Too bitter?

[Brewsta]

G'day all,

my first post!

I've been brewing for over a year now, K&K and have never had to ask a question thanks to all the great advice already posted from you guys on this forum. (so cheers!)

Like so many before me I am trying to improve my beers, so I have taken a baby step & put down my first extract & steeped grains APA attempt hoping for something along the lines of JSPA.

After 3 weeks in the fermenter i took my last FG reading and had a swig…while it looked & smelt great and the flavour tasted pretty much spot on to what i was hoping to achieve, (a good hit of NS) it does seem very bitter? Beer Smith suggested an IBC of 32.5, i would think it is a lot higher than that.

My questions are - were my hop additions too much / wrong amounts at given times? Would some hop pellet trub in the fermenter contribute to such bitterness at this stage? (i did use a sieve after crash chilling but did not use a muslin cloth so there is probably some hop matter in the FV) is my steeping regime wrong? is it too much wheat malt? (i have tried wheat beers before and although tart i did not find them too bitter so i think not)

Is it simply just too early to tell? i.e. will the bitterness mellow out with age? I was planning to age for 12 weeks if i can avoid the temptation for that long…its my first time using hops this way so i don't know what to expect.


Recipe (adapted from other posts on this forum, cannot remember who but thanks!)

1.5kg can of Coopers Liquid Light Malt Extract ( 1/2 can + @ 60 mins boil)

500g of Briess Golden Light Dried Malt Extract @ 60 mins boil

1.5kg of Coopers Liquid Wheat Malt Extract @ flameout

500g of Wyermann’s Carahell (steeped for 30 min @ 68 - 70 deg C, 60 min boil)

20g Amarillo @ 60min

20g Nelson Sauvin @25 min

20g Willamette @ 5 min

1x 11.5g satchel of Fermentis US-05 Dried Yeast - (rehydrated)

boil volume 11.4 liters

boil gravity - 1042

SG 1048
OG 1010

crash chilled to < 22 deg C topped up with carbon filtered rain water - is PH (slightly soft) contributing to the bitterness?

placed in temp controlled fridge @ 18 deg C then pitched yeast slurry

fermented for 21 days, now old conditioning @ 2 deg C will do for 7 days, then keg.

appreciate your thoughts & comments as i am very time poor and don't have the money to tip my efforts on the lawn…have purchased how to brew by J.Palmer, but will have to read it a few times before it all sinks in….

thanks!
Brewsta

 

[Camo6]

Most of my beers seem to taste more bitter in the fermenter. A bit of carbonation does wonders. I wouldn't wait 12 weeks for a taste though. You'll miss the best part.

Edit: And what ever you do don't tip it!

 

[mondestrunken]

Without doing any calcuations, 20-30g of ~10% hops in a 60 min. boil at your boil gravity would give you about 30 IBU so the recipe looks good. As previously mentioned, the beer will taste better (and more rounded) after bottling. Enjoy!

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Shouldn't be much higher than 32 ibu's, I just did a rough calc in B.S and it came out at 38, but that's without knowing the AA% of your hops.
Bottle it, give it a week or so and sample it (after 12 weeks I'm usually onto my 2nd or 3rd batch :lol . Even if it's not perfect, it'll still be very drinkable and you'll be able to make adjustments next time.

I've only ever tipped one batch out and that was because my teeth felt like they were being dissolved with each mouthful.

 

[wynnum1]

Try putting in the fridge after it carbonates and some of the bitterness will settle out with the sediment nothing like a couple of weeks in cold storage.

 

[Camo6]

I bet after week or two in the keg it'll taste better than your K&K's to date.

 

[technobabble66]

Done a few K&K's - any strong/harsh bitterness mellows enormously after 2-3 months. Even just a few weeks makes a big difference.
Doesn't look like you've done anything in particular that'd cause harshness, and the 30-40 IBU the above posts suggest shouldn't be too extreme. It always tastes more bitter in the FV - cold & carbonation in the finished product dull the bitterness a bit.
Try it at 2 weeks in the bottle, then give it another 4 the 8 weeks if you're not happy. Good luck!
FWIW, re: your recipe: Amarillo at 60mins seems an odd choice. Maybe choose a nice neutral (high alpha) bitterer at 60mins - eg warrior, Northern brewer, etc. Save the Amarillo for 0-20 mins to get the most bang-for-buck. Amarillo may be a smooth bitterer, but unless you're ok with blazing a few bucks (which is definitely ok if you choose - it's only money!) there may be a more economical way to achieve good results.
2c

 

[Brewsta]

thanks heaps for your advice everyone, i'll do as you suggest…sounds like my beer is not the only thing that needs to chill!

and thanks for the tip on the amarillo technobabble66, i'll keep that in mind in future.

And Camo6, I reckon your'e right, it already looks, smells and tastes better than any K&K i've done, once the bitterness mellow's i should be a happy camper...