I have brewed several batches of APA and IPA with fair enough amount of bitter hops and dry hopping according to some recipes available online. For example, for 7 % ABV with 50-60 IBU and 6% ABV with 40-50 IBU. The IPA is suppuse to be bitter, horever, the bitterness in my beer is not the the favourable bitterness, it is medicine-like bitternes s which is like you are tasting a medicine… it makes don’t want to take another sip…this is way too much annoying. Any idea what caused the medicine-like bitternes and how to adjust it ? Thanks in advance .
From what you’re describing, chlorophenols most likely.
Most likely caused by the presence of chlorine in the water you used for brewing. It’s an off flavor that can be a bit hidden at first, but completely takes over the beer with age. A typical homebrew mistake.
Solution - using non-chlorinated or distilled water. If you have no other choice, either use a filter that removes chlorine, or leave the water to evaporate for a time, or boil it for some 15 minutes and let it cool down again to room temp. Don’t overuse chlorine-based sanitizers.
Hope this helps!
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On an important side-note, if it’s chlorine, it’s easy to get out. If the water supply is adding chloramine(s), then it’s a bit harder - using distilled or generally non-chlorinated water, carbon filtration or Campden tablets only works there.
What kind of hops are you using and how much?
