Hop Utilization in whirlpool ( BITTER BATCH ! )

What about head space in your bottles? How much are you leaving?

 

I had that problem from time to time starting off. The issue was the tap water I was using. What water source were you using? Sorry if you mentioned it earlier...

Those hops look fine and FF is all around awesome, but I have had some hop combinations that came out way too bitter mixed with slightly high carbonation.

 

“The water was filtered fridge water which I have used the last few batches .. but that very well could have been it.”

What water did you use for prior batches (before the last few batches)?

Cheers!

 

I'm not sure if you are on your own on these brews, but if you can do a brew day with a more experienced homebrewer, it might help. Frankly, it sounds like you didn't make any big errors. Also, if you can share your beer with someone who has developed a good diagnostic palate for beer, like a beer judge, that might be helpful.

 

Your beer was an extract with specialty grains (plus Pale Malt) batch. I have read in many articles/books that for extract batches the ‘rule’ for brewing water is that if your tap water tastes good then it is OK to brew with. Water chemistry is important for all grain brewing since you are mashing/sparging to produce the wort. The notion for extract brewing is that the manufacturer of the malt extract has for the most part taken care of the water chemistry aspect of brewing.

Hopefully somebody else is more knowledgeable on the topic of water chemistry and extract brewing. I personally do not understand why using tap water would impact an extract brew per the issues you are describing.

Cheers!

 

Ah, those sneaky dick slapping beers. Sorry this one is hard to go down.

Jokes aside, my initial thought was a lot like what pweiss909 post#8 said. Something unpleasant but maybe not bitterness, just the best way to describe it. Although looking at the recipe I have no idea what that would be, just that it is probably not bitterness.

 

I dont know if TX is like AZ, but in the fall our water profile changes dramatically as they switch to a different blend of source waters

 

Should tap water have a noticeable impact on an extract brew?

Cheers!

 

Depends on the tap water. While you don't have the mash pH concerns with extract batches that you have with all grain, there's still the flavor aspect. For example, too much Sulfates (SO4) can still cause a perception of too much bitterness. SO4 doesn't care if it has been through a mash or not. Plus, you're adding the Sulfates in the water to the Sulfates that are already in the extract (from the manufacturer's mash).

This is the reason many advocate using distilled/RO for extract brewing.

 

While its on my list of things to get to, I have never even looked at water chemistry and I produce what I consider to be very good beer. One of these days I will build my own water varying by style, but for now I really cant complain about my results.

 

Maybe your fridge water filter cartridge needs to be replaced, or is no longer up to handling possible seasonal changes in your water source. I'm wondering if your municipality does something like switching chlorine sources or other treatment chemicals seasonally and the fridge filter you have is just not up to the job of removing whatever is in the water now.

Consider buying a activated charcoal home water filter from the hardware store and setting it up to use exclusively for your brewing water. Make sure to feed it directly from city water, before any home water softeners or other conditioning equipment your house may have.

 

At one time...this had been my experience...as well.

 

Falconer's Flight is not a super smooth hop IMHO. I had a Palate Wrecker (Hamilton's Ale) last night that was brewed in February that was better than a fresh one...a little higher ABV than yours, but some conditioning will maybe take the edge off of it.