My batch has been in ferm for 2 weeks now. Last week I tasted it and it was flat of course but I tasted a nice caramel flavor that I was actually excited about. I reached FG today at 1.020 and now when I tasted it, it was insanely bitter and acidic in my mouth! I'm guessing something went terribly wrong. Should I toss it and brew again or let it sit?
Was the FG at 1.020 when you tasted it first? What was the expected FG? Wait it out and see if the beer's gravity drops... if it continues, then I'd suspect that depending on the taste and FG that it could be infected. However.. I don't know of an infection that makes the beer seems bitter.. 20 points isn't exactly near dry, so... I don't know.
Metallic then.. I'm wondering you are getting some astringency which can come off as bitter as well. This was an extract brew? Did you use steeping grains? How long and what temp, and how much water? What about your water, what kind of water did you use? Did you treat it any, or add any water additions? Did you knock back the trub and krausen ring back into the beer by chance and taste a clump of that junk?
Ahh! When the airlock blew off krausen was caked all In the neck and quite a bit fell in and is still floating on top. So maybe that's what's done it? That'll all settle and mellow out right?
Your instructions said to steep at 180? I'd avoid that kit maker in the future. Yeah, it's possible you got significant tannins from the grains, causing astringency, which could have been (I suppose) less noticeable when there were more sugars still in the wort/beer. But don't drain pour. This is your first batch. It's sometimes difficult to predict exactly what a carbonated beer will taste like from a pre-carbonated sample, especially when you haven't done it before.
Sounds like you probably steeped too high, and extracted some tannins from the steeping grains. Chances are, with too much water too. Carb the beer up and process it as normal. See whatcha get. Take notes along the way.
How does that fix your problem? I'd look at your recipe, and see if there's an issue there. Steeping at 180* isn't right.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/CaribouSlobber.pdf So this says to steep until the water reaches 170f. I like to steep in the 150-160f range for 30 minutes on extract kits. Just add Brett and see what happens if your really thinking about dumping.
