Anybody know any tricks

Tried doing my own recipe and messed up on some hop calculations. I ended up with an IBU well over 100 when it should be around 40-60 for the IPA I'm trying to make. Anybody know any tricks to lower the IBU after fermentation has started? would adding more DME in secondary help? I read something about juniper extract removing bitterness from malt liquor, anybody hear this?

read this thread for more details on the brew https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=34341


-Gjork

What were your boil times for your hops? Can't really judge/help without knowing if you really got a lot of bittering (long boil time) or a ton of flavor/aroma (short boil time).

BierMuncher said:

What were your boil times for your hops? Can't really judge/help without knowing if you really got a lot of bittering (long boil time) or a ton of flavor/aroma (short boil time).

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4oz 60 min boil columbus
2oz 15 min boil magnum

Could just let it age a long time, time lessons the hoppiness.

I would focus on not worrying. You might like it!

Adding more fermentables will reduce the perceived bitterness, but depending on how big the beer is, your yeast may have problems with the alcohol production.

gjork said:

4oz 60 min boil columbus

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lol....yeah that'll do her. However, I would just give it a couple extra weeks of conditioning and drink away. I find columbus' bitterness very nice.

I haven't done this myself, so wait for more advise before you try it, but I think if you brewed another (less bitter) batch you could combine the two.

Barley-Davidson said:

I haven't done this myself, so wait for more advise before you try it, but I think if you brewed another (less bitter) batch you could combine the two.

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Was at the Mountain Sun Brewery in Boulder CO they were mixing their different brews leading to some tasty results. I like this idea, I will still condition it an extra couple of weeks for good measure though.


gjork

gjork said:

4oz 60 min boil columbus
2oz 15 min boil magnum

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OK, how about the OTHER half of the info...like AA%?

An ounce is always an ounce, but one that's 3.2% AA does not equal the same bitterness as one that's 10.8% AA.

homebrewer_99 said:

OK, how about the OTHER half of the info...like AA%?

An ounce is always an ounce, but one that's 3.2% AA does not equal the same bitterness as one that's 10.8% AA.

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Columbus has a 15%AA
Magnum a 14%AA

Also, It's about a 5 gal batch.

using http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/
AFTER I started fermentation is how I discovered my blunder
(If only I knew as much then as I do now)

Damn thats a lot of hops!

You are probably going to need to age it for a while, the hop characters will fade over time. You could also blend this beer with another pale ale. Then again, you might like it!

You *might* consider (i've heard of people doing this with high gravity belgians) adding some more sugars while it's still in primary. Boil some water, dissolve some corn sugar and let it cool....then add it to the fermenter to boost your alcohol. The corn sugar is very easy for the yeast to eat so it shouldn't stress them out much.


I would just let it ferment out and let it age.....

I've also been thinking about blending some beers...and came across this interesting powerpoint put out by Firestone. I do enjoy the oakiness of their double barrel pale ale.

www.firestonebeer.com/Creating_Flavors_Blending.ppt

ReverbbqBrew said:

I've also been thinking about blending some beers...and came across this interesting powerpoint put out by Firestone. I do enjoy the oakiness of their double barrel pale ale.

www.firestonebeer.com/Creating_Flavors_Blending.ppt

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the link to that slideshow. I listened to the audio of the presentation on the brewing network IIRC...cool to have the powerpoint for quick reference.

I'd brew another batch, same recipe, without any bittering hops at all. Then blend & dry hop if needed. Could use different dry hops for drill.

By the way, regardless of what the software says, it is tough to go over 90 IBU. The solution saturates. Still, 90 is too high for most IPAs.

It's been a while and I tasted a bottle, wow now I know what an IBU of 100+ tastes like and I don't like it. But, mixed 50/50 with a lager, it comes out quite good. I'm eager to mix with the second batch (only dry hopped) I made. It should come out almost perfectly. Thanks for all the responses.

GJORK