Green Taste?

[Passload]

I have just transfered my Brewers Best American Light to my secondary after a week in the primary.

Recipe for
AMERICAN LIGHT

Yield: 5 gallons

Starting Gravity: 1.037-1.040
Final Gravity: 1.007-1.010
Alcohol by Volume: 4.0% - 4.5%
Hop IBUs: 15
​

INGREDIENTS (INCLUDED):
3.3 Ibs. Plain Extra Light Malt Extract
1 Ib. Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
1 Ib. Rice Syrup Solids
1 oz. Saaz Hops (Bittering)
1/4 oz. Saaz Hops (Finishing)
5 oz. Priming Sugar (doesn't say corn or malt)
1 Yeast Danstar Nottingham

Gave it a little taste, tasted good...but it had this lingering kind of bitter after taste on the middle back portion of my tounge . Is this normal? I will leave it in the secondary for another week and the bottle with the priming sugar and condition for three weeks in the bottle. I guess what I'm asking is will it mellow out some or will it still be harsh? Is this what "Green Beer" is?

 

[Radarbrew]

Your recipe sounds good, and I have never had a prob with those kits, they usually turn out great. That was probably a hop bitterness, and it will get better as it sits. Let it be, have a brew, and relax.

Cheers

 

[Sasquatch]

I would not be surprised if that bitterness is associated with that particular yeast. Two of my most bitter brews at the halfway mark both used Nottingham Danstar. There is always a kind of bitter tang in green beer anyhow. For me, tasting the beer at the first rack is just to give an indication that the stuff is clean. Taste it before you bottle, before you've adding priming sugar. Then you'll have the flat version of the final beer.

Saaz hops are also a bit more bitter than lots of the hops like fuggles etc that have been common for a long time (like, Saaz are twice as bitter, if I remember correctly). That's what gives those Czech pilseners their punch. I'm not sure that it would be my first choice for hopping an American style lighter beer, but they certainly are a first choice for making real live pils.

I'm convinced that you've made beer.

RadarBrew, you stole my line... That smell... that yeasty smell... smells like... victory.

 

[Passload]

For me, tasting the beer at the first rack is just to give an indication that the stuff is clean.

What do you mean by clean?

 

[Sasquatch]

I can't tell exactly what beer is going to finish like by tasting it at racking. But I can tell if it's on track, or whether there might have been an infection (acetobacter etc). There are other indicators for those kinds of problems too. So when I say "clean" all I mean is that the beer is fermented/fermenting properly, that things taste like green beer and not like band-aids. Also I can taste somewhat for sweetness as an alternative to taking a gravity reading.

 

[Passload]

Ok, so it smells like beer and does not have a doctors office taste to it, I think I understand what your talking about with the clean taste. I will most likely have a better understanding when I taste it racking to my bottling bucket.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[Sasquatch]

You got it.