Taming excessive bitterness

[Cheyne_brewer]

I’ve just kegged my latest batch of WHS Bohemian Pilsner. Hop schedule:
50 mins of boil Mosaic Hops 20g
30 mins Saaz Hops 51g
10 mins Saaz Hops 25g

Last 5 mins of Boil
Citra Hops 25g

Previous brews have been perfect. This time round there is a very strong bitterness. The only difference this time round is that strike was at 55c and let rise to 67c. The main bittering charge was in a bag as usual. The late hops were loose in the mash pipe as a hop filter.

I’m hoping that some age will mellow this bitterness out - any other sage advice to be offered please?

 

[The Baron]

Time should help but depends on how much it will mellow it. My other suggestion is to make the same beer with less IBU's than normal and blend it if you have the facilities/kegs to do that

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Time should help but depends on how much it will mellow it. My other suggestion is to make the same beer with less IBU's than normal and blend it if you have the facilities/kegs to do that

I’d thought about that myself, maybe another pils but with just saaz flavour / aroma hops. I’ll give it a few weeks and if it’s no better will blend it.

 

[AJA]

What's your batch size?

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

23l - 27l mash liquor, sparged back to 27l and 23l into the all rounder.

 

[Clarence]

I'm curious C-B. Do the Saaz actually contribute anything when boiled with Mosaic and finished with Citra? Genuine question out of genuine curiosity. I love Saaz, but have never paired them with anything more expressive than Magnum in the boil.

 

[AJA]

My calculation of the bitterness is different to WHSs, I get 49 IBUs on brewfather, unless the AA % of your hops is significantly different to the defaults. And that assumes a quick cool after the boil.

Blending might be a good option.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Previous brews had a pleasant, balanced bitterness, slight malt sweetness and smooth saaz flavour and aroma. It’s not an authentic Pilsner recipe but usually very quaffable. I don’t really get the Citra at all.

 

[Alastair70]

I once dosed an overly bitter Vienna lager with some CaCl solution which helped take the edge off, but my bitterness problem was down to a water chemistry mishap. I like Saaz a lot, but I’ve always let noble hops stand alone. I guess I need to live a little!

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

My calculation of the bitterness is different to WHSs, I get 49 IBUs on brewfather, unless the AA % of your hops is significantly different to the defaults. And that assumes a quick cool after the boil.

Blending might be a good option.

Yes, cooled to 75 for a quick hopstand with the Citra then on down to pitching.

 

[foxy]

I’ve just kegged my latest batch of WHS Bohemian Pilsner. Hop schedule:
50 mins of boil Mosaic Hops 20g
30 mins Saaz Hops 51g
10 mins Saaz Hops 25g

Last 5 mins of Boil
Citra Hops 25g

Previous brews have been perfect. This time round there is a very strong bitterness. The only difference this time round is that strike was at 55c and let rise to 67c. The main bittering charge was in a bag as usual. The late hops were loose in the mash pipe as a hop filter.

I’m hoping that some age will mellow this bitterness out - any other sage advice to be offered please?

I don't know if you know the difference between astringency and bitterness, for me it doesn't look like it could be just the hops. Astringency can come from oversparging, I don't think you did that. The other is mash and sparge pH which can give problems regarding hops if the liquor is too alkaline.
There is also hop astringency which I have had once before from an IPA with lots of hops, I have also come across it in other IPA's this is resulting from the tannins in the hops.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Sparge was just 4l as the mash was almost full volume. It’s not astringency but definite hop bitterness. I suspect the bittering hops may have been significantly higher AA than labelled.

 

[foxy]

Sparge was just 4l as the mash was almost full volume. It’s not astringency but definite hop bitterness. I suspect the bittering hops may have been significantly higher AA than labelled.

And mash pH?

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

I don’t measure or adjust pH. I’ve made this and many other brews with my tap water without issue. My only treatments are SMB for chlorine - my water is moderately hard and tends to give good results with both ales & lagers. NEIPAS get a bit by of salt too but that’s it.

 

[foxy]

I don’t measure or adjust pH. I’ve made this and many other brews with my tap water without issue. My only treatments are SMB for chlorine - my water is moderately hard and tends to give good results with both ales & lagers. NEIPAS get a bit by of salt too but that’s it.

Overly alkalyne water can give hops a harsher bitterness, maybe try taking the edge off with some acid additions.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

It’s never been an issue with this recipe - my best guess is that the AA of the bittering addition is much higher than stated.

 

[jceg316]

Something to take into consideration is tap water is variable, so sometimes it can be harder than other times, or have different levels of chlorides and sulphites etc. On top of that, as you say, the hops could have had a higher than expected AA. You could use a Salifert alkalinity test kit to measure water hardness.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Glad to say the excessive bitterness is taming down, perhaps helped by a good dose of gelatine. On the plus side, the beer is crystal clear and the classic Pilsner taste is emerging.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

For what it’s worth I’m brewing another batch and took a pH reading of 5.5 with no adjustments so no issues there.