I made a huge mistake, and now I'm paying for it!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a problem. I don't know what type of malaise I had when I made this error, but the fruit of my labor is undrinkable. I mean, it's really bad.

Here's the back story. I've only been brewing for a little while, first batch was ok. (Didn't care for the style, was a gift from the wife). Second batch is bottled, need a little more time to condition. Second batch should turn out nicely. Third batch...thats when the train went off the tracks. I was trying to brew a big IPA. I got a great recipe from BYO.com (http://***********/stories/recipeindex/article/recipes/104-india-pale-ale/2249-dicks-brewing-co-bottleworks-ipa-clone) and started brewing. I think because I had one successful brew, and batch #2 went so well I got a little complacent? Cocky? Head-strong? Drank too many beers while brewing?

The recipe calls for 11.75 lbs. of LME. I thought each Briess container had 6.6 lbs of LME. Just so you know, you probably already do, they are only 3.3 lbs each. This wouldn't be a MAJOR problem if I had brewed something that WASN'T an Imperial IPA. (Headstrong?) But I just sampled it and it is insanely bitter, borderline undrinkable. It doesn't start off bad, a little floral, definitely hoppy, but the after taste knocks you on your ass, in a bad way. I know some people like bitter beers, and I am one of those people, but this is a beast of a different nature.

How do I fix this?

I know some of you will say: "Let it condition for 12 months and the hop flavor will mellow out." No. I just started brewing, I feel like I'm on a roll, and I want to do open heart surgery on this batch.

Some Ideas: Mix it with something that is more sweet, malty. A batch that is high in malt, or that has unfermentable sugars in it. Add sugars directly to the fermenter? Add Malt Extract to the fermenter and re pitch some yeast?

I know someone, somewhere on this forum, has had this problem before. How did you handle it? What can I do to fix this beer?

How far along is it? Just a guess but if you brew something bland and cut it in you can probably come up with a good ratio and save it.

Sure, you could make a malty beer and blend it back. As an aside, what led you to choose a beer from Dick's Brewing?!?!? I ask, because I have some familiarity with them, but I wouldn't think it is a commonly available beer in the Boston area.

Where in the process are you? If you started fermenting, and it isn't complete, you can boil up some more extract and add that to the fermenter. If you're done fermenting, then brew up another, less hoppy beer, and blend it.


(I've never done either of my suggestions, so consider that when you make your decision.)

Uh, I was wondering where my response was, but now see you have two almost identical posts on this. You might want to ask the mods to merge them.

Brew a big malty porter or stout and serve them as black and tans

Shooter said:

Uh, I was wondering where my response was, but now see you have two almost identical posts on this. You might want to ask the mods to merge them.

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Yeah, I was thinking "WTF?" I thought I posted in this thread...

Also, unionrdr has a good point, it's not fair to judge the flavor early on. However, if you really did cut your malt bill be half, it's still going to be out of whack.

I'd sayit might be worth it to try blending a malty beer into it. Or you might end up with 2 crappy beers...

I would not let it sit. Chances are you will wait a LONG time for a VERY bitter beer to lose it's harshness, and by then it will probably be oxidized.

Simply adding sugars won't help because sugar ferments out completely, leaving a high alcohol bitter beer.

Dump a bunch of lactose (milk sugar) in there. It will add body and sweetness, and is not fermentable by your yeast. In my experience it takes a bunch of this stuff to make a difference. If you use beersmith, play around with additions until your bitterness ration (IBU/OG) is about 0.750 or less.

Brewsephus said:

I think because I had one successful brew, and batch #2 went so well I got a little complacent? Cocky? Head-strong? Drank too many beers while brewing?

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It's always that third one.

Shooter said:

Uh, I was wondering where my response was, but now see you have two almost identical posts on this. You might want to ask the mods to merge them.

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I have put in a request to merge the two posts. My apologies.

TomSD said:

How far along is it? Just a guess but if you brew something bland and cut it in you can probably come up with a good ratio and save it.

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It is in the primary, but is fully fermented out. It was 1.050 OG and is now fermented out at 1.006. It was brewed on 2/28/12 and I sampled it at the end of fermentation today, 3/14/12.

Any ideas as to what I could brew to mix it with? It must be an ale, because I dont have the equipment to lager.

LandoLincoln said:

It's always that third one.

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All of my beers would be epic where it not for the third one.

Shooter said:

Sure, you could make a malty beer and blend it back. As an aside, what led you to choose a beer from Dick's Brewing?!?!? I ask, because I have some familiarity with them, but I wouldn't think it is a commonly available beer in the Boston area.

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Honestly, I was just looking for a big IPA recipe and that was one that I found that looked good. I have never had a beer from Dick's Brewing Co.

The real question is, what do I brew to blend back, and can I get by not doing 5 gallons. The only reason is, if the fix doesn't work I don't want to get stuck with 4+ cases of crappy beer. I could scale back a malty recipe to say, 2.5 gal. Anyone feel like doing the calculations in Beersmith for me? I don't have a subscription. What would the final IBU's come out to?

Here is a recipe I thought about blending it with http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=8120, it's a honey porter. Would make a very interesting black and tan.

For my two cents, you could even just leave it alone. A year from now the hops will be so mellow you won't believe it's the same beer. Cellar that stuff, crack it open when you forget about it. Or brew a milder, unhopped batch and blend pre-bottling. Or hell, send it to me - I love too bitter.

To the OP:

Honestly, I would chalk it up as a learning experience and move forward. It sucks to have an "abeertion" and dump it down the drain but this happens to everyone at least once. There is no point of suffering through it. Mixing it might help or it might not - why spend more time and money on a lost cause? You could always use it for cooking brats though.

I'd just move on to another brew IMO.

Here's an idea. If you have any folks that come over an ungraciously drink all your homebrew, bottle it up, and when said ingrates come over, tell them it's your newest miracle brew, it's all you have, and let THEM drink it.

It sucks to have an "abeertion"

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There's a keeper

Where are you at in the process? Primary? How long?

I would try a blend. Since your hops are Columbus, it's going to be a little trickier to tame the bitterness (as opposed to a "fruitier" hop like centennial). You also need to take into account that you are going to ramp up your alcohol content, so you'll need to account for that (alcohol can add bitterness/heat at higher concentrations).

If you do a blend, the hydrometer will be your friend. What was the OG? That will tell you how much LME to add at 35 PPG (Points Per Gallon Per Pound for LME). If your OG was 1.040 and you needed 1.080, add enough extract to add 40 gravity points, or just over a pound in a gallon. Here are a couple of good write-ups on PPG for extract (the BYO one is particularly detailed):

http://www.brew-dudes.com/working-with-ppg-and-specific-gravity/126
http://***********/stories/techniques/article/indices/9-all-grain-brewing/618-extract-for-all-grainers-advanced-brewing

I'm thinking that your SRM is probably off as well, so I would probably just boil up some amber LME for about 15-20 minutes, un-hopped, cool it and add it into the fermenter. You don't have to do a huge volume to make it work, just get it thin enough to blend with the IIPA without needing to stir too vigorously.

It might work, it might not. But at the very least it'll be a learning experience, and that's worth the cost of a pound or two of LME.

I've performed 3 abeertions in the last year alone. Sad, but happens. Last one was possibly salvagable with time. but i wanted the Corney it was in and wasn't in the mood to bottle.

It happens. Good thing is though the beer is good for plants, so pour it in your garden.

LandoLincoln said:

It's always that third one.

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Gee! I must be doing something wrong. My third was one of my best.

I am up to 19 batches since July and have not had a bad one yet. Even ones of my own creation.


Darn! I just jinxed myself again.

prrriiide said:

Where are you at in the process? Primary? How long?

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I am done with the primary fermentation. It is just sitting in the primary right now, doing nothing. It has been in there since 2/28/2012. It stopped fermenting 3 days ago, 3/12/2012.

After doing some searching, I found that some people mix porters with IPA. I think I'm going to stop by the packie after work and grab one of each and give it a whirl. Mix the two of them up and see if it's palatable. If it is, I think ill spend the extra ~$30 and brew up a porter and when it's done, mix the two and bottle it as a "Off-Kilter Black and Tan". The question is, and this will come from experimenting with the store-bought beer, is how little porter do I have to add to make it worthwhile. I don't mind spending money to fix this aberration, but I don't want to turn this into a money pit.
Cheers!

Brewsephus said:

The question is, and this will come from experimenting with the store-bought beer, is how little porter do I have to add to make it worthwhile.
Cheers!

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If I were you, I'd:

1) stop worrying and have a homebrew!
2) brew up a full batch of porter. Nothing bad can come from having too much homebrew.
3) don't bottle the ipa! Wait until the porter is done in the primary before doing anything. If you're worried about off flavors, you can rack the IPA into a secondary and just let it chillax until said porter is done. Don't aim for any porter over 1060 OG, or else it might take a little too long for ye.
4) when both beers are locked and loaded, take a few cups of both into your tasting lair (if you have one). Mix with measured quantities and taste to figure out how it balances out. Then scale up your porter addition accordingly.

Good luck out there, and there's no such thing as a failed batch! As long as you keep learning.

momobono said:

take a few cups of both into your tasting lair (if you have one).

Good luck out there, and there's no such thing as a failed batch! As long as you keep learning.

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I WISH I had a tasting lair! Someday. Right now I call it the kitchen.

I agree with your last point. I'm disappointed it didn't come out perfect, but I've also learned a lot since then.
::cheers::

Here's an update on the unbalanced IPA situation:

I went to the store and bought two different porters and two different, heavily hopped, IPAs and tried mixing them. I didn't care for any of the results, the porters were too malty and it was just too much of two extremes. What I did think of was, since I already had a scotch ale in the primary, what if I mixed it with that? I went to the store and got a scotch ale and mixed it with another of the IPA. Low and behold! It was actually enjoyable. I would describe it as a much more floral, sweet IPA. It was almost like a highly hopped Magic Hat #9. I bottled everything today, and sampled some of the mix. It was actually good. I am very happy with the results. Now the problem is, do I name it Hop-Scotch, or Brain-Fart?

Thanks for all the help! ::cheers::

Whatever you name it document the process cause you may want to recreate it.

Why not try adding fruit to a secondary. I know the residual yeast will continue to ferment the new sugars you are introducing. But if you are already considering this a throw away beer have fun with it. Think of DFH ApriHop, pretty hoppy stuff with a bit of fruit in the background. Just an idea guys

Brewsephus said:

Here's an update on the unbalanced IPA situation:

I went to the store and bought two different porters and two different, heavily hopped, IPAs and tried mixing them. I didn't care for any of the results, the porters were too malty and it was just too much of two extremes. What I did think of was, since I already had a scotch ale in the primary, what if I mixed it with that? I went to the store and got a scotch ale and mixed it with another of the IPA. Low and behold! It was actually enjoyable. I would describe it as a much more floral, sweet IPA. It was almost like a highly hopped Magic Hat #9. I bottled everything today, and sampled some of the mix. It was actually good. I am very happy with the results. Now the problem is, do I name it Hop-Scotch, or Brain-Fart?

Thanks for all the help! ::cheers::

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Thanks for the update! And I like that name.