Bitter flavor in my Milk Stout after Keg Conditioning

[torourke358]

Hi all,

Long time homebrewer, first time posting here. I have noticed that quite of few of the homebrews that I try have a bitter taste that overshadows the entire beer.

Yesterday I taped a keg of my most recent brew, a clone of Bell's Double Cream Stout (recipe from Brew Your Own Mag) and noticed that it had the bitter "homebrewed" taste as well. Interesting thing is, after a week of keg conditioning my brother was over and wanted to try the Stout, so we pulled a couple of pints off and it tasted great. It was quite flat, but it tasted great.

Does anyone know what I can do to prevent that bitter taste from developing during the last couple of weeks of keg conditioning?

Thanks for your help and efforts making drinking better beer possible!

Tim O'Rourke

[Gill]

Hey Tim
I have heard hops can cause a bitter taste, but I assume you mean something else (unless you want to try a hopless beer).

I'm not too sure, but the guys here may be able to be of a little more help if you could post the recipe and describe the taste a little more.
Also, what method and process do you use?

Is it just an over bitter taste beyond what the recipe calls for?
If your wort stays hot too long after boiling you can extract extra bitterness from the hops. Hard to say not knowing your process.

I have found most of my really off tastes are from bad fermentation (too hot, under pitching yeast, etc).

[Kaiser Soze]

Hi Tim,

As Gill pointed out, it would be easier to pinpoint issues if we knew the recipe and your process. If you can post that up, that'd be great.

Personally, I find that the first few pints off a new keg always taste a bit more bitter than subsequent pints as you have more yeast and hops suspended in the beer, both of which impart bitter flavours. Once the yeast and hops settle out, the beer becomes a bit smoother, although in my case I like bitter IPAs, so the former isn't an issue.

You also mentioned that your beer tasted great, but it was a bit flat. The carbonation will add some bitterness/bite to the beer, and low carbed English Ales tend to be smoother and creamier due, in part, to their low carbonation. I couldn't tell from your post whether your first taste was carbonated or not, but if you had higher carbonation up front when the beer tasted bitter and then a better taste when the beer was flat, it's possible it's the carbonation having an effect.

Anyway, this is all spitballing. Post a recipe and process nd we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

[Oliver]

As mentioned, if you are able to post the recipe we might be able to help.

Are you suggesting it's overly bitter, or astringent? I have found that some hops - most notably Pride of Ringwood, which is a high-bitterness hop - can impart an unpleasant astringency to beers.

Oliver