Reasons for Beer too bitter (some, not all)?

[Nazareh]

Hey folks,

I just started brewing and my first batch was a pale ale, and in fact, it turned out much better than I though it would be, being it my first. However,although some of them are really good and go down very smoothly, others are very bitter. Especially the aftertaste. It's not something undrinkable, but nothing like some of the others. Any ideas of what could it be?


Thanks

Nazareh

 

[mckenry]

There are so many possibilities. I'm going to assume you're brewing a can with a kilogram of some kind of fermentables, like dextrose or a coopers brew enhancer etc, as you're a newbie.
Bitterness as a proper beer descriptor comes from hops (or hop extract, but that's a story for another day). I am also assuming you didn't boil any extra hops with your kit and kilo.
The kits themselves will have the bitterness about right, as you have seen with your pale ale.
Did you happen to do a beer which actually is higher in bitterness, for example an IPA kit? These are meant to be higher in bitterness. If its tart or
A 'bitter' aftertaste if really undesirable and not to style, but can drink it just, probably means you have a slight infection. Cleaning and sanitising is key in making good beer.
You might also get this off 'bitterness' if you've tried to make your beer high in alcohol by adding extra fermentables to the can over and above the 1kg and still used only the one packet of yeast.
The other thing new brewers don't normally know, is temperature control is really important. If you brewed your beer too hot, this can also lead to off flavours which you may perceive as bitter.
You really want to aim for high teens, low twenties when fermenting. There are many ways of achieving cheap and (fairly) easy temp control, but if money is not a concern, get a second fridge and set it up with a fridgemate or tempmate.
Like I said, there are many possibilities. The above are the most common reasons.
Maybe post up what you've brewed and how and someone will point you in the right direction.

 

[bradsbrew]

If they are from the same batch. It could be

Different levels of carbonation

You may be pouring nore yeast in some glasses

Some bottles have conditioned different, ie where are you storing the bottles.

Some bottles may not have been as clean

 

[mr_wibble]

To stir the proverbial pot ~

Before consuming said tasty beverage, did you -
- eat or drink something sweet?
- eat some other strongly flavoured food?
- something really salty (salt can mask bitterness)?

 

[Nazareh]

Hi guys,

Answering to McKenry, first, thank's you for the time you took to reply, I actually should have given more details about my brew. In any case I believe I took most of, if not all, precautions to not make the common mistakes for a newbie. This recipe was suggested by the brew shop as follows:
22C.

___________________________________

Fermantlables:
- Hooped pilsen LME (1 can, 1.5kg I think)
- Dextrose (1kg)
- wheat malt (500)

Hops (due to stove limitation I wasnt able to reach full boil)

15 gr Cascade 45min
15 gr Willamette 15 min

Yeast
SAFALE US-05.

Fermentation started after 3 hours. Left the fermenter inside a tub with water and a towel covering it, touching the water. In addition to that, I had a pool thermometer inside the to control the temp around 22C.

___________________________________

Regarding the problem itself, it happened is some of the bottles of the same batch, but not all, in fact, I invited had few friends to taste, we had two bottled in a row, and the first was bitter (close to a IPA a reckon) and the second very nice, like a good pale ale. I used mainly clear (corona 355ml) and dark bottles (coopers 375 twist top), although both were conditioned in a black plastic tub (with lid) with water as wel,l at 22c for two weeks. At first, I thought it could be related to the bottle glasses, but some dark ones were all right and some not. Same thing with the clear ones. Therefore, I ruled bottle colour question.

I also thought it could have to do with the water in the tub, in a sense that they were not properly capped ( I used the hand capper) and some of the water from the tub got into the bottle.Moreover, due to the water contact, some bottles had a bit of rust around the neck/cap. However, they were carbonated, so I ruled this out as well.

As Brads Brew mentioned, some of the bottles could be not entirely clean. Although I did not scrubbed them but I did rinse them thoroughly just after drinking their precious liquid. And obviously, let them dry, sealed with glad wrap and sanitized just before filling.

Regarding the pouring yeast in some glasses, i had a taste of the yeast from the "good" bottled, and it was it. Besides, the high bitternes is present in every sip of the bad ones, i mean, evenly "dissolved"

Can different levels of carbonation change the bitterness? In any case, I used sugar drops, so they were likely to be equally carbonated.

 

[Rocker1986]

I'm guessing the 45 minute Cascade addition has upped the bitterness more than what it probably needs to be given there's already a hopped kit in there. 1kg of dextrose is too much; I wouldn't use any more than about 400g at most in a kit brew. They turn out much nicer with either mostly or all malt extract. Part of that is personal taste though of course, some people enjoy how they turn out with a kg of dex, but I'm not one of them.

 

[Nazareh]

yeah but the problem is that only some of them are too bitter, the rest is fine. That is what I am actually trying to figure out, so then next time I wont repeat the same mistake. I might take some to the brew shop and ask someone to taste it. Hard part will be to know which bottles to take. I am just about to have one, I'll let you guys know if it is a good or bad one!

 

[Nazareh]

OK,this one had the rust but is not bad, a bit of bitternes but nothing major

 

[Reman]

Could be a difference in carbonation levels between bottles.

 

[Droopy Brew]

I think the most likely cause of various bitterness levels from the same batch would be infection. If you have some bottles infected, the beer from these bottles may have fermented out further in the bottles giving a lower gravity and less residual sugars. This would mean your apparent bitterness is higher- less sugar to balance the hops so tastes more bitter.

Do you notice the bottles that taste bitter have higher levels of carbonation? This may be due to infection and more sugars being turned into CO2. This would also result in some carbonic bite which adds apparent bitterness.

Best way I can think to test this theory, get a noremal bittered bottle , let it go flat at room temp and measure gravity. Do the same with a bitter bottle and it should be a lower gravity.

 

[Nazareh]

Thanks Droopy beeer, it actually makes sense. I'll do the test in the next few days. Probably just pour some beer into the hydrometer and wait until it goes flat and warm. And obviously, drink the rest. =)

 

[Nazareh]

Guys, I found out what the problem was. I wasnt pouring it properly and the bitterness was because of the yeast. I started to leave more amount of beer in the bottle and it tasted good, and when I tasted the left overs in the bottle was very bitter, the same kind of bitterness I was tasting before

I had 4 beers today and they were not bitter and tasted great (it has also been nearly 3 weeks since the bottling). So, it was in fact a newbie's mistake.Nevertheless, thanks for your help anyway.

 

[wynnum1]

If you are bottle priming there can be some that are slightly different and it does take a few weeks for the yeast sediment to settle completely and the beer improve the rim around the top of the brew is also very bitter and if fermenter is moved that also could wash back into the brew .

 

[Barge]

I had 4 beers today

Early start?

 

[mtb]

Early start?

Late finish..