Can you over hop

Can you over hop an IPA?

I know the science says you can only get so many IBUs into solution...
So what would happen if you threw a pound of warrior pellets in for 60 minutes?
If the tools say it's 1,000 IBU, is there anything wrong with that?

I'm planning a super hoppy beer for a friend who says nthing is hoppy enough.

I think you may start to enter the too bitter zone if your o.g. is low plus the cohumulone content of the hops is high.

Isn't 100 to 120 the max IBUs for solution and human taste? I mean going over that seems like it would be wasting hops.

I'm getting ready to brew an IPA from "Old British Beers...". The recipe calls for 3.1oz of Goldings per gallon of wort.

It also has an OG of 70 and expects you to age it for a year, followed by dry hopping.

What I'm getting at is that if you have enough malt to complement the taste, and allow enough time for the tastes to mature, then you're pretty free to do whatever you want.

On another note... last week I was about to toss out the beer from a cornie that had sat around for 8 years. Curiosity got the best of me and I had a taste before I dumped it out. Amazingly, it wasn't infected. The flavor had almost completely gone. But the aroma of the hops was just as fresh as if it were a new beer that had just been dry hopped.

Well, all that hop matter will suck up wort/beer so you will lose volume. And if you're not gaining anything then all you're doing is making less beer for no reason.

Thats if you want the malt in there. A lot of NW IPAs have little malt and tons of hops. Pliny only uses 2-row for example, and I think the recipe calls for a pound or so of hops for a 5 gallon batch. Anyway, a pound at 60 would be very bitter so malt would be necessary. If you're doing the hop bomb thing, Ive never had a beer that was too hoppy

A local brewery here in Pullman makes a beer with 110 IBU's. It's pretty much undrinkable, IMO, but others love it.

Halbrust said:

Can you over hop an IPA?

I know the science says you can only get so many IBUs into solution...
So what would happen if you threw a pound of warrior pellets in for 60 minutes?
If the tools say it's 1,000 IBU, is there anything wrong with that?

I'm planning a super hoppy beer for a friend who says nthing is hoppy enough.

Click to expand...

Have him/her chew on a hop cone or pellet one time. Not the dry hop turbo kick I thought it would be.

pelipen said:

Have him/her chew on a hop cone or pellet one time. Not the dry hop turbo kick I thought it would be.

Click to expand...

I do this from time to time, every time I do it I am reminded why it's not a good idea:cross:

RainyDay said:

Thats if you want the malt in there. A lot of NW IPAs have little malt and tons of hops. Pliny only uses 2-row for example, and I think the recipe calls for a pound or so of hops for a 5 gallon batch. Anyway, a pound at 60 would be very bitter so malt would be necessary. If you're doing the hop bomb thing, Ive never had a beer that was too hoppy

Click to expand...

The malt bill for Pliny is 2 row, C45, carapils, and corn sugar. 12.5oz of hops in a 5 gallon batch, so that's pretty close. This is based on the widely available PDF that Vinnie distributed.

no

If you're going by a style guide or it were going to be judged in a competition, yes.

If it's by what you want it to taste like, no. But I suspect even the X-treme hop head would realize a point where it's not so much beer anymore as it is boozed up hop tea.

I did a batch of Pliny last year and it was 17 oz hops for 6 gallons. Beersmith calculated 146 IBU. It was insane, really really hoppy but still good. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it was pretty close to over-hopped. My standard IPAs are usually 6-8 oz or so for 6 gallons.

I have yet to try an IPA I thought had to much hops. Pliny, Hop Stupid, DFH 90 Minute...etc. I have been toying with the idea myself of brewing a 150-200 IBU beer just to see if the theoretical taste threshold is real (oh the things you think of when you have a freezer FULL of hops...). Another thought of mine is to put a metric butt ton of hops in at flame out/dry hop to get an insane amount of aroma out of hops.

I have to wonder if it's the claim that I put "X amount of hops" in this batch that becomes more important or better. At times I have to wonder if it just becomes more expensive than better.

I would think there is a point of diminishing returns from the first ounce to the 16th.

sometimes it seems that brewing is like Haggis... just a dare..

Actually besides being quite delicious(when made properly), haggis is a way to use up all the animal leftovers...much like any sausage or encased meat.


At the OP, I guess there is only one way to find out.

ktblunden said:

The malt bill for Pliny is 2 row, C45, carapils, and corn sugar. 12.5oz of hops in a 5 gallon batch, so that's pretty close. This is based on the widely available PDF that Vinnie distributed.

Click to expand...

This, im about to brew a batch of it for my dads birthday.

I don't understand the question...

Cheers!

Zuljin said:

it is boozed up hop tea.

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Am I the only one that thinks this boozed up hop tea sounds delicious?

My guess would be that at some point the wort would become supersaturated and anything place into it would just fall out. At what point that is I don’t know and think it would be hard to calculate.

Actually the way you could make a beer more bitter is not more hops, but less malt. Brew a 3.5% pale ale and then hit it with 200 theoretical IBUs and see what he thinks hahaha

lgilmore said:

sometimes it seems that brewing is like Haggis... just a dare..

Click to expand...

I like Haggis

To the OP - look into hop extracts. You can crank up the IBUs as much as you want for less $$$ and with less wort loss to gunk. Most likely the best way to experiment with super IBU recipes without adding to much plant material and grass flavors to your beer.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/hops/hopshot/hopshot.html

One milliliter of HopShot yields approximately 10 IBUs in 5 gallons of 1.050 wort when boiled for 60 minutes.

Buy 3, do a 150+ IBU beer for $6 in hop cost. I would use this for bittering - then you can add whatever you want late in the boil, at flameout and dry hop for flavor and aroma.

brycelarson said:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/hops/hopshot/hopshot.html

One milliliter of HopShot yields approximately 10 IBUs in 5 gallons of 1.050 wort when boiled for 60 minutes.

Buy 3, do a 150+ IBU beer for $6 in hop cost. I would use this for bittering - then you can add whatever you want late in the boil, at flameout and dry hop for flavor and aroma.

Click to expand...

Only thing I don't like about those, is that they don't tell you what hop was use to product them. So I think you are right, only in the first part of the boil. Cheers

Yeah, I'm sure it's a high % hop like Warrior or something similar. I haven't used it but I've had beers made with it and talked to people who have used it. You're not using it for anything but the bittering - so yes, early additions only.

I may try a batch or two just to see how I like it. I'm a big fan of low flavor, high acid hops for early additions. This might fill that need really well.

Have seen that one: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-1000-ibu/118986/

What do you think about 1.000 ibus.

Anyway I love the Mikkeler beers