Something doesn't taste quite right.

[sbruggs]

I just cracked open a bottle of my latest batch of Extra Pale Ale. I used the Northern Brewer Extra Pale Ale kit and although I think it turned out overall good something doesn't really taste right to me and its the same taste my first batch (Northern Brewer American Wheat) had. I was fairly certain the taste came from too high a pitching/fermenting temperature on the first batch but I am positive the temperature was well within the recommended range for my EPA.

The taste is sort of hard to describe but it is almost like a strong hops bitterness but with a "bite" to it in addition to the hop bitterness.

I let it sit in primary for 3 weeks before bottling (no secondary) and this is 1 week into bottle conditioning (surprisingly seems properly carbonated). Maybe it is just young still and needs another week or two to mellow out?

on the upside, my nearly 2 month old wee heavy in secondary smells and tastes delicious. (tested the specific gravity this evening)

 

[Dogphish]

one week is not enough time to bottle condition. give it 4 weeks in the bottle.

 

[AiredAle]

Haven't made that kit so don't know what it should taste like, but here are a couple possible sources: over-hopped, but not knowing what hops you used, that is a guess; "yeast bite" from young beer that needs a bit more aging; high alkalininty in your water. The last one plagued me for years in my pale ales because I used my tap water with no treatment. I have a private well, and the water tastes great, but is very high in bicarbonate. Once I started reducing the bicarbonate levels of the water and adjusting the mineral content, the harsh bitter taste went away. Again a guess since I don't know what water you used.

So, we can give you a better diagnosis if you give us some more details - hop additions, amounts, alpha acid content, and timing, what kind of water you used, what yeast you used. These will be helpful to figuring out the problem.

 

[sbruggs]

the recipe calls for 3 oz of cascade hops. 2 oz boiled for 60mins and the last ounce in the last 1 minute of boil. Come to think of it, this is the same hops as the american wheat I made that had a similar funny taste so perhaps it is a characteristic of that type of hops?

I'm just using tap water which is essentially treated lake water from lake michigan. The tap water tastes just fine to me but I couldn't speak to its chemistry. I used Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast (again the same as the american wheat)

 

[AiredAle]

Cascades are used in a lot of ales, I doubt the off flavor is due to the variety. 1056 yeast is a very clean, neutral one, the bittering hops amount doesn't seem too high, so I'd say maybe the beer is a bit young. Also, your water is probably fairly soft since it is surface water, but who knows. Call you water dept and ask for their latest water analysis. Do they chlorinate the water? This can lead to some nasty tastes, more medicinal than bitter usually. If the water is chlorinated, you can easily dechlorinate it before brewing with a Campden tablet, one tablet per 20 gallons of water. Works nearly instantly, and the reaction leaves nothing but sulfate and chloride when it's done.

 

[unionrdr]

1 week in the bottle is def too young. It may carbonate quickly,but maturing the flavors & aromas takes longer. I agree that 4 weeks would def taste better. I've found that hop flavors need to mature to loose this young sort of bite.
It seems that English style hops don't need as much time,ime.

 

[kyleobie]

+1 to too young. Could be the issues described here or it could age out.

 

[HopSong]

What others said.. but, I'd guess that 3 oz of Cascade will provide a lot of bittering and a relatively strong citrus/grapefruit finish.. least that's what I am finding. Not saying it is too much.. but it is a thought.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,the more bittering you get (longer boil time),the less flavor you get (less boil time). Could be too much bittering highlighted by the citrus flavors,which also have the tartness of actual citrus.

 

[AiredAle]

Another thought for you, sbruggs, what are the original gravity and the final gravity? Maybe the beer is attenuated, and doesn't have a good malt-hops balance. On the face of it, 2 oz of Cascades isn't too much, assuming 6% AA that's 12 HBUs, bitter but not over the top, depending on the final gravity.

I agree with the other suggestions to age it out a bit and see what it's like.