Impact of diacetyl on bitterness perception

[eddiewould]

Does the presence of diacetyl in beer have any impact on bitterness perception in your opinion?

Reason I ask is I've brewed an English IPA which should be around 52 IBUs (OG 1.064) however it doesn't taste bitter at all - it just tastes SUPER fruity. The yeast was Wyeast 1968 and it's down to 1.016 so I assume the gravity is about as low as it's going to go (only been 5 days).

Basically, I'm hoping after a diacetyl rest my beer will start tasting a bit more bitter?

 

[Yooper]

Does the presence of diacetyl in beer have any impact on bitterness perception in your opinion?

Reason I ask is I've brewed an English IPA which should be around 52 IBUs (OG 1.064) however it doesn't taste bitter at all - it just tastes SUPER fruity. The yeast was Wyeast 1968 and it's down to 1.016 so I assume the gravity is about as low as it's going to go (only been 5 days).

Basically, I'm hoping after a diacetyl rest my beer will start tasting a bit more bitter?

Do you taste diacetyl? I've never noticed that diacetyl (or fruity esters) decrease the perception of bitterness although I suppose if you have a ton of esters you could perhaps think of that fruitiness as 'sweet' and so the mind thinks "less bitter". Diacetyl is a different ballgame than esters though.

 

[bobeer]

I always got a butterscotch taste and smell from diacetyl which I suppose could be interpreted as sweet.

I had this happen to a stout I was fermenting in my basement in the dead of winter. The yeast wanted a temp of about 64 degrees F and the basement was about 61 or so which wasn't warm enough for the yeast to clean things up. I moved the beer upstairs to about 70 degrees F and carefully sort of swirled it up-without splashing- to rouse the yeast. I left it for about a week or so and the diacetyl faded.

 

[eddiewould]

It's got a pronounced honey aroma and maybe a hint of butterscotch, but definitely not a savoury popcorn butter. At least that's how it tastes to me.