Bitter not very bitter -what to do

[jamesjoystick]

Am brewing an bitter (partial mash)

22 litres, 5.8 gallons
3 kg Weyermann - Bavarian Pilsner extract (no hops)
1 kg pale ale malt
0,4 kg crystal malt
Target hops 60 min
Chalenger 15 min
Northdown 15 min
SafAle s-04

Not sure what went wrong but I sampled the beer today and it was very mild on hops/bitterness. Is there any way to fix this?

I figured that this would be a good time to test dry hopping and added 35 grams of saaz in the secondary. Won't get any bitterness with that but atleast some hoppiness.

 

[bbrim]

I do get a little bit of bitterness when I dry hop. Often a beer won't taste very bitter when you sample it, and then have a bit after it carbonates. I wouldn't worry until they have properly conditioned in the bottle.

 

[brewbama]

I associate the taste "bitter" as "hoppiness". In that case an English Bitter is suppose to be less "bitter" than an IPA, isn't it? Are you shooting for more "bitterness" than an IPA?


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[Grinder12000]

You got about 36 IBUs going on so you are in the ball park for en English bitter (??)

When did you taste it?? Has it fermented yet? at bottling? It will change a LOT when completely fermented. You can never really judge a lighter beer before it's been conditioned.

 

[jamesjoystick]

I have done few batches and usually they are bittery when fermented. Obviously it grows with time. But this one was very mild - perhaps I had some problem with the partial mashing - it was my second time doing it.

 

[brewmeister13]

Not sure why you are experiencing lower that expected bitterness, but both raising carbonation level and adding a bit of sulfate at bottling will increase the perceived bitterness. I would go easy on the sulfate though, you could also ruin the batch completely, by making it taste minerally, if you over dose it.

Obviously it grows with time.

As far as this goes, it is quite the opposite. Hop bitterness degrades with age. How quickly corresponds to the storage and handling, but it goes down regardless with age.

 

[jamesjoystick]

Yes it degrades with age but I really meant the time from fermentation to when the bottle fermentation is done. After that it slowly degrades. Tasted some beers that were years old and usually all the hops disappear.

 

[Glynn]

You could us some gypsum or do a hop tea at bottling

 

[jamesjoystick]

Hop tea! Great Idea. No idea what's "gypsum" - will google. Thanks.

 

[Glynn]

No idea what's "gypsum" - will google. Thanks.

gypsum = dry wall or better known as calcium sulfate.

 

[brewmeister13]

Yeah, it's how you would increase your sulfate content. I wouldn't add drywall, however.😉

 

[jamesjoystick]

I think I'll go with the hop-tea, would be interesting experiment.