Is there any hope for hop mellowing?

[msayler]

The second beer that I made is a SMaSH IPA which is roughly based on the recipe here:

http://tinyurl.com/a2cbsrh

It did about 6 days in primary, then got moved to a 5gal secondary to get it off of the massive trub (didn't filter it on the way in to the primary, whoops) with a wee bit of top-up water (half gallon or so, distilled) and the dry hops. While I was letting it do its thing in the secondary, I read more about hops and hop schedules, since this was the part that I was least familiar with. The more I read, the more I came to a terrible realization: I got my hop schedule backward. Mosaic hops (12.3%!!) in the following order: 1oz first wort, 1.5oz when it started boiling, then another 1.5oz 15 minutes in, with a 60 minute boil :smack:

When I checked the gravity to make sure primary was done, I tasted the sample and thought, "Hmm... this is a little too bitter. Hopefully that's just because it's very new, and not carbonated" and didn't worry about it. Tried it again at bottling time, and it still had an off-putting amount of bitterness. Left it in the bottles for a couple weeks, and tried one yesterday. Holy liquid Aspirin, Batman. It's got a "punch you in the face" bitterness that just lingers and lingers even after the beer is done.

For shins-and-grins, I put the recipe, including the backwards hop schedule, in to Brewtoad to see where it estimated the IBUs... and it's somewhere around 160 IBU

I'm no hop weenie, but this stuff is almost undrinkable right now. I'm not going to try another bottle until some time in early November, but my question is this:

Will this beer even get drinkable, and if so, how long might that take? I am also considering making a second batch of the same SMaSH, but leaving out everything except for flavor/aroma additions and dry hopping, and then putting three of each of the old and the new in to 6 packs for 6er mixers.

 

[kh54s10]

I am also considering making a second batch of the same SMaSH, but leaving out everything except for flavor/aroma additions and dry hopping, and then putting three of each of the old and the new in to 6 packs for 6er mixers.

The bitterness will not go away. The plan you came up with above is about your only option that I can see.

Let's see if anyone else comes up with any other options.

 

[fuzzy2133]

Yep I agree with the plan to mix in the glass.
Another option would be to buy some beer at the store for mixing, might save some money and would definitely save you some time.

 

[msayler]

I really dislike bottling, so I'm considering starting to piece together a kegging system. Maybe one of my first keg brews will be Redemption SMaSH, thus (marginally) reducing some of the time required to "fix" this stuff.

 

[msayler]

I wish I could update this without bumping it up, but oh well. It drives me nuts when I search for and find a relevant thread with no updates, so I thought I'd update this one.

After all these months, the remaining bottles of this beer have become quite good indeed. The bitterness has faded substantially, but the Mosaic still comes through with a good flavor and aroma. I have discovered that Mosaic is definitely not my favorite, but it's still good beer. Still a lot of crud in the bottom of the bottles, but it stays put, and the beer itself is crystal clear (unless you pour out the last quarter inch).

 

[JawZziff]

ya I hear that hopiness can subside after some time. glad these turned out and you are actually enjoying the batch!

 

[A2HB]

Time is a homebrew's best friend. Glad it worked out for you, you just never know, sometimes the worst tasting beers become liquid gold if you give them the time they need to mellow out. I've learned that lesson quite a few times.

 

[AwesomeHobby]

I wish I could update this without bumping it up, but oh well. It drives me nuts when I search for and find a relevant thread with no updates, so I thought I'd update this one.

After all these months, the remaining bottles of this beer have become quite good indeed. The bitterness has faded substantially, but the Mosaic still comes through with a good flavor and aroma. I have discovered that Mosaic is definitely not my favorite, but it's still good beer. Still a lot of crud in the bottom of the bottles, but it stays put, and the beer itself is crystal clear (unless you pour out the last quarter inch).

This is great news for you ... and me ( I realize thread is very dated). Looks like you put my over-hopping blunder to shame with mine being a little over 100 I am told. More time in bottle has been a consistent theme in the reponses I have gotten. I put 2oz Magnum (13.7 AA) 45 min boil plus 1oz Willamette (5.8AA) 15 min. Tasted at first FG check and was bitter as I suspected might be after learning more about hops AFTER the brew, like one day after since before I had not really paid close attention to the AAUs (hops is hops, right ? wrong, as you all and now me know !) ... but I have had store-bought with more bitterness and the word on Magnum is that is it a very clean/smooth bittering hop. So optimistic with your observations. Glad it worked out for you .... I guess I need to get another batch going pronto since the current one appears headed for a long beauty nap !