Very 'bitter' Bitter

[Steve, Cape Town]

I've been attempting to successfully brew a decent, consistent pint for a considerable time (I'd rather not specify the actual period as it's embarrassing!) and have spent many hours and much money, yet I am still struggling. (One ongoing problem was my failure to remove the sterilising residue - it took me several brews to realise this was a serious problem!!!)
I believe the process I follow is no different from the 'norm', but whilst I occasionally obtain good results, I more frequently end up with something that's clear, has a decent head, but is very, very bitter. This, despite me following the same recipe (often Dave Line's Fullers London Pride) and the same process.
The only questionable part of my brewing process that I still have some doubts about is at the end of the boil, when transferring the (rapidly) cooled wort to the fermenting barrel....
How critical is it to ensure that ONLY the clear wort is transferred and that any cloudy liquid and hops are left behind? I struggle to avoid cloudy content from transferring to the fermenting barrel, particularly at the end of the transfer, but then use a muslin cloth (several times, if necessary) to filter out the wort. I've considered placing the hops in a muslin bag, during the boil, rather than just dropping the hops directly into the boiler. If this part of the process is NOT responsible for my problem, anyone got any ideas what might be the reason?

[inthedark]

I always get some muck coming through from the boiler to the FV, and I don't have trouble with bitterness. I don't filter except through the hop bed.

You mention Dave Line's receipes - are you adjusting the hopping rates? I've often read on here that he used far more hops than we would because they were not of such good quality or freshness as nowadays. This might account for your bitterness. I think I remember people recommending a 20% reduction, but you should do a search just to check. I've plugged DL recipes into BeerToolsPro in the past and had to significantly reduce the hops.

Hope this helps.

[Steve, Cape Town]

I know it's generally agreed that hop contents should be reduced in Dave Line's book. I will do some further research, or try alternative recipes. I've been patiently awaiting the re-print of Graham Wheeler's book, which is on it's way to me. I have considered the hop content to be too high, but then occasionally I seem to get it right, not having changed the recipe at all. Would a 20% error make it completely undrinkable?

[inthedark]

I suspect it all depends on the hops and the beer style. I just tried the numbers on a couple of my recipes and 20% is the difference on one recipe of 32IBU - around 42IBU. On another it increases from 40 to 49. At some point you might find these undrinkable.

Have to tried leaving them longer to allow the bitterness to mellow? Another month in the barrel might help.

[Steve, Cape Town]

All recent attempts (incl the last three that all have the same problem) were transferred when gravity was satisfactory to new barrel and chilled at about 4C for about a fortnight, to clear further and (theoretically) improve the quality. I add about 4g of yeast before I bottle, to ensure secondary fermentation.
If you don't make any serious effort to prevent unclear wort from transferring to fermenting barrel, then I'm sure this isn't my problem. I think I need to look seriously at the hop content but it would be interesting to know if anyone else has had problems with Dave Line's recipes when using the EXACT quantity of hops that he has recommended.

[inthedark]

All recent attempts (incl the last three that all have the same problem) were transferred when gravity was satisfactory to new barrel and chilled at about 4C for about a fortnight,

That might be a little short - unless the beer is quite low gravity, I'd give it 4 weeks, minimum. I give mine 1 week in the barrel at fermenting temperature then into the cold for 1 week for every 10 points OG and then another week or two if I can keep my hands off it. Early attempts at drinking it before 4 weeks were always too bitter.

PS - I've never used DL's exact hop quantities because I started using BTP before trying any of them - I found when I plugged his recipes in that the bitterness was higher than expected for the beers in question (and comparing in some cases with the Real Ale Almanac). Others will undoubtedly have better experience of DL's recipes than me!

[Steve, Cape Town]

Typically, I will ferment for about a week (constant 17C in modified fridge) and then chill for 1 or two weeks. Opinion now seems to suggest both of these periods are too short.

I know nothing about water analysis but I did get a detailed report and it was suggested that nothing was particularly wrong with the local water. I do add a little Plaster of Paris, but nothing more. I have local water analysis document but seems I can't upload a pdf file to this forum.

[Steve, Cape Town]

Water analysis claims a typical '14' units (Units mg/l). I only add about a teaspoon in water I use to mash.

I note your suggestions regarding a higher fermenting temperature. However, would a higher temperature have such an impact on the 'bitterness'. My problem is not a subtle taste of bitterness, but a very serious taste, making it completely undrinkable. 'inthedark' suggests my hop levels as per Dave Line's book might be as much as 20% too high. Do you also think they might be significantly too high?

I'd be interested to know of an alternative, more recent, London Pride recipe, that maybe uses the hops that Fullers use (Northern/Challenger/Target, if I recall correctly)?