Gazzala Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 Anyone else brewed this recipe? I tried one tonight after 2.5 weeks in the bottle and it has a really unpleasant bitterness... Not sure where I went wrong with It - pretty sure I followed the recipe to the letter. The only thing I did that wasn’t in the recipe was to cold crash it for a week before bottling. And fermentation temp might have been 1 degree above recipe temp. I’m gonna put the remaining bottles away for a few months and hope it mellows. Any thoughts or advice would be welcome. Gaz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzala Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 Forgot to include the recipe link: https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/california-riptide-pale-ale.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 56 minutes ago, Gazzala said: ...pretty sure I followed the recipe to the letter. Cheers, Lusty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzala Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 Ok. I’m 100% SURE I followed the recipe to the letter! (except the cold crash and fermentation temp - but that couldn’t be responsible for horrible bitterness could it) Also - I do like bitterness in my ales - but this is just fekkin horrible. Gaz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Gazzala said: Also - I do like bitterness in my ales - but this is just fekkin horrible. Hi Gazz, This recipe is right up there on the bitterness scale. I have not done this recipe but it looks good. I have found Cascade and Galaxy a good combo. One thought is if you got the Cascade and Galaxy mixed up, a 10 minute boil of Galaxy will deliver more bitterness than Cascade. Although probably not enough to make it "fekkin horrible". Cold crashing would not have made it more bitter. Maybe something undesirable snuck into the process. Give it a little time, but if it does not improve it might be lawn fertiliser time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzala Posted June 1, 2019 Author Share Posted June 1, 2019 Cheers Shamus. I did wonder the same thing about the Galaxy hops - but no they were definitely only used for dry hopping. The amount of bitterness is not the problem - it’s the taste of the bitterness - it’s just... wrong... Anyway - I’ll put the bottles away for a while and see how it goes. Gaz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Fingers crossed @Gazzala. I did a brew ages ago with Challenger hops. I would describe its taste as wrong too. I may have left the hops in the boil for too long or not cooled the hop boil water quick enough. Or it might have been something else in the brew that was wrong. I drank it all in the end, but it was only a craft sized batch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Having a good look at the recipe, I must admit I am a little surprised at the recommended 1 litre volume for the start of the boil. Not to say I'm correct in any way, but I personally wouldn't go that low even for a short boil. That said, combined with the 250gms of LME, the wort gravity would be fairly decent at reducing isomerisation of alpha acids & in-turn would lessen any real potential bitter aspects as a result of the boil provided the wort didn't begin to burn or caramelise noticeably. I took the time to have a good look at the recipe listing & then compared it with a similar linked beer. https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/california-riptide-pale-ale.html https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/westside-pale-ale.html What I found interesting when comparing the two beers by the numbers was that the Riptide (5.6%) uses a much more caramel influenced base, yet was described as having a "Bitter Finish" under the flavour profile @ 44 IBU vs a 47 EBC count, & the Westside (6.5%) is bittered to 57 IBU vs a 16 EBC count & there is no mention of it being bitter in it's flavour profile. All that aside, Coopers do say the Riptide has a "Bitter Finish", & given current firsthand evidence, it appears they weren't lying! Cheers, Lusty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 The beer in that picture is way lighter than 47 EBC, which itself is way darker than a pale ale anyway. It looks more around 25-30 to me. 47 EBC is more like brown ale territory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzala Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 OVB - Yeah it’s very dark - definitely looks like a brown ale. Lusty - cheers for taking the time to look into it. I probably won’t make this one again but will take on your advice and use more than one litre in the boil next time the recipe suggests one litre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzala Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 Sampled a bottle today and the bitterness has mellowed a fair bit - still got a way to go but is drinkable now. 2 weeks has made a big difference. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDT2 Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 On 6/12/2019 at 4:58 PM, Gazzala said: Sampled a bottle today and the bitterness has mellowed a fair bit - still got a way to go but is drinkable now. 2 weeks has made a big difference. Glad to hear that mate good news 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I’ve got good Gnus Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 This brew definitely needs some time in the bottle. And I agree much darker than expected for Pale Ale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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