Bitter aftertaste - Razorback IPA kit

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Dr_Unkenly

Not a real doctor
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I've been drinking the Razorback IPA kit I brewed recently and although it's a really nice beer it has a slight bitter aftertaste which I'm not sure should be there. Is that normal?

I boiled some orange peel in water for 30 mins and added that water to the mix.

Used Morrisons water for the whole brew.

Fermented for 3 weeks ~ 21C, dry hopped 48hrs, racked to a bucket and kegged a few hours later.

Only conditioned it for a week because the samples were so damn tasty, although it would be even nicer without this slightly bitter aftertaste.

Any thoughts guys?
 
In my experience, a week is much too early to judge a beer.

It doesn't sound as if you have the "off-taste" that would indicate that something is seriously wrong so I would just let it condition for at least another two weeks before trying it again.

There's a 99% chance that it will eventually come good so if it's still got the bitter aftertaste just keep checking it every so often.

The perpetual problem with home brewing is that by the time a beer reaches perfection you only have two or three pints left! :doh::doh:
 
id stick to buying commercial beer if you're only willing to wait a week for 5% beer to be ready to drink
 
Dutto said:
In my experience, a week is much too early to judge a beer.

It doesn't sound as if you have the "off-taste" that would indicate that something is seriously wrong so I would just let it condition for at least another two weeks before trying it again.

There's a 99% chance that it will eventually come good so if it's still got the bitter aftertaste just keep checking it every so often.

The perpetual problem with home brewing is that by the time a beer reaches perfection you only have two or three pints left! :doh::doh:
Click to expand...

perpetual. definitely word of the day!
 
BeerisGOD said:
perpetual. definitely word of the day!
Click to expand...

Still trying to find where I've used it before but not surprised if I have. :lol: :lol:

However, as part of the perpetual problem I've been putting some aside for a mate who will be visiting in a couple of weeks.

With 120 pints fermenting and 40 pints conditioning I'm running short on beer that I can actually drink! :doh: :doh:
 
Dutto said:
Still trying to find where I've used it before but not surprised if I have. :lol: :lol:

However, as part of the perpetual problem I've been putting some aside for a mate who will be visiting in a couple of weeks.

With 120 pints fermenting and 40 pints conditioning I'm running short on beer that I can actually drink! :doh: :doh:
Click to expand...

oh ****. forty is low. hope they're not sessionable beer
 
Dutto said:
In my experience, a week is much too early to judge a beer.

It doesn't sound as if you have the "off-taste" that would indicate that something is seriously wrong so I would just let it condition for at least another two weeks before trying it again.

There's a 99% chance that it will eventually come good so if it's still got the bitter aftertaste just keep checking it every so often.

The perpetual problem with home brewing is that by the time a beer reaches perfection you only have two or three pints left! :doh::doh:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouraging words. Trouble is I bottled one and put the rest in mini kegs, so sampling is really a commitment!
 
Just brewed another batch and the finished wort tastes quite bitter. Is that usual?
 
As others have said it probably just needs more conditioning but there are a couple of other possible explanations

1) You say you used orange peel. Did you get any pith in there as this can be extremely bitter and therefore make you beer bitter

2) Water - Have you got hard water. Brewing pale beers with 'hard' water (well water with high alkalinity) can give you a bitter aftertaste in your beer. I used to think that it was only AG that would be effected in this way but the chap that invented 'Bru n water' (a highly respected online water adjustment spreadsheet) who occasionally posts on the forum, stated that high alkalinity dilution water can in fact effect the taste
 
Thanks MyQul,

#2 could explain it. The Morrisons water is hard water.

For my latest batch I used Campden'd London water but I boiled whole oranges to avoid any possibility of pith.
 
Just something to add I think dry hopping for a little longer yeilds better results.. I generally go fro about 5 days but a few days either side is more than fine.
 
Hi Covrich, interested to know what difference that makes. Am still quite new to this so keen to learn.
 
Why not skip the orange peel. The kit itself is pretty good as I recall with no modifications.
 
Fair point. I love chucking lots of different ingredients in to my cooking so that's translated over to the brewing I guess.
 
LOL. I didn't realise the pellet hops would turn into porridge when rehydrated so about 1/3 of them ended up on the floor when attempting to add to the FV!
 
Forgive me if this comes across as condescending or even insulting, but how used to drinking IPAs are you?
Looking at the kit, it's listed at 50-55 IBUs which will come across as very bitter to someone who doesn't usually drink them.
For example, my partner only usually drinks cider, wine or lager so whenever I offer her an IPA (which I love) she finds the bitterness absolutely overwhelming.

Did you add all of the hops in the correct order and in the correct quantities? Very easy to cock up a hop addition, we've all done it.

But yeah, when adding citrus peel, it's common that it's only boiled for 5-10 minutes max or added in the fermenter as a tincture. If there was pith on the peel as others have said, it will make it very bitter.
 
RZH said:
Forgive me if this comes across as condescending or even insulting, but how used to drinking IPAs are you?
Looking at the kit, it's listed at 50-55 IBUs which will come across as very bitter to someone who doesn't usually drink them.
For example, my partner only usually drinks cider, wine or lager so whenever I offer her an IPA (which I love) she finds the bitterness absolutely overwhelming.

Did you add all of the hops in the correct order and in the correct quantities? Very easy to cock up a hop addition, we've all done it.

But yeah, when adding citrus peel, it's common that it's only boiled for 5-10 minutes max or added in the fermenter as a tincture. If there was pith on the peel as others have said, it will make it very bitter.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Much to my shame, I do drink lots of all sorts of beer. The bitter after taste is only slight and is not outside the range of what you'd get from many other beers. It just doesn't quite fit with the rest of the beer (which is kinda tropical fruity) IMHO and that's why I'm questioning it.

The hops were just a single dry hop at the end - I did spill a load on the floor (and left them there).

Maybe it's boiling the peel for too long then? Having looked around a bit there seemed to be a bit of a laissez faire attitude of how to do it so I thought I'd be fine. Could it be that people who are boiling longer/using pith actually be using the extra bitterness in lieu of bittering hops and getting great results because of that?
 

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