Hi so I just brewed a all grain batch of stout. When I tasted the wort it had a bitter taste on the back of my tongue. I mashed at 155 to 156 which was a little higher than the recommend 154. I have a keggle mash tun so when doing ten gallon batches I leave it on the shut off burner because I can no longer lift it off. Also I added too much dark malt by an ounce or so for a ten gallon batch. So either one of these could of caused me some problems with the bitter taste. Does anyone have some insight as to why I got the bitter taste? It is fermenting now and I am considering dry hopping to cover up the bitter taste if it is still present after it ferments. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I don't think mashing at 156 would give you any bitterness, and one extra ounce of dark malt in a 10G batch shouldn't have ruined it either. Have you brewed this recipe before and know that the taste of the wort is abnormal?
In my humble and not very experienced opinion, i'd say that you should just leave it alone. If you're really concerned, taste your gravity sample in a few weeks once fermentation is done. If you still don't like it, leave it alone for another month and see if it ages out.
From that point, either leave it alone more, or if you keg, keg it up, carb, cold condition (i.e. leave it alone) and sample. If you bottle, i'd just wait more.
All of my beer has changed pretty substantially in 30-60 days after brew day. Hop aroma and bitterness fade some, but for beers that are not that hoppy they just get better. If you start dry-hopping, or adding anything now, you are more likely to make it worse than make it better, IMHO.
Bottom line: I'd say your best bet is to just wait it out. You can always dry hop or add something later if you want, but you can't take it back.
