Cutting back on the grapefruit flavor

[KNOTSANE]

I love the Levitation Ale from Stone Brewery. Although it does have a noticeable grapefruit taste, it doesn't seem so overpowering. I have experimented with some clone recipes, (some awful and some decent) and have one that is really like Stone's but the grapefruit taste is too much. I am thinking about skipping the dry hop with amarillo and cutting back to just .50 ounces of amarillo at 30 min. This will drop my IBU's to 43.5. Stone's website says the levitation is 45 (i believe) Does this sound like I'm heading in the right direction to mellow out that grapefruit punch. Thanks

 

[samc]

I don't get Grapefruit from Amarillo, more Orange like. If it is too much citrus in general you could just sub out some of the Amarillo for another hop and maintain the IBU's but lower the fruit.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Thanks for the info samc. It's not so much the citrus in general, but the sourness of the grapefruit flavor. My hop schedule is .50oz Colombus (tomohawk) @90
.50oz amarillo @30
.10oz simco @20
1.15 crystal @20
And I have already eliminated the dry hopping.

 

[sheeshomatic]

What yeast are you using?

 

[KNOTSANE]

WLP007(dry english ale)

 

[pearlbeer]

You shouldn't be getting much citrus from that hop bill.

You might try swapping out yeast to something completely neutral. Try WLP001 or S-05.

 

[sheeshomatic]

Hmmm, that's weird. I've had some fruity, estery flavors come through when my fermentation temps were too high. Your malt and hop bill shouldn't give you grapefruit really....

 

[phidelt844]

Just to take the flip side of the coin, my house IPA includes .5oz of Simcoe and Amarillo, along with more for dry hopping, and I find it screams of grapefruit. I would not attest grapefruit to any esters or fermentation issues; I think this is all hops. If you eliminate dry hopping, that should help with the aroma. You could try cutting down your later hop additions as well, as it looks like you've done.

 

[soup67]

I'm no expert, but you might consider a simpler hop schedule-- make a single bittering addition at 60, and flavor/aroma additions at 20, 5, and flameout. I have found that longer multi-hop additions (and continuous hopping with a mix of hops in a low gravity beer) can sometimes muddle the hop flavors and create that harsh pithy flavor it sounds like you are experiencing.