Better drink it quick if you poured a fermented beer through a colander. (massive oxygenation)staplefordbill wrote:Tried it tonight and it's fine now!The excess bitterness has gone to leave a really nice, almost easy-going drink. Surprising what a difference 2 weeks can make. Just a shame there's bits of hop floating around in it because I dry hopped with loose hops, they clogged up the syphon and I had to pour it through a colander. Apart from that though it's all good!
Pilsner 52 IBUs (oops)
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LowLife
Re: Pilsner 52 IBUs (oops)
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staplefordbill
Re: Pilsner 52 IBUs (oops)
I can manage that! I knew what I was risking when I used the colander but it was that or throw the whole lot away.Better drink it quick if you poured a fermented beer through a colander. (massive oxygenation)
Sure am! The bitterness seems to vary from bottle to bottle though. The second one I had last night was incredibly bitter unlike the first. Unless it's cumulative and they're all the same. I certainly won't be drinking 3 in one go!So, glad you didn't bin it or use it in cooking?
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bosium
- CBA Prizewinner 2010
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- Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:10 am
- Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands
Re: Pilsner 52 IBUs (oops)
What was your water like? As some of the other guys have already said, the trick to a bohemian pilsner is really soft water, low in carbonates and sulphates as both will accentuate bitterness. You can get away with huge amounts of bitterness if your water is right.
Ideally, unless your tap water is especially soft and low in alkalinity, you'd want to start with distilled or reverse osmosis water (I use bottled water which I know to be very soft and low in alkalinity) and generally want to stay away from gypsum and mainly use calcium chloride instead if you need to boost the calcium levels up, then use an acid like lactic or phosphoric to adjust the mash and sparge water pH.
As for your current batch, just hang on to it and store it cold. The bitterness will subside with age and the beer will taste much better. If it was in a keg, you could fine the beer with gelatine, which I've found can pull some bitterness out of the beer.
Ideally, unless your tap water is especially soft and low in alkalinity, you'd want to start with distilled or reverse osmosis water (I use bottled water which I know to be very soft and low in alkalinity) and generally want to stay away from gypsum and mainly use calcium chloride instead if you need to boost the calcium levels up, then use an acid like lactic or phosphoric to adjust the mash and sparge water pH.
As for your current batch, just hang on to it and store it cold. The bitterness will subside with age and the beer will taste much better. If it was in a keg, you could fine the beer with gelatine, which I've found can pull some bitterness out of the beer.
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staplefordbill
Re: Pilsner 52 IBUs (oops)
I'll certainly use bottled water for my next lager - thanks for the tip Bosium. The water round here is very chalky and although I use CRS it's probably still not optimal.
I've found that the biterness has died right down and it's not bad at all now. In fact there are only a few bottles left. Just a shame it's got bits of hops in it from the dry-hopping debacle.
I use a muslin bag now.
I've found that the biterness has died right down and it's not bad at all now. In fact there are only a few bottles left. Just a shame it's got bits of hops in it from the dry-hopping debacle.
I use a muslin bag now.