beer is too bitter - how to fix it in secondary?

[JiP]

Basically, Bobby brewed a black ipa but his beer became too bitter. How does Bobby make this batch of black ipa a better beer before bottling?

I brewed two, 5 gallon bathes of almost the same recipe a month apart. The first batch is great, but too bitter for most people. If I had had that feedback before brewing the second batch, I would have reduced the bittering hops from 2oz of Chinook down to 1.5oz or lower. But, it's too late so how do I save the batch in secondary?

I've read posts with suggestions but I haven't found definitive answers based on science or experience. Common suggestions are to let it age or blend with a sweeter beer. Aging hasn't helped the first batch, and if I brewed another batch I'd just brew it correctly instead of hoping that the blend would work.

I'm leaning toward a month on oak cubes and a week of dry hopping. Arrogant Bastard beer comes to mind... I much prefer the oaked version as I find it smoother and more balanced, but this is against what I thought oak did (add tanins and bitterness). Stone balances their black IPA with over-the-top dry hopping. That makes more sense in that the aroma pulls more flavor perception from the too bitter beer.

Does anyone have direct experience with these methods, or any other methods? Please help me save what is otherwise a great beer from being relegated to the category of "bottle opened after the good beers are gone."

If it helps, this is a black IPA, ~ 8.5% alcohol with theoretical IBU's of 125.

 

[bja]

If it helps, this is a black IPA, ~ 8.5% alcohol with theoretical IBU's of 125.

What were you expecting from this?

I would brew another beer with 15 IBU's and mix them together. Well, no I wouldn't do that. I'd enjoy what I have, but you can do that.

 

[david_42]

There isn't any way to reduce the IBUs except by dilution.

 

[r8rphan]

Trying to fix beers by brewing another and blending has resulted in some very pleasant surprises here....

 

[duckredbeard]

One solution is to blend two finished beers. In bulk if you can, but by the pint is so much easier. Kegging makes this easier. Make a low ibu style, it should balance well.

 

[Jamming]

Conditioning seems to work for bitter beers. I dont know maybe my taste buds are screwed up from crap beer before i started AG. But i made a ESB that was pretty bitter, two weeks on CO2 in a cornie and it was gone.

 

[Golddiggie]

With it being 8.5%, I'd set it aside and just let it age more. With the amount of IBU's in it, you could be looking at several months before it's mellowed to the point where you like it.

If you're going to oak it, I'd go with 6-8 weeks with 3oz of medium toast cubes. If you can get Hungarian cubes, do so. For one thing, they're not as offensive/strong as the American or French versions. I've used the Hungarian cubes in a few batches (also high ABV brews) and really enjoy the subtle contribution.

I would also plan on this not going to glass for more than a while. At this point, you don't have much to lose by being patient with it. If you do dry hop it, I would go with something low in AA% so that it helps to soften the current IBUs already present. That would be the last thing I did, though, before it went to bottle.

If you do decide to get into kegging, this could also be to your advantage in that you won't need to worry (at all) about how long it ages before you want to start drinking it.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

As others have said, age is the cure to what ales you (pun intended). Let it sit for a few months and it will mellow. With IPAs, you want to drink them fresh to get the hop bite. If you let it age, that bite will be diminished.

 

[MrOH]

Let it age in secondary, tasting a small bit every month until it is at an acceptable bitterness level. Then dry hop the ever-loving **** out of it for a week and a half to bring the aroma back up.

 

[JiP]

For anyone reading this after the fact... time did the trick. Well, it made it better, but on the next batch I reduced the bittering hops and it became great! The consistent advice is true, just give it more time to mellow. Unfortunately, that also mellowed the fresh hop taste that I love, so the true lesson is to learn from one batch and apply the lessons for the next batch.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.