What Affects Bitterness In Homebrewed Beer

Are you tired of spending countless hours mixing, fermenting and brewing beer only to find out that it’s overly bitter when you finally taste it? It’s hard (if not impossible) to enjoy a batch of homebrewed beer when it’s bitter. Rather than possessing that distinct bubbly hop flavors, the bitterness overwhelms your taste buds to wash out all of the ‘positive’ flavors. If this sounds like a familiar problem, keep reading to learn more about what causes bitterness in homebrewed beer and ho you can prevent it.

First and foremost, it’s important to note that some bitterness is to be expected in homebrewed beer. Whether it’s homebrewed or not, it’s completely normal to taste a slight bitterness when drinking beer. Inexperienced drinkers may assume that bitterness is a sign of a problem, but this isn’t the case. Rest assured that ‘mild’ bitterness in beer is normal.

Bitterness and Tannins

Naturally occurring organic compounds known as tannins are essentially responsible for the bitterness of homebrewed beer. Tannins around in plant compounds, including hops, and become more prominent and noticeable during the early stages of fermentation. Tannins are also found in the skins of grapes; therefore, they are present in wine as well. Generally speaking, tannins are the root cause of bitterness in wine, beer or practically any other alcoholic beverage.

How To Reduce Bitterness In Homebrewed Beer

There are several steps you can take to reduce bitterness in homebrew beer, one of which is to simply use less hops. Common sense should tell you that less hops translates into fewer tannins. And with fewer tannins present in the brew, your beer will have more of a sweeter flavor and less of a bitter flavor. The downside to this, however, is that reducing the amount of hops in your homebrew beer may affect its quality and flavor. Before you resort to such drastic measures, you first attempt to reduce your beer’s bitterness through other means.

Numerous homebrewers have reported an overly bitter taste from beer that’s not properly fermented. Contrary to what some people may believe, bitterness begins to fade the longer the beer is fermented. I’m sure some people are eager to taste their fresh batch of homebrewed beer, but you must give it time to go through the fermentation process; otherwise, the bitter tannins will overwhelm the beer. Try to get into the habit of waiting until your homebrewed beer is finished fermenting before sampling it.