Will the bitterness evolve?

[beer1965]

Hi Everyone.. after two weeks of bottling i"m trying this irish stout. It's dark but clear, has enough fizz but not much of a head, and is pretty bitter.. but drinkable.. just.. i'm wondering if the bitterness in a beer like this changes or softens with more bottle time? https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/908789/irish-stout .. as it's warming up I feel like it's a little sour on the end..

 

[Craigerrr]

Hmmm, I don't like the sound of the sour at the end, hope you don't have an infection.

 

[Bubba Wade]

Set it aside and wait a couple of weeks. Some flavors will mellow a bit. If the sour taste is due to an infected batch, that flavor will likely get worse.

Good luck with the batch.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Would be wise to post a recipie link my friend that way we can look at the BU/GU.

I've found the bitterness hangs around.
Dont dispare there will be better beers.

 

[beer1965]

Would be wise to post a recipie link my friend that way we can look at the BU/GU.

I've found the bitterness hangs around.
Dont dispare there will be better beers.

Thanks.. the recipe link is above the pictures.. googling it sounds like it could be too tanic from maybe too much water during the mash..not sure.. hope today's irish stout turns out.. just about to pitch the yeast

 

[beer1965]

Set it aside and wait a couple of weeks. Some flavors will mellow a bit. If the sour taste is due to an infected batch, that flavor will likely get worse.

Good luck with the batch.

Thanks.. i read that it could be tannins from too much ph / water during mash.. not sure.. let's see

 

[thunderwagn]

Might be ok. A bit of sour doesn't always mean infection. It could just be your perception. Guinness uses a sour blend if not mistaken in their stout, but that is intentional, and I'm just putting it out there to ponder.

 

[Mase]

Can’t speak to the sour, but I’ve brewed a Guinness clone several times and haven’t detected but a slight bitter, but that is true to the style. Maybe the roasted barley might give a slight perception of sour, but I’ve never detected it. Got me puzzled on this one.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Thanks.. the recipe link is above the pictures.. googling it sounds like it could be too tanic from maybe too much water during the mash..not sure.. hope today's irish stout turns out.. just about to pitch the yeast

Give it some time maybe itll meld together more with time

Could also be your water profile I've tried raising bicarbonate using bicarb soda in mash gives them roast malts a rounder flavour.

 

[Bubba Wade]

Thanks.. i read that it could be tannins from too much ph / water during mash.. not sure.. let's see

You may not be tasting tannins. You got quite a bit of roasted barley in the recipe. Roasted barley can produce an acrid taste if not balanced. However, with the amount in your recipe, a bit of aging might smooth it out.

 

[J A]

Thanks.. i read that it could be tannins from too much ph / water during mash.. not sure.. let's see

Normally, I'd agree with @Bubba Wade in his thoughts above but something in your recipe makes me think the tannins may be an issue. You list your sparge at 210 degrees. If you actually used near-boiling water, it could definitely strip tannins. You don't water profile or additions and PH is the other factor that can really have an impact on tanins in the sparge as well as the overall flavor profile.

 

[Bubba Wade]

Normally, I'd agree with @Bubba Wade in his thoughts above but something in your recipe makes me think the tannins may be an issue. You list your sparge at 210 degrees. If you actually used near-boiling water, it could definitely strip tannins. You don't water profile or additions and PH is the other factor that can really have an impact on tanins in the sparge as well as the overall flavor profile.

Good catch. I missed the high temp on the sparge. Tannin extraction can happen at temperatures over 170 degrees or so.

I usually do a modified batch sparge, using 135 degree water (that's what comes out my tap), so tannins extraction is not usually an issue.

 

[beer1965]

Normally, I'd agree with @Bubba Wade in his thoughts above but something in your recipe makes me think the tannins may be an issue. You list your sparge at 210 degrees. If you actually used near-boiling water, it could definitely strip tannins. You don't water profile or additions and PH is the other factor that can really have an impact on tanins in the sparge as well as the overall flavor profile.

Maybe I'm not describing things properly in how I used the recipe tool on this site. I steeped at about 150ish and after an hour I took out the grains and poured some room temp water over them, then when that was done I brought the whole thing to a boil and then counted down from there 60 minutes and added the hops as described. I think the other thing that could have ruined this is that I didn't understand the instructions on the yeast and pitched the yeast when the post boil wort hit about 90 degrees. I realized an hour or so later that was wrong and put the carboy in a cold room i have for an hour to bring it down to just above 70. I think that could have screwed things up. I had another beer last night and just couldn't finish it. I'm ok (i guess) with screwing it up. But I'm just trying to learn to not make the same mistake again. I think I'm just going to leave the rest of the bottles for a month and try one again then and see how it's evolved or if it's truly a loss. It is what it is..

 

[beer1965]

Good catch. I missed the high temp on the sparge. Tannin extraction can happen at temperatures over 170 degrees or so.

I usually do a modified batch sparge, using 135 degree water (that's what comes out my tap), so tannins extraction is not usually an issue.

I commented below that I probably described this incorrectly in the recipe. After steeping in the temp of 150s I poured room temp water on the grains and then brought everything to a boil for 60 minutes. But as I said below it could be that I pitched the yeast too warm because I miss read the package instruction. I should have trusted my gut as it seemed too warm to pitch with the wort around 90.. that could have messed things up too..

 

[J A]

Ok, so the recipe as it's laid out doesn't necessarily reflect what actually happened. What you're describing isn't really a sparge but more of a rinse. Nothing wrong with that in BIAB. Your pitch temp was definitely way too high, but if you made alcohol, enough of the cells survived the ordeal. Did you take any gravity measurements along the way to confirm that the estimates from the recipe actually reflect what the final product is like?
Since this is sort of a Guiness clone, I suggest that you let things settle for a week, chill a bottle and sit down with a can or bottle of Guiness and compare them. I've done basically this same recipe a number of times and though there's definitely a bitter bite attributable to the hops and the Roasted Barley, I've never thought that it was ever too bitter or out of style.
As a related aside, I just bought some specialty grains for a batch of my Guiness clone and decided that I'd use Black Patent this time specifically to experiment with the roasty-bitter profile. I don't know whether I'll miss the extra black-coffee bite that the roasted barley brings but it'll be interesting to see if there's a big difference.