NB Dry Irish Stout too bitter

[ciderWI]

We made a Barley & Vine irish stout for St. Pat's day and it was great. It was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to make it to St. Pat's day, so I ran out to NB and picked up their kit to have it ready for next weekend. Just kegged it and it's way more bitter than I'd like. I'm thinking that maybe I oversteeped the roasted barley. The instructions say put the mesh bag with the grains in and "Steep for 20 minutes or until the water reaches 170 degrees". So I put the bag in at 150 degress, lowered the heat, and let it rise to 160 degrees over 20 minutes. Then I drained the bag back into the wort.

The beer was in the primary for three weeks and went directly into the keg from there. OG = 1.044 (NB specs 1.042) and FG = 1.008 with S-05.

Should I have pulled the grain bag earlier? Not drained it back into the wort? The good news is that we have had really good stout here for the last month. The better news is that I'll have guests to help drink through the not-as-good stout.

 

[KartRacer54]

What about hop additions?

 

[RM-MN]

You didn't do anything wrong with steeping the roasted barley but the two kits are simply not the same and the one from Northern Brewer looks like it has more roasted barley while the other kit has caramel 60 and black malt too. That makes a big difference in the flavors.

The good news is if you give it time the beer from Northern Brewer will mellow and that sharp flavor from the roasted barley will settle down.

 

[ciderWI]

The kit supplies 2oz of cluster hops. I don't think that's the sole source of the bitterness, but probably contributes to it.

It's unfortunate that it needs to age, I was hoping for some near-instant gratification come next weekend. The Barley & Vine stout was pretty much ready to go in three weeks. Is it better to leave the keg in the basement at 65 degrees or can we put it in the kegerator and start drinking it and still expect it to mellow?

 

[RM-MN]

The kit supplies 2oz of cluster hops. I don't think that's the sole source of the bitterness, but probably contributes to it.

It's unfortunate that it needs to age, I was hoping for some near-instant gratification come next weekend. The Barley & Vine stout was pretty much ready to go in three weeks. Is it better to leave the keg in the basement at 65 degrees or can we put it in the kegerator and start drinking it and still expect it to mellow?

I'd leave it where it is warmer. I think if you chill it too much it may not mellow or may take many months to mellow.

In my limited experience with stouts, the pound of roasted barley in the Northern Brewer's kit would be way too much. I prefer my stout to have 2 to 4 ounces. You probably would too.

 

[eadavis80]

Sounds to me like your steeping was fine. I'm surprised, however, that you used 05 and not 04 for that style. In my experience, 05 has worked well for IPAs APAs and amber ales while I've had good luck with 04 on darker brews, like stouts and porters. Not sure if that would affect the bitterness, but it probably did impact the overall taste of the brew. Hope it turns out well for you!

 

[ciderWI]

The S-05 is from reading forums and it was recommended as a dry stout yeast for being clean and high attenuating, plus my basement is about 66 degrees which I think is probably more in S-05's sweet spot.

Just tapped the keg for the first time, and aside from being a little warm and under carbonated, it has gotten better. Still a little bitter and heavy, with too much coffee/chocolate for my taste. It's more of an American style stout than a Guinness clone. It's drinkable now and should be better for the party next week.

 

[KartRacer54]

The kit supplies 2oz of cluster hops. I don't think that's the sole source of the bitterness, but probably contributes to it.

It's unfortunate that it needs to age, I was hoping for some near-instant gratification come next weekend. The Barley & Vine stout was pretty much ready to go in three weeks. Is it better to leave the keg in the basement at 65 degrees or can we put it in the kegerator and start drinking it and still expect it to mellow?

There are 2 ounces supplied, but the recipe only calls for 1.5 ounce. If you used 2 ounces that is why it is overly bitter. I have made that error myself and ruined a kit.

 

[RM-MN]

The S-05 is from reading forums and it was recommended as a dry stout yeast for being clean and high attenuating, plus my basement is about 66 degrees which I think is probably more in S-05's sweet spot.

Just tapped the keg for the first time, and aside from being a little warm and under carbonated, it has gotten better. Still a little bitter and heavy, with too much coffee/chocolate for my taste. It's more of an American style stout than a Guinness clone. It's drinkable now and should be better for the party next week.

The longer you can leave the keg at room temp, the more maturity the beer will get. Once chilled the process of maturing pretty much stops.

 

[ciderWI]

Thanks to all for the good advice. I put the corny in the kegerator Thursday night for our St. Pat's party on Saturday. The stout must have been OK since there's only a couple of pints left... :cross:

It did mellow out, but the NB stout definitely was a more "American" style brew - hoppier, with more coffee, chocolate and more bitter than the previous batch. Probably could have used a couple more weeks of aging. I liked the previous batch better, but all in all, it was a success.

 

[blackbeer]

a pound of barley for a 1044 beer is bound to be puckering. depending on when you timed the hops, 2 oz of clusters could do it too. for a 1044 stout i'd want the ibu's in the low 30's for my tastebuds. and i'd knock that rb down to 1/2 lb steeped at about 150 in about a quart of water. the way i do my specialty grains is to steep them separately while the wort is coming up to boil and then dump the tea in.

it should mellow in a couple months though