Hops oops

I just made a small-batch all grain stout, but I completely forgot to cut back on the hops. QBrew estimates bitterness at 138. oops!

I can think of 3 choices:
leave it alone and drink it
dilute post fermentation
blend with un-hopped (or low-hopped) similar recipe

What was the recipe? Depending on the strength (both alcohol and unfermentables like roast, chocolate, etc.) you might be able to just dilute after fermentation to get something sessionable. Or repeat the recipe with far less hope and blend. Certainly not the same beer as the recipe intended, but still something...

Well that is more reason to age the thing for a long time! Let those hops mellow out with time. How small is small?

Maybe it's just me, but I'd let it ride. How much of that was bittering and how much was flavor/aroma additions? Keep in mind there's a saturation point for alpha acids, you aren't going to end up with over 100 IBUs in your finished beer. If you have enough malt backbone, it may bit bitter but it shouldn't be overwhelming.

I made a 2.5 gallon batch of Palmer's Mill Run Stout. I intended to use .33 oz galena for 60 min and .33 oz chinook for thirty, but I lost focus and added a full ounce of each.

+1 to make a 2.5 batch with no hops and blend

or

+1 to age it

or

+1 to just drink it and see how it is

i agree to let it go and see how it tastes. if it's too bitter, let it mellow out a bit.

To follow up:

I made a 2.5 gallon batch without hops. After ten days, I blended the two batches in a carboy over 1 pound of cherries. Bottled two weeks ago with two ounces of cherry extract. Put one in the fridge yesterday and opened it tonight to check it out. Very nice beer. Thanks to all for the input. ANT

ugaant said:

I just made a small-batch all grain stout, but I completely forgot to cut back on the hops. QBrew estimates bitterness at 138. oops!

Click to expand...

Well on the up note the human tongue cannot detect anything above 100 ibu anyway!