Bitter!

[henrybeggs]

Just finished my first American wheat and bottled it. After tasting it, it came out much more bitter than anticipated. I added the zest of four blood oranges and the fruit of two, I'm afraid I included too much of the white portion of the orange. Is it possible that the bitterness will dissipate with bottle conditioning?

 

[DonMagee]

I don't know about orange zest, but hop bitterness does fade with time.

 

[henrybeggs]

There was also a large amount of trub, like an inch and a half along the bottom, not sure if that's a problem.

 

[bpnc9702]

Was the bitter from the fruit or hops? I haven't experienced this myself as I am relatively new. I know I used a tarty cherry mixture in a brown ale I made a few weeks back - at the beginning the tart was very pronounced - after a few more weeks of aging (maybe 2-3 weeks) it mellowed out and complimented the beer more to what was aiming for - a more seasoned brewer can give better advice here as I have a couple of batches under my belt and so much more experimenting to do - hopefully this is helpful.

 

[Stauffbier]

How long has it been in the bottle?

 

[henrybeggs]

How long has it been in the bottle?

About 6 hours now hahaha. I'll keep you guys updated and give the thread a bump in a couple of weeks. It was hoppy bitter, I'm not sure though whether it was all hop and some fruit or all fruit and some hop. I'm sure I'll enjoy it more when the beer is carbonated and not 70 degrees. Just let me know what you guys think, I'm really hopeful.

 

[Stauffbier]

About 6 hours.. Just let me know what you guys think

I think 6 hours might be a tad bit soon to make a judgement! Beer from the bottling bucket tastes very different from beer that has had the proper amount of time to bottle condition. Try it in 3 weeks, and then report back on what it tastes like...

 

[onipar]

When I first started brewing, there were a couple beers that I tasted samples of (from the bucket) and totally freaked out because they were super bitter. By the time they were completely bottle conditioned, that bitterness faded a bit, and the flavors all became balanced.

Although the pith of citrus can in fact be bitter, I'd say by time this beer is ready for drinking, it'll be fine.