt
1/2 lb corn sugar
1 1/2 oz Cascade hops
boiled for an hour
1tsp Irish Moss last 15 min
1/2 oz sterling last 5 min

White Labs German Ale yeast
Fermented 13 days @ 60F

OG 1.058
FG 1.016

It's in the bottling bucket now but it's bitter.
Why? and can I do anything about it.
The sediment in the bottom of the fermenter is also kind of chunky.

Thanks for any help I can get.

 

[UpNorth]

I've got Black Dog Ale in my keg carbonating that seems too bitter for hops I used--I've been told to have some patience as beer is still green

 

[homebrewer_99]

Hop bitterness will decrease with time.

One thing I can say is your beer is not done fermenting. Based upon my general practice, which bases yeast attenuation at 75%, your FG should be 14, not 16. Until it reaches 14 I would not bottle.

Your best bet now would be to place it in a secondary and allow it to ferment out some more and clear before bottling.

 

[BigKahuna]

Take a deep breath and bottle.

Post back in about 3 weeks.

It will go like this.

My beer had me scared at first...I almost didn't bottle it. Boy I'm glad I did! Everyone was right, Time does turn green beer into GOLD!"

 

[BigKahuna]

Sorry...
Missed the 1.06 Gravity part....Give it some time in a secondary, that will help a heap too. + it will help prevent exploding bottles.

 

[schilkedog]

I've already added the bottling sugar. Will it still ferment OK?

 

[BigKahuna]

Yup
It's gonna up the ABV by like... not much. You'll be fine.

 

[Pf Brew]

Did you do a full or partial boil?

 

[schilkedog]

Sorry, I'm not sure. I steeped the grains and boiled the rest.

 

[Pf Brew]

Did you only boil 2-3 gallons and then add 'plain' water to the fermenter to bring your volume up to 5 gallons?

 

[schilkedog]

Yes. I boiled 2 gallons then added the rest as cold water.

 

[Pf Brew]

In that case you should be fine with time. Now understand, I am no expert or anything but the reason I asked if you utilized a full boil vs. a partial boil (FYI) is boiling the full volume increases the hop utilization due to the lower boil gravity, thereby increasing the bittering ability of the hops. (that's info I wish I knew from the get go so I thought I might share, if you did not know)

Cheers!

 

[homebrewer_99]

It's only a little bit of sugar. It'll ferment out with no problems.

 

[schilkedog]

Do I need to add more bottling sugar at this point or will the sugar I added last time be enough?

 

[Beerthoven]

You need to add more bottling sugar. Do you have any? I normally use dextrose (corn sugar) when I bottle.

This is how I do it:
1. Clean and sanitize bottles, caps, bottling bucket, siphon, bottling wand
2. Measure out 3/4 cup of corn sugar.
3. Boil sugar with 1.5 cups of water for 10 minutes. Don't let it boil dry.
4. Allow sugar solution to cool until the pan is luke warm to the touch.
5. Pour sugar solution into bottling bucket.
6. Siphon beer from fermenter into the bottling bucket, stirring slowly once in a while to ensure that the sugar solution is well mixed into the beer.
7. Fill bottles.
8. Cap bottles.
9. Store for 3 weeks at room temperature.
10. Put 2 or 4 bottles in refrigerator for 3 days.
11. Drink and enjoy!

Note that I do not have a bottling bucket with a spigot, that's why I use a siphon. If you do have a bucket with a spigot, then just attach your hose and wand to the spigot and you are good to go.

Read this, it will help: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html