Bitter bitter

[aaronwillen]

I brewed a coffee stout a few weeks ago. I went a little overboard with the coffee (just under a pound for 5 gallons in a strainer bag in the 2ndary) and tasted it after about an hour and it was horribly bitter. I let it sit for another week and just tasted it and it is still insanely bitter. In fact, it practically tastes like black coffee. Anyone ever have this issue? Will that bitterness/overpowering coffee flavor mellow out at all? I am going to continue to let it sit obviously..but I am a little upset I may have screwed up this batch.

 

[maida7]

5 lbs of coffee! That's an expensive batch!

You could blend it with another batch.

 

[maida7]

PS: Why is this thread in All Grain?

 

[aaronwillen]

It was an all grain batch...?

 

[aaronwillen]

1 pound of coffee for a 5 gallon batch of stout.

 

[McKinley]

I over-hopped a Kolsch one time and it was unpalatable due to bitterness. I gave it about 3-4 months conditioning at room temp and it turned out to be a great beer. I have no idea if this also applies to coffee, though.

As I see it, the two options you have are to:

1. Age it and taste periodically to see if it is getting better. There are a lot of tales on this site about people just about to toss a beer, then deciding to age it instead, and it turning out to be the best beer they've tasted 6 months down the line.

2. Throw it away and use less coffee next time.

 

[aaronwillen]

I definitely wont throw it out. It just sucks that its hogging a carboy and im purely kegging these days. Guess I should start saving some bottles! I had a tripel that I brewed about 1.5 years ago that was bottled and it really changed over the year or so I was periodically drinking it. I know the bitterness will mellow out to some degree...or get toned down by the carbonation so hopefully its enough to make it palatable!