Made a gross beer - bad yeast/hop combo?

[specharka]

Don't get me wrong, I've made bad beer before. It just usually happens when I'm trying something new, not when I'm adapting an old recipe. This one came out just...weird. Recipe was as follows:

OG 1.052
FG 1.006

72.5% Bohemian Pilsner
14% Spelt malt
7% Golden Naked Oats
4% Table sugar
2.5% Acid malt

30 IBU Warrior @ 60 min
1 Huell Melon / 1 Amarillo - 30 min @ 160F
2 Huell Melon / 2 Amarillo - 4 day DH

Imperial Organic B56 Rustic - 2 days @ 68, ramping up 2F/day until it got to 86F & held until attenuated

The beer "looks" amazing, straw yellow, slight chill haze with a stiff white head. It smells like one of those edible arrangement bouquets, with tons of melon and strawberry coming through, but the flavor is completely off -- excessively bitter and really phenolic. I can't detect any banana or bubblegum (which is what I was worried about) over the overwhelming fruit basket. Each individual aspect is not unpleasant, but combined, it just tastes like a circus.

Any ideas as to what happened here?

 

[MikeCo]

Is this a Saison - bottle conditioned? The recipe looks fine. How long did it ferment and condition? Rustic states a max temperature of 80F. Maybe 86 was too high and resulted in too much phenolics. As for the bitterness, what was the calculated IBU for the recipe? If you had 30 from the warrior, you would get somewhere above that with the whirlpool hops. Maybe cut back a bit on the boil hops next time to reduce bitterness.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I'm only speaking for my experience with Huell Melon and Amarillo (haven't played around with Warrior yet), but I will say the last Amarillo IPA I paired with Simcoe was a bit overwhelming with a taste I can't quite identify. No signs of infection, oxidation, etc. Just an overly strong bitterness that I do not believe came from the Simcoe. It's grown on me since it's been sitting in the keg, but still. I've made single hop beers with Huell Melon, and those are some of my fan favorites.

 

[specharka]

Is this a Saison - bottle conditioned? The recipe looks fine. How long did it ferment and condition? Rustic states a max temperature of 80F. Maybe 86 was too high and resulted in too much phenolics. As for the bitterness, what was the calculated IBU for the recipe? If you had 30 from the warrior, you would get somewhere above that with the whirlpool hops. Maybe cut back a bit on the boil hops next time to reduce bitterness.

The beer was keg primed. Ended up being about 2 weeks in the fermenter and another week in the keg to prime it. According to my recipe it was only supposed to be 27 IBU total, but it tastes a lot higher than that. Will definitely cut back next time.

 

[MikeCo]

Also make sure the actual alpha acids in the hops you used are similar to those assumed by the recipe. If they are different, adjust them in your software or calculator to get the targeted bitterness.

 

[dwhite60]

What was your final gravity? I usually use Belle Saison yeast. Without fail it will go to 1.000. That dryness is going to make it seem a lot more bitter as there is no real sweetness to counter the bitterness.

I made a cream ale with Amarillo earlier this year. After three weeks in the bottle I really didn't like it. Not bad enough to dump but man, that Amarillo is POTENT. I did a half ounce at 25 minutes and another half at flameout.

Over the weeks it started tasting better. Four months later it had really turned nice. So nice I'm starting to miss it and I'm thinking of making another batch. Just have to sit on it to let it age in.

 

[jrgtr42]

I'm thinking that's an awful lot of bittering hops. I would cut that down - a half oz or an ounce,
maybe move the 30 minute addition to 15 or 10.
Also lower the temp. start a couple degrees cooler, then let it free-rise to mid 70s.
(disclaimer) i haven't used that specific yeast, so I don't know it's reactions, but 86 seems really high.

 

[specharka]

I'm thinking that's an awful lot of bittering hops. I would cut that down - a half oz or an ounce,
maybe move the 30 minute addition to 15 or 10.
Also lower the temp. start a couple degrees cooler, then let it free-rise to mid 70s.
(disclaimer) i haven't used that specific yeast, so I don't know it's reactions, but 86 seems really high.

The late hops were whirlpool additions, not bittering. And it's a saison strain (de Blaugies), I've heard of people taking it as high as 95F without issues.

I tasted it again today and it's improved considerably -- still too bitter but at least the citrus and melon tones have muted somewhat.