Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils  (Read 7574 times)

Offline brewcrew7

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 45
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #45 on: July 23, 2014, 07:43:56 am »
redzim, I think it's your hops. Given your 5 year experience with the beer the hops appear to be the variable here. It could be a combo of both the lot and the amount you are using, not necessarily one or the other by itself. That's unfortunate, it sounds like a tasty beer and it's perhaps one reason why I've been hesitant in ordering hops by the pound the last few years. I think using gelatin in this batch can't hurt and is a good idea.

Offline reverseapachemaster

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3778
    • Brain Sparging on Brewing
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #46 on: July 23, 2014, 08:13:14 am »
Is the AAU on the package of the hops around the same number as what you normally buy? Some crops are higher in alpha and that could easily produce a beer with more bitterness.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline dmtaylor

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4724
  • Lord Idiot the Lazy
    • YEAST MASTER Perma-Living
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #47 on: July 23, 2014, 08:27:45 am »
And what about BETA acids???  No one ever talks about beta, but it *can* be a significant contributor in some cases.
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline dmtaylor

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4724
  • Lord Idiot the Lazy
    • YEAST MASTER Perma-Living
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #48 on: July 23, 2014, 08:29:36 am »
I brew a kolsch with 1oz of nelson fwh as the only addition. I've been meaning to try it with only a 20 minute addition to compare. Not enough brew days.

If/when you try this, or anyone else, PLEASE, I implore you, please share your results with the internet universe.  This is an experiment I am interested in, but one I will probably never run myself.  There are SO many experiments I will never run myself.  I run plenty of others.
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #49 on: July 23, 2014, 10:02:19 am »
I am with blatz, that FWH = 20 minute addition is a farce.  My intuition tells me so.  I don't care to experiment to prove my theory.  It just makes zero logical sense is all.

OTOH, when I had FWH beers analyzed for IBU, the analysis came within 1% of my IBU prediction based on 20 min.  That's not intuition, that's science.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline redzim

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 309
Re: troubleshoot my too-bitter North German Pils
« Reply #50 on: July 23, 2014, 11:29:42 am »
Is the AAU on the package of the hops around the same number as what you normally buy? Some crops are higher in alpha and that could easily produce a beer with more bitterness.

Yes, the AA% was 4.0% on this batch, similar to other Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops, and anyways I match up my hop amounts year to year using Tinseth IBU approximations, rather than just going by weight...