Accidental over-hop -- help!

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.

patman

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Hi folks,

I've been lurking around for a while, but I just made a boo-boo, and my need for advice has just motivated me to post!...

I started brewing a batch of Imperial Coffee Stout this weekend. You could call it a partial mash, as I'm taking an "add water and stir" all-grain kit (from the Brew House -- they're in B.C., Canada), but I'm using it as a base to which I'm adding ingredients and mashing. I'm doing all this as per instructions on their web site.

My problem: the recipe called for 1 oz of Norther Brewer hops for a 5 gallon batch. I'm making a 2 gallon batch (so I won't cry as hard if I need to flush it). That should mean 0.4 oz. But somewhere in converting from oz to grams, and copying and printing the recipe, I made a horrible mistake: I added 91 g of hops, which turns out to be 8 times what the recipe asked for (91 g = 3.2 oz !!!!).

Should I just flush the whole thing down the drain now, or is there anything that can be done to fix this? (N.B.: in the name of science, I won't flush it, because I am curious to see what happens to it.) Still, any thoughts of yours would be most appreciated.

One last note: I ended up using Northdown hops, as I couldn't get my hands on Norther Brewer hops. Not that this should make much difference now! ;)

Thanks,
Pat
 
You could try watering it down, but I don't think that'll be too good. You could also age the hell out of it and hope it mellows out...
 
Don't Flush it... DRINK IT!! Call it an India Coffee Stout if you need to!
 
It isn't as bad a 8 times as much, because of the basic limit on solubility of 90 IBU. Since it is an Imperial, it might make the most sense to dilute it a bit. In any case, I'd wait until it has fermented out to make a call.
 
shafferpilot said:
Exactly what I was thinking. Bump it up to 5 gallons:drunk:

Or better yet make 10 gallons and divide it into two 5 gallons. :mug:
 
david_42 said:
It isn't as bad a 8 times as much, because of the basic limit on solubility of 90 IBU. Since it is an Imperial, it might make the most sense to dilute it a bit. In any case, I'd wait until it has fermented out to make a call.


Thanks to all for the prompt responses! Don't worry, I won't flush it. Not sure I'll drink it in a day, though... :drunk:

I'll probably end up diluting it with more wort (I'd thought of that also). david_42, I'm curious, when you say "wait until it has fermented out", do you mean primary _and_ secondary fermentation? And if so, woudl I then add unfermented wort and re-pitch some yeast?

Sorry if these questions sound dumb, but I'm just considering my options. Looks like this could turn out to be an India coffee stout, or a porter coffee stout, or maybe even an imperial coffee stout yet!
 
Check it once the primary fermentation is done. If it is way too bitter, dilute a sample 2:1 with water to see how that would work. If it is still too much, I'd add an equal amount of water and DME as needed.
 
david_42 said:
Check it once the primary fermentation is done. If it is way too bitter, dilute a sample 2:1 with water to see how that would work. If it is still too much, I'd add an equal amount of water and DME as needed.

That's some pretty good advice there (i.e., see what you have before messing around with it). Keep in mind, though, that bitterness may be exaggerated straight out of the primary. My beers usually have a harsh bitterness out of the primary and also, often, out of the secondary that smooths out in another couple weeks. You might want to give it a good month in the secondary before you start making large adjustments.


TL
 
TexLaw said:
That's some pretty good advice there (i.e., see what you have before messing around with it). Keep in mind, though, that bitterness may be exaggerated straight out of the primary. My beers usually have a harsh bitterness out of the primary and also, often, out of the secondary that smooths out in another couple weeks. You might want to give it a good month in the secondary before you start making large adjustments.


TL

I'll take your good advice. The krausen hasn't dropped yet, but I'll sample some as soon as fermentation drops. I'm expecting it to be harsly bitter, not only due to the hops and young age, but given that I added coffee, it's likely to be on the bitter side of things at this point.

Let's say I give it a month in the secondary, and during that time, I make another batch (without the hops... :eek: ). Once this second batch is in the secondary, I could then add some of my over-hopped stuff to it, right?
 
You certainly can blend batches. In fact, that might get kinda fun.

You can also back sweeten with some lactose, if you want. That won't hurt an imperial coffee stout at all.

There are number of ways you can go at this, and all of them can be pretty cool.


TL
 
TexLaw said:
You certainly can blend batches. In fact, that might get kinda fun.

You can also back sweeten with some lactose, if you want. That won't hurt an imperial coffee stout at all.

There are number of ways you can go at this, and all of them can be pretty cool.


TL


I love this hobby!... er, addiction! Thanks for the suggestions. I'll think about sweetening with lactose. I'll probably just end up blending batches.

Cheers! :mug:
 
TexLaw said:
You certainly can blend batches. In fact, that might get kinda fun.

You can also back sweeten with some lactose, if you want. That won't hurt an imperial coffee stout at all.

There are number of ways you can go at this, and all of them can be pretty cool.


TL

I like the idea of back sweetening with lactose, if only to say that you take your imperial coffee stout with cream and sugar.
 
Melana said:
+1

Who knows, you could have a new favorite beer!


That's what SWMBO said... LOL! Then again, she doesn't really drink beer...

I'm not usually a fan of really bitter beers, though. Work has gotten in the way of my brewing this week (never a good thing), but I'll be taking a sample this afternoon and tasting it. We'll see what those Northdown hops (7.9 %) have contributed -- not to mention the coffee, which (silly me!) I steeped in grain form, rather than brewing a pot and adding it that way. I've read many posts about tannin extraction when you add coffee in grain form and let it sit in the brew. Will this be yet another case of "I'd been warned about this, but still went ahead and did it"?

But it's all good. After reading a hilarious thread in the general section about mistakes we wouldn't do again, I don't feel so bad anymore. ;)
 
Back
Top