Weird bitterness in IPA

[SamInNJ]

Just bottles my third batch. This time i made an IPA.

All the hops came in a really late burst, beer smith calculated the ibu's around 60.

1.062SG 1.014 FG

I also dry hopped with 6 ounces for 7 days.

I bottled it up and tasted the sample that I took the gravity reading from. It smelled amazing (citra, centennial and cascade) and tasted great too. When I came to the bitterness in finish it was harsh. Not really sure how else to describe it. I drink a lot of IPAs and something about the bitterness tasted off.

Everything else seemed spot on. Is this something that will mellow with a few weeks in bottles and some time in the fridge? Was this caused by a flaw in my process?

 

[pepindavid]

I posted on a few threads with the same kind issue: a kind of harsh bitterness that was puzzling me. My second batch (an IPA) had that post-boil, after fermentation, and the first few I tried. I was trying hard to figure out the reason (water chemistry? Slow cooling process?). It's been bottled 16 days ago, and when I tried it yesterday, it was really good. The harshness had really mellowed down, but the bitterness is still there.

So, RDWHAHB..!

 

[Timlikesbeer]

I have made a number of extract or partial mash brews using the well water from my tap.
Some styles (Amber and IPA for sure) had such harsh aftertastes that I dumped them .
I sent my water in to Ward labs and discovered extremely high levels of bicarbonate - almost 400. I now brew using bottled spring or distilled water from the grocery store with much better results. Some styles seem to turn out ok with 50% tap water, Belgian doubles always taste great, and that is my favorite.
Funny thing is our water tastes great out of the tap.
I have browsed some of the water info but at this point "creating" water is not on my list of projects. Good luck, this can be frustrating!

 

[mabrungard]

Harshness is a signature of elevated wort pH. If you weren't treating your water to avoid high pH, you almost certainly have incurred its wrath. Water chemistry can be a very important thing to learn if your water quality is poor enough.

 

[SamInNJ]

It's an extract batch so I don't think ph matters? I've read in a few places that using distilled with extract is the way to go.

I used all distilled water.

Hopefully it mellows out and all is well.

 

[LKABrewer]

As the yeast settles more it should take some of the harshness/bitterness with it. Give it a few weeks in the fridge and see if it improves.

 

[ballsy]

Same happened with me on a recent AE rye IPA kit from NB. It tastes really good up front and then right after swallowing there's this odd bitterness that takes over. Not enough to make you want to toss the batch but if there is a store bought SN or some other common "craft" beer in my fridge then I would gladly reach for that instead. I typically do all grain BIAB and never had this issue. I even added gelatin finings to keg after couple days to hopefully "pull" whatever was causing it out...and added an extra 1.5 oz hops a few days after that...to try and save the batch. Happy to say, about 10 days after kegging the weird bitterness on the back end is hardly noticeable anymore, definitely much improved so that I won't have a hard time finishing this keg anymore. Hopefully same happens to you.
NB said it was prob the salts left in LME after the processing of it mixing badly with the salts from my tap water but I didn't buy it considering when I did my own AE recipes using extra light LME I never had this problem. You used RO water which just solidifies that. Good luck!

 

[SamInNJ]

Almost two weeks in, just cracked the first bottle.

Surprised how far along the carbonation was. Weird bitterness is gone.

Not the greatest IPA I've ever had but quite drinkable and super citrus-ey. Thanks HBT!

 

[GJOCONNELL]

I was about to say it should be fine.....try a ph stabilizer next time and see what happens...cant hurt

 

[mabrungard]

I was about to say it should be fine.....try a ph stabilizer next time and see what happens...cant hurt

Definitely can hurt. It has been proven to NOT do what it says it does and it can add a salty flavor to your beer.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

Definitely can hurt. It has been proven to NOT do what it says it does and it can add a salty flavor to your beer.

Okay your beer is probably still okay/fine...don't use ph stabilizer unless you like salt.