My beer is always bitter.

[Mijori04]

New to brewing. Made three batches 2 kits 1 all grain. IBUs for all three were suppsed to be under 25. I have know idea where I am going wrong. I sanitize everything with hot water and one step cleanser. I monitor my temps every 15 min in boil I steep at appropriate temp and time. I use tap water and a Turkey fryer. Sorry if I'm all over the place just trying to get all the info out there. Any help is appreciated. Oh for all fermentation periods 1 week primary 1 week secondary and atleast 1 week bottle.

 

[BigFloyd]

What you're tasting is probably not hop bittering.

First, your time periods are not long enough. Next time, give it three weeks primary, skip the secondary and then three weeks in the bottles (at room temp).

At what temperature do you 1) pitch yeast and 2) ferment (as measured on the bucket, not the air)?

Also, switch to StarSan.

 

[kh54s10]

You might try a batch with bottled spring water.
What temperature are you fermenting. Low to mid sixties is best. Use a swamp cooler to control your fermentation temperature, that is the wort temperature not the air temperature.
Bottle condition for 3 weeks at about 70 degrees then cool one. You might just be drinking your beer too young.
Get some Starsan or Iodaphor they are much better sanitizers than One Step.

 

[brewkinger]

Couple of preliminary thoughts.
Water could be the culprit. Is it municipal water or well water?
Obtain a copy of water report from city or send a sample out to be tested. Ward Laboratories has a brewing profile available for less than $40. Check them out atwww.wardlabs.com

You may want to lengthen the times in various stages. 3 weeks is a little bit short in my opinion for most beers and you may just be getting "green" beer.

 

[Mijori04]

I pitch my yeast in at fermentation temp. The fermentation is what the directions tell me. Also I have buddies that brew and they only ferment for a week and bottle a week and theirs always tastes great.

 

[zachattack]

Are you carefully pouring the beer off the yeast when you serve? Yeast sediment can definitely taste bitter.

 

[Mijori04]

64° to start fermentation and generally goes up to about 68°

 

[Mijori04]

Yes I pour slow and leave the yeast in the bottom of the bottle. My friends who like IPAs like my beer it's just I'm Not a hoppy bitter guy.

 

[brewkinger]

I pitch my yeast in at fermentation temp. The fermentation is what the directions tell me. Also I have buddies that brew and they only ferment for a week and bottle a week and theirs always tastes great.

If what you are saying is that you pitch the yeast when your temps are in the range that the directions tell me, then you are not doing enough.
That is only part of the process. The key is to keep the fermenting beer within the temp range. The process of fermentation is exothermic, which means that it generates additional heat. So for instance if the ambient air temperature in the room where the beer is fermenting is 68 degrees, you can bet that the internal temperature of the beer is 5-10 degrees warmer. Especially during the more active initial fermentation phase.
Temps that are at the upper limit and above the range for the yeast can reall provide some off flavors that do not usually go away.

I cannot speak to what is going on with your friend's beers, but I would check and see what variations there are between your process and theirs. Do they use the same water?
Do they control ferment temps?

That is where I would start.

 

[Mijori04]

Yeah they use well water and another uses a reverse osmosis system in their brews I use city water. Other then that they use star san I use one step.

 

[jrodder]

In my experience, my city water was highly alkaline, which led to some crazy bitterness in my pales. I only really considered this when I started with the AG brewing, which made it more pronounced. Also the second part was I just finally made a dark chocolate porter, which tastes great... that's because of the acidity of the malt.

 

[brewkinger]

Yeah they use well water and another uses a reverse osmosis system in their brews I use city water. Other then that they use star san I use one step.

OK, so to summarize. Your buddies use different water than you do and you claim that their beer tastes better than yours.
Your water may be the culprit.

In case you missed the other duplicate thread post, but to reiterate:
You say that you are using One Step... which is a cleaner NOT a sanitizer.
They are using StarSan.... which is a sanitizer.

So switch to StarSan if you are trying to sanitize your equipment and take a look at your water profile to see if you can add stuff to make your beers taste better.

 

[jungatheart]

I'm having trouble believing your buddies only allow two weeks total fermenting then one week in the bottle. Many of my beers haven't achieved final gravity readings at two weeks so unless they're using some procedure I'm unaware of, their beers aren't done yet. I'll bet they have plenty of carbonation.

 

[BigFloyd]

I'm having trouble believing your buddies only allow two weeks total fermenting then one week in the bottle. Many of my beers haven't achieved final gravity readings at two weeks so unless they're using some procedure I'm unaware of, their beers aren't done yet. I'll bet they have plenty of carbonation.

Actually, the buddies are claiming that two weeks total (one week fermenting, one week bottle carb/condition) is producing great beer (sounds like the Mr. Beer ad, doesn't it? ). I'm sorry, but I must call B.S. on that one. What the thread starter is almost certainly tasting is immature beer since it appears that he pitches and ferments at a reasonable temp.

Most of mine are ready to cold crash after two weeks (at FG plus a few days for yeast to clean up). I often let them go a bit longer. I do oxygenate the wort (if using liquid) and make sure to pitch a healthy amount of yeast whether it's dry (rehydrated) or liquid (stir plate starter) which probably shortens the time a little.

When bottle conditioning, I'll sometimes give in to temptation and sample at two weeks if it's a simple beer (like a SMASH), but prefer 3-4 for most and much longer for more complex brews.

Do ya want it fast, or do ya want it good?

 

[Mijori04]

I would like to thank everyone for there suggestions and comments. I am going to change my approach as to fermentation times ,water type, and use starsan. I also just changed to a electric element in my brew pot to control temps better.



Again I appreciate all the help hopefully I will be able to return the favor for someone some day.

 

[hops2it]

Sounds like you've already made some decisions but figured I'd weigh in with some ideas. Change one variable at a time, I'd for SURE start with the water. Use RO or bottled spring water for your next batch, that may be the largest problem as it was for me when I started brewing. Our city water tastes great but it sucks for brewing due to its chemistry.

Also, I cannot recommend strongly enough to quit going off predetermined times for finishing a beer and instead purchase a hydrometer and KNOW that you are reaching an FG that makes sense and that is stable. You can certainly go the "3 week" route and that will likely cover the vast majority of brews but I still like to know. And in the process, you can often times cut down the time to glass by knowing that you have indeed reached the finish in a lesser time.

Sounds like you're working in a good temp range for most yeasts but anything you can do to ensure optimal fermentation temp is huge. Good luck!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

First thing that stands out to me is that you mention using One Step as your no rinse sani. One Step will leave a film behind, and IIRC when I tasted One Step (yes, I tasted some) it was quite bitter. Tasted like a crushed up pill. One Step is a cleanser, like powdered brewers wash or Oxi free. It may sanitize things, but it needs to be rinsed off which negates sanitation. Get some starsan.

Second thing is your times. One-two weeks in a fermenter is ok, but one week in bottles and that beer is surely too young to be anything but "green". Green as in "green apple", aka: acetaldehyde. Green apples are bitter, right? Acetaldehyde should dissipate and be non existent once the beer is properly conditioned. Give your beers a few weeks or so in the bottle.

 

[evrose]

Oh for all fermentation periods 1 week primary 1 week secondary and atleast 1 week bottle.

Yikes... This might be the source of your problem. A week in primary is pretty short. My advice: Skip the secondary completely... there's rarely a need for it. Give your beer 2-3 weeks in primary (but really the only measurement to determine if fermentation is done are consistent hydrometer readings over several days).

Also, a week in bottles is rarely enough (with a few exceptions). I don't touch mine for at least 2 weeks, sometimes more for bigger or darker beers.

Edit: I hadn't read the entire thread before posting... it looks like this was covered already. Carry on.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Yikes... This might be the source of your problem. A week in primary is pretty short. My advice: Skip the secondary completely... there's rarely a need for it. Give your beer 2-3 weeks in primary (but really the only measurement to determine if fermentation is done are consistent hydrometer readings over several days).

Also, a week in bottles is rarely enough (with a few exceptions). I don't touch mine for at least 2 weeks, sometimes more for bigger or darker beers.

Edit: I hadn't read the entire thread before posting... it looks like this was covered already. Carry on.

Still good points. Patience is key in this hobby/craft.

 

[kh54s10]

To further the topic of bottle conditioning. I have always tested one beer at 2 weeks in the bottles. Most had carbonation, some had almost none and ALL of the beers tasted better at 3 weeks and longer. That is three weeks at about 70 degrees then chilled for at least 24 hours.

I still think a lot of the problem is too short of time in each step. Water may also be contributing.