Batch too Bitter....

[SwAMi75]

I attempted a clone of Old Speckeled Hen, and it's been sitting in the bottle for about 2 1/2 weeks now. It seems to be maturing some, but damn is it bitter! And not hop bitter, either.

It was a pretty standard extract recipe, using a little wheat DME on top on the light DME in the boil....about 3 oz hops. Pitched Wyeast liquid Irish Ale yeast.

I only did one thing a little funky.....when I went to prime for bottling, I realized I didn't have enough corn sugar, so I mixed it with a little light DME*. Carbonation seems OK, but again, it's friggin' bitter and smells like pee when warm!

Think it's contaminated, or just needs some more time in the bottle?

*Now that I think about it, it might have been leftover wheat DME.....I gotta start taking notes!

 

[rightwingnut]

DME's fine for priming....just takes longer. I had the same nasty bitterness in one of my brews...let it sit another week or two...it gets better.

 

[smorris]

I had a batch that would strip paint, it was so bitter. It was drinkable after a month and after 2 months it was quite good. Time is your friend, just set it aside and forget about it for a month or so.

 

[SwAMi75]

DME's fine for priming....just takes longer. I had the same nasty bitterness in one of my brews...let it sit another week or two...it gets better.

Yeah, I just wondered if there were any ill effects from mixing corn sugar with DME as I did.

I agree that time should cure it, but dammit I want it now!!!!

Actually I just tried another one (tried the last about 4 days ago) and it was much less bitter, but very yeasty. I'm not going to touch another until mid-May, when I get back from my trip to the USAF NCO Academy. I should have a good crop by then.....my OSH clone (bottled), a high-gravity porter (bottled), and the Bavarian orange-coriander weize (secondary....will be bottled this weekend).

Pretty good motivation, eh?