Bitter than off taste

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I just made a pale ale and this is my third batch of homebrew I have done. This is the first time I did the three week primary method and also my first time kegging my beer. I used spring water and followed all the instructions for the boil including 60 minute first 2oz of hops and another 2 oz at t just about flameout. I used te forget and set method for the keg process of 40 degrees f and set it at 10.5 psi for 7-10 days

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I tasted my brew after 7 days and it was overly bitter! And now tasted it again at 10 days and it tastes like an amber that has a weird sort of off taste... It's not a horrible flavor but nothing that I can point out exactly.. Know it's hard to help with little info but any help is appreciated!

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I cleaned everything very well with recommended dosage of star San and pbw. Pbw then star San. And filled keg halfway with sanitizer and let sit for 4 minutes them flipped over and took apart to let soak. Put pressure to keg and put cleaner through the lines and used the beer to push any remainder of the cleaner out...

 

[RM-MN]

Using 2 ounces of hops doesn't tell us much. The variety and the alpha acid of the hops would help. Posting the whole recipe would help more yet because at this point we have very little info to work with.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

 

[Yooper]

Tell me about the bittering hops- did you use 2 ounces of columbus hops for bittering? That can be very bitter, and harsh.

You used bottled spring water? Not tap water or distilled water?

 

[Yooper]

I cleaned everything very well with recommended dosage of star San and pbw. Pbw then star San. And filled keg halfway with sanitizer and let sit for 4 minutes them flipped over and took apart to let soak. Put pressure to keg and put cleaner through the lines and used the beer to push any remainder of the cleaner out...

Oh, one last question!

When you cleaned the keg, you took it apart and clean it. Then you rinsed it super super super well, and then sanitized it? Or did you leave the cleaner in the keg and lines?

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I just used star San to clean it. And I just let it drain the most it would and let the foam grt pushed out by the beer

 

[Yooper]

I just used star San to clean it. And I just let it drain the most it would and let the foam grt pushed out by the beer

Well, star-san is a sanitizer and not a cleaner. But unless it was not clean already, that should be ok.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I might have been Columbus hops it was either one they choose to add to the kit. And yes I used 5 gallons if spring bottled water since I have chlorine in my tap water..

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

It was cleaned with pbw a few weeks before and I just rinsed thoroughly and closed it. That would be okay right?? Only thing that happened odd during fermentation was my roommate took a blanket off the top of te carboy and it was light struck for about 6 hours.. But not so much of a skunky off taste.

 

[Yooper]

I might have been Columbus hops it was either one they choose to add to the kit. And yes I used 5 gallons if spring bottled water since I have chlorine in my tap water..

The instructions say 16 HBU for 60 minutes. I rarely see that anymore, and instead usually the IBUs listed.

16 HBU is probably far less than 2 ounces of columbus hops, and I think that is where this strong bitterness is coming from. How you figure HBUs is to look at the number on the hops package (something like 12.9% as an example), and multiply that by the amount of hops. Columbus hops tend to be pretty high in alpha acids, and that means you may have a very very bitter beer there.

For example, if you had cascade hops at 8% AAU per ounce would equal 16 HBU. But two ounces of 14% AAU columbus would give you 28 HBUs- nearly double! Columbus hops are also noted to be sort of harsh tasting.

I think this is where that bitterness is coming from. It should mellow a bit in the bottle.

Next time, if you want to post your recipe up for us to look at first, we can tell you how to reduce (or increase) the bittering hops to get the recipe more in balance until you have some experience and know what to look for.

 

[Yooper]

It was cleaned with pbw a few weeks before and I just rinsed thoroughly and closed it. That would be okay right?? Only thing that happened odd during fermentation was my roommate took a blanket off the top of te carboy and it was light struck for about 6 hours.. But not so much of a skunky off taste.

No, that's absolutely fine!

 

[cluckk]

Also, keep in mind when your LHBS has these recipes and you let them swap in which ever they have, you are still the brewer so write down what was actually used because this is 1) the only way to reproduce it if you like it and 2) very important when figuring out what to change if you don't like it.

We all have those times when we go in to fill a recipe and find they are out of a hop or yeast so we have to make a substitute. We can either not brew until the desired one comes in, or choose a substitute, But always write down what was actually used. One one beer I had to use a substitute yeast and the batch turned out perfect. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the switch so all I know is that it is a Belgian yeast and so now all I can do is hit an miss hoping to replicate it. This is very frustrating.