Isomerized Hop Extract question

So, I wanted to make an American Strong Ale similar to Arrogant Bastard. The problem I have is that I only can do a 3 gallon boil so I knew my bitterness was going to be about half of where I needed them to be. (I added the bulk of the DME late to try and compensate some) The folks at my LHBS suggested I use isomerized hop extract to raise the IBUs. It is a syringe with a green liquid in it and it states 65 IBU's in one gallon or 13 IBUs when added to 5 gallons. They suggested adding it when I go to secondary so I can gauge how much I need.

I took a hydro sample yesterday and the SG was a bit high at 1.022 (the OG was 1.076). The sample tasted amazing. The bitterness was there but about half what I would like. As a test i added a drop of the hop extract to the sample. The whole thing turned milky! Cloudy as if I had poured milk into the sample. I'm not sure why I went on to taste it but I did and it was a foul taste that I still have in my mouth a half day and 3 teeth brushings later.

So what do you think happened? Was the concentration of 1 drop to the sample size too great? Is the milky color because it killed the yeast? Most importantly I am not liking the idea of adding this stuff to my beer if there is a chance it will do this to the whole 5 gallons. Searches for 'hop' and 'extract' pretty much return this whole forum so it has been hard to research Thanks!

You probably added way too much. It got cloudy because you probably delivered far too much hop oil for that amount of beer - that much cannot dissolve in beer. Try doing a 10 x dilution by adding 1 drop of the extract to 9 drops of vodka, mix, and add one drop of that to the beer.

That is a great suggestion, I just went by the LHBS to ask about this and they thought the concentration was too high as well but they do have a call into the manufacturer for me to verify.

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would update it with my experiences. I have used the isomerized hop extract a few times now and the suggestion to mix with vodka is really the best way to go. I put it into a shot glass with the vodka and add it that way. It does make the solution cloudy where it initially hits but that does go away after a day or two once it dilutes. The Arrogant Bastard clone I made was a huge success and the hop balance was right on target for what I was looking for. I have since moved to all grain and full boils, so I don't really need to use this anymore, but I can recommend it for extract brewers needing to increase their IBUs.