Beer has bitter taste

[nursejohn]

Up to now, the only experience that I have making beer is with kits. I enjoy it but, it seems that my beer ends up with a little bit of a bitter aftertaste. I follow the instructions completely. Would it be OK to not put the entire envelope of hops in while brewing, or is that not the problem? Thanks for any advice or help with this. Thanks, John.

 

[rjb222]

A little more information is needed to put out an opinion here. Type of brew IE hopped extract. un-hopped extract , un-hopped extract and adjunct grains, All grain, Type of hops used and ibu ratings, timing of hop additions and if you hit the timing of the hopping additions.

 

[nursejohn]

To tell you the truth, I really don't know much of that information. I have made a couple of Brewer's Best kits, the American Cream Ale and an American Light kit. I guess my question should be, if I cut the bittering hops in half, would that make it less bitter?

 

[Tom_S]

Bitter beer face!

 

[rjb222]

To tell you the truth, I really don't know much of that information. I have made a couple of Brewer's Best kits, the American Cream Ale and an American Light kit. I guess my question should be, if I cut the bittering hops in half, would that make it less bitter?

I had to look up these kits to find out what they contain. There could be a couple of reasons the beer is bitter or more bitter than wanted. It could be the style of the beer some beers are more bitter than others not so much with a cream ale though they are usually a sweeter beer not very heavily hopped. So my quest ion comes to the timing of the hop additions as this is crucial to the bittering process. Adding them before for a flavoring hop and it turns into a bittering hop so the beer winds up being more bitter than it should. You could cut back on the bittering hops or shorten the boil time either will work. The hop additions should have a schedule that reads to the time left in the boil not the actual time the wort has been boiling. Bittering hops are added with the longest time left in the boil usually around 60 minutes of boil time flavoring hops are added 30 minutes to 15 minutes left to boil aroma hops are added with in the last fifteen minutes of boil.

 

[Geronimo]

Hi John,

2 things come to mind. First is your water. If you have hard water, you'll end up with a problem. Did these kits have grains you steep? This is often a problem because people tend to use tap water to steep with (and a lot of it) which keeps the pH very close to 7 (neutral) which in turn tends to pull tannins from the grain husks, and that will give you a nasty bitter aftertaste in beer (it's almost metallic). The solution to this problem is to use spring water for steeping and only 1.5 quarts per pound of grain. Never heat the water hotter than 170F. And never squeeze the steeping bag... that can force the tannins out, too.

Also, if your water is hard, it will effect the way the hops react with it. Hard water is bad for light beers. Think soft water and pilsners, hard water and stouts (Guiness). If you have to use the hard water for brewing cut your bittering addition in half, and see if that works. You'll get the hang of it!

I hope this helps.

 

[nursejohn]

Thanks for the advice and help. I appreiciate it, John.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Both of the Brewers Best kits, American light and Cream Ale are LME kits with hop pouches, a bittering and aroma. Not too much to them. Both are about 18 to 25 IBU's. There are no grains in those two kits.
If it is the hoppyness you want to lower, there is two ways, 1 reduce the amount of hops in the boil, 2 reduce the boil time. Hops is like tea, the longer you steep it the stronger it gets.
Is the bitterness like a Heinekin type bitter or is it a metallic bitter. Use only Stainless Steel pots, not Alum. it will through an off taste.
Some more info can direct us to a better solution.
Don't give up, good luck!

 

[nursejohn]

Thanks for all the advice. I was using an aluminum pot. Just bought a stainless steel one this past weekend. Once again, I appreciate all the help, John.