Will lagering remove bitterness?

[smokenjoke]

I have Sapparro Black clone lagering right now. I tasted it after transfering to the seconday and it was very bitter. Will any of the bitterness dissipate while it's lagering? It's definately not what I remember Sapparro tasting like.

 

[t_met]

Aging a beer will lose some bitterness and smooth out flavors & aromas. Lagering is just aging cold. The cold aging will do the same thing. One of the mechanisms that lagering speeds up is some of the various suspended solids (yeast, proteins, etc) will drop. The hop oils that have coated the yeast for instance will drop with with the flocculated yeast.

 

[Andrewtherooster]

Yes, it will soften, but how much depends on how long you lager.

 

[HollisBT]

It depends on where the bitterness is coming from...

If it is overly buttered by hops, those flavor compounds will be the first to die off, so yes, it will get less bitter/more balanced in this case. But roasts malts can also add a bitterness to a beer, and those will not die off like the alpha acids will. I wouldn't think that there is a need to lager it in either case though. Just bottle it and let it carb and age in the bottles.

 

[t_met]

It depends on where the bitterness is coming from...

If it is overly buttered by hops, those flavor compounds will be the first to die off, so yes, it will get less bitter/more balanced in this case. But roasts malts can also add a bitterness to a beer, and those will not die off like the alpha acids will.

Excellent point about the dark grains. I think they will mellow with age, but not like alphas.

I wouldn't think that there is a need to lager it in either case though. Just bottle it and let it carb and age in the bottles.

I believe this sort of beer was fermented with lager yeast. I'm not saying lager just for the sake of lagering. But lager yeast while lagering does help "clean" up the beer. I guess a lot depends on what you are tasting today. The hop bitterness is just one piece of your beer's profile.