How to deal with an overly bitter IPA?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Pugalicious

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
64
Reaction score
8
Location
San Diego, CA
So I tried to rush a brew session into a tight timeframe and seriously messed up in a number of areas (but more on that another time). Long story short, my main concern is that I accidentally threw in 4oz of Cascade into a 4 gal batch (don't ask) for 90 minutes with an OG of 1.048! Then .25oz at 30 mins, .25 oz at 10 mins, and .5oz at flameout.

Upon tasting when taking a gravity reading, it was quite bitter. Normally I wouldn't mind a lot of bitterness in my IPA but due to the 4oz at 90 mins it left a long harsh aftertaste and not nearly enough aroma or "up front" hop character. So..

I'm going to wait to see how it tastes after primary to make a decision on how to deal with it. My original plan was to dry hop but I think it will already be way too bitter for that.

Any suggestions or thoughts? I'm thinking of brewing another batch with a higher ABV, more of a malt backbone, and nothing but late hop additions and then blending the two batches. Good plan or crazy?

Thanks in advance everyone!
 
Nightshade said:
Let it age for a while and the bite will mellow out.

Well that's simple and effective. Don't know why I didn't think of that! Then I can dry hop when it's down to a decent level.

Thanks!
 
If it's really no good. What about blending it. Brew another batch that has no bittering hops, and is blasted with late additions, then when done fermenting, mix the two. That would probably work.

As for letting the bitterness age out, i've noticed that the thing that ages out is the aroma and flavor and not the 60 minute bittering, or at least that's the last thing to go. So not just letting it sit would work for you.

If you don't want to blend it, then dry hop the snot out of it and hope for the best.
 
Obviously the balance is off. Dry hopping will give you the aroma and flavor you are lacking without any additional bitterness. Another thought since it is still in primary would be to add a pound of extra light DME to add back some malt and balance out the bitter. You can take and boil up the DME, cool and very gently and slowly pour into the primary so as not too add O2 and allow it to ferment out. It will raise the gravity about .008. Then dry hop.

Otherwise as mentioned just let it age out and it will mellow a bit but 4 oz at 90 minutes is a lot for that low a gravity beer. You can also just make it a IIPA instead:)
 
You guys rock. Great feedback. I still haven't decided which way to go with this. I was thinking of aging then dry hopping (sounds easy enough) but if I go the direction of brewing another batch to blend with... I get to brew again! :mug:

I think I'll wait until primary is over, taste it, and then go from there. I'll update this thread when I do.
 
Carbonation will also help deadon the bitterness somewhat. You can always bench trial a small portion for the added DME effect then scale it up if it's what you're after...that way if you don't like the results, no harm, no foul.
 
I've had overly bitter beer due to lots of hops and some coffee.
Time made it into a great beer.
 
Probably toxic. Send it to me and I'll be happy to dispose of it properly :)

Too bitter-------bwhaaaaaa hhhaaaa
 

Latest posts

Back
Top