My first beer

[ajlst11]

So for my first beer I did the hop head double IPA from Midwest. I followed the recipe to a T but instead of putting into a secondary I just dry hopped in primary at 14 days and let sit for 9 days. I just bottled tonight since I have taken 3 FG readings of 1.014. My OG was 1.074 btw. Anyway, I tasted the beer after I bottle all of them and it tasted "somewhat" hoppy but not NEARLY as hoppy as I would have expected. Also, it seemed quite strong in alcohol taste as well. I am planning on leaving in bottles for different times. What I mean is 12 of them for 6 weeks, 12 for 3 months, 12 for 6 months, and 12 for 1 year just to get the changes over time in taste. SO, my question is:

1. Will sitting in the bottle help give it any more hop flavor to offset the alcohol?
2. Will it get any sweeter over time to offset the alcohol?

I really hope conditioning in the bottle makes this beer turn out great, but I seem quite doubtful at this point since the taste test was somewhat lackluster. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[atom]

bottle conditioning will balance the beer but hop flavor/aroma will fade over time.

 

[ajlst11]

So basically I will not have a hoppy double ipa? That's really what I wanted but it seems as though this brew went south for me. Thanks.

 

[Jayhem]

I've only made a few batches so far but they both tasted bland and bitter at bottling but were much better after 3-4 weeks bottle conditioning.

Also, from all I've read your beer will probably peak after 1-3 months bottle conditioning but any longer than that will not help and the beer will actually start to go bad after 3-4 months...it's not red wine.

As for the alcohol taste...that is a strong brew. From the numbers you gave that is a 7.85% alcohol content.

 

[dwaggs08]

Anything dry hopped should be consumed as early as possible in my opinion. You start losing that great hop fragrance pretty quickly.

 

[Brewnoob1]

You had 80% attenuation, that's pretty awesome. When you say it wasn't as hoppy as you would like, are thinking it wasn't bitter enough? Not enough flavor profile? Not enough aroma? Carbonation will probably help bring some more flavors together. At least I've noticed that carbonation helps change the flavor profile a bit.

Also, at 1.014 FG, and 8% ABV, no wonder it seems a bit strong on the alcohol flavor. All by big brews that started that high ended in the 1.020 range. That added the proper sweetness for me to balance the alcohol. I'm sure others can help tweak the recipe for you to help you achieve the balance you are looking for.

 

[ajlst11]

You had 80% attenuation, that's pretty awesome. When you say it wasn't as hoppy as you would like, are thinking it wasn't bitter enough? Not enough flavor profile? Not enough aroma? Carbonation will probably help bring some more flavors together. At least I've noticed that carbonation helps change the flavor profile a bit.

Also, at 1.014 FG, and 8% ABV, no wonder it seems a bit strong on the alcohol flavor. All by big brews that started that high ended in the 1.020 range. That added the proper sweetness for me to balance the alcohol. I'm sure others can help tweak the recipe for you to help you achieve the balance you are looking for.

What I mean is that the bitterness did not really show up very much. Also, the aroma was ok but I expected more due to the dry hop (I dry hopped after FG was constant for 3 days straight so I know it did not get "blown off"). BUT, most of what I seem to lack is the flavor profile. I think it may be due to the low FG (it was exactly what was recommended but I would like a little more malt). I think that this caused the alcohol to show through but HOPEFULLY the carbonation will help the beer come around. Either way I will drink it because even an alcohol tasting IPA is better than some light lager IMO. However, I will be sure to respond after a few weeks when I crack one open and give a taste test.

 

[unionrdr]

Dry hopping is usually done for a week to ten days after a stable FG is reached. 3 days isn't long enough for big aroma. And the hops are def not going to age very well at all. They'll start fading after 5-7 weeks in the bottles. Also,did you add the bulk of hops as late additions? Or more towards the beginning or middle of the boil time? English IPA's have more bitterness,& less hop flavor/aroma like an American IPA,which is hop bursting,or mostly late additions of 25 minutes or less left in the boil.

 

[gmsorge]

My first brew was an IPA as well. All I can tell you is that bottle conditioning can really do wonders for your beer. My beer has been bottled for nearly a month now and is much better than it was at a week.

I have my second brew in the primary fermenter right now and I am a lot more optomistic about it. There were several things that went wrong with my first brew, but hopefully practice makes perfect.

 

[ajlst11]

I dry hopped for 10 days. What I meant was I did not dry hop until my primary fermentation was showing a hydrometer of 1.015 everyday for 3 days in a row, thus showing that fermentation had ended (then I added the hops). As far as hop additions, I added the majority in the middle and late boil so not totally sure what's up. I am going to try to brew another batch of a double soon and this time I will follow your recommendation and add tons of hops during the later stages of the boil to get that big American IPA hop blast in my beer. I really enjoy a strong IPA that has tons of hops, very bitter, and gives a nice zing of alcohol off the end. The reason I got into homebrewing was so I can eventually create a recipe for a beer I love more than 95% of what is out there(simply put, I will never top a DFH 90 min which is amazing). I do not want to begin AG until I have some of these extract/specialty grain combos under my belt.

 

[prrriiide]

Looking at the hop sched on the MW web site:

1 oz. Chinook @ 60
1/2 oz cascade @ 45
1/2 oz centennial @ 30
1/2 oz cascade @ 20
1/2 oz centennial @ 10
1 oz crystal @ 5
2 oz. dry hop (variety unspecified)

should yield an IBU of around 60 (according to BeerCalculus). 60 IBUs should be quite bitter right out of the fermenter, especially with chinooks as the bittering hops. The overall flavor and aroma might be a little better with late additions (doing all of the cascades at 20 and all of the centennials at 10) but the IBUs would decrease a bit in doing that. Probably down to the 45-50 range.

Was the packaging for the hops completely intact? No punctures or anything?

 

[ajlst11]

Everything was intact and sealed very well (no smell leaking, etc.). When I opened each packet I got HUGE aromas of hops which I took as being very fresh. Really unsure of what the problem is. What do you think about ambient temperature of 68 when primary fermentation is going on? Do you think maybe the fermenter was too warm due to yeast activity and maybe a lot of fusels were made? It did go from 1.074 to 1.015 within 3 days....

 

[Krane]

I brewed this kit before and it was a huge hit. It's very hoppy, but in terms of a IIPA I think it's a little weak IMO. While I say that, it has easily been my best beer. Not exactly sure what it was but If I had put them all in the fridge they would have been gone the first night.

I remember mine tasting pretty decent at bottling time, but I try not to think too much about it because it typically tastes a lot different after conditioning, carbonating and cooling. I would say reserve judgement until it's ready to go. At least you know what you like and can adjust for your next brew.

Edit: I also dry hopped in the primary.

 

[midfielder5]

Wait until it has been 3 weeks in bottles before judging it.

I would not keep 24 beers of it for more than 4-6 months. Save 6, if you must for tasting.

 

[prrriiide]

Everything was intact and sealed very well (no smell leaking, etc.). When I opened each packet I got HUGE aromas of hops which I took as being very fresh. Really unsure of what the problem is. What do you think about ambient temperature of 68 when primary fermentation is going on? Do you think maybe the fermenter was too warm due to yeast activity and maybe a lot of fusels were made? It did go from 1.074 to 1.015 within 3 days....

I think you were probably OK on the temp, maybe a little warm. But I've had beers come out just fine from those ambient temps. I don't recommend it, but it ain't the end of the world. I think that there are some other factors that would be more apt to cause problems in hop utilization (if indeed you had utilization problems).

You could also get another set of taste buds to try a bit of it and see if your taste buds were lying to you. If their eyes roll around and they try to shave their tongue, you probably have it about right.

 

[midfielder5]

Full boil or partial boil?

 

[prrriiide]

Here's the recipe from the MW web site. Our ingredients for this recipe include: 9.3 lbs. Gold Malt extract, 4 oz. Aromatic, 12 oz. Caramel 60L, 8 oz. Victory specialty grains, 1 oz. Chinook, 1 oz. Cascade, 1 oz. Centennial, 1 oz. Crystal, 2 oz. Leaf (dry hop), priming sugar, muslin bag, and yeast.

Looks like partial boil.

 

[Piratwolf]

Looking at the hop sched on the MW web site:

1 oz. Chinook @ 60
1/2 oz cascade @ 45
1/2 oz centennial @ 30
1/2 oz cascade @ 20
1/2 oz centennial @ 10
1 oz crystal @ 5
2 oz. dry hop (variety unspecified)

should yield an IBU of around 60....

This is a matter of taste,, of course, but I don't find 60 IBUs to be particularly hoppy. If you like aggressively hoppy beer, I can see why you'd be a little bummed. My favorite home brew is what I call a West Coast Imperial Red comes in @ 99 IBUs, balanced by a highly malty grain bill. Lots of hops late in the boil and about 4oz of dry hops make it big on flavor and aroma as well as bitterness!

 

[midfielder5]

Here's the recipe from the MW web site. Our ingredients for this recipe include: 9.3 lbs. Gold Malt extract, 4 oz. Aromatic, 12 oz. Caramel 60L, 8 oz. Victory specialty grains, 1 oz. Chinook, 1 oz. Cascade, 1 oz. Centennial, 1 oz. Crystal, 2 oz. Leaf (dry hop), priming sugar, muslin bag, and yeast.

Looks like partial boil.

that does not indicate whether OP boiled 6 gallons or whether he boiled 2-3 gallons and topped up in fermenter.
partial boils will be less hoppy generally because the concrntrated wort inhibits full utilization of hops' bittering qualities.

i do agree that 50-60 ibus for an 8% abv beer is not hoppy enough for an IIPA.
i would want 80-100+ ibus for that much alk.

 

[eastoak]

The reason I got into homebrewing was so I can eventually create a recipe for a beer I love more than 95% of what is out there(simply put, I will never top a DFH 90 min which is amazing). I do not want to begin AG until I have some of these extract/specialty grain combos under my belt.

i would get cracking on AG right away if i were you, it's cheaper to learn doing all grain that using extract or buying kits anyway. nothing wrong with extract beer but if your aim is all grain then go ahead and do that, learn by doing.

 

[J187]

that does not indicate whether OP boiled 6 gallons or whether he boiled 2-3 gallons and topped up in fermenter.
partial boils will be less hoppy generally because the concrntrated wort inhibits full utilization of hops' bittering qualities.

i do agree that 50-60 ibus for an 8% abv beer is not hoppy enough for an IIPA.
i would want 80-100+ ibus for that much alk.

I think of Ruthless Rye. It's around 7% abv and around 55 ibus. I found to be not nearly "bitter" enough, although it had some nice hop "flavor". This could be the issue as well as if what you are thinking too and it's a smaller boil.

 

[unionrdr]

That's why in my partial boils I only use half the 3lbs of plain DME in the boil for hop additions. The remaing DME & all the LME go in at flame out. And since pasteurization happens at 162F,the temp of the wort at flame out is more than hot enough to take care of that. And the lighter wort in the BK def helps hop utilization.
But a full boil's IBU's will def be higher,about double from what I'm reading.

 

[ajlst11]

Sorry for bringing back this old thread but I wanted to reply with the final outcome of this beer. I had my concerns while bottling with a low bitterness, high alcohol taste without much body. HOWEVER, I am very happy to say that this beer came out amazing. It is spot on with bitterness and taste. It is delicious. I decided to reply with this info so others who are concerned while bottling can relax (like I failed to do). I listened to the previous posts but I could not help but have my doubts. However, I should have listened fully because bottle conditioning did its job perfectly. Out of the 52 bottle I filled there are only 8 left and every single one tasted great. I remembered this thread today when I was brewing my first all-grain batch, a belgian witbier. I had a 72% efficiency from my home-made mash tun and I could not be happier. Eventually I would like to get it up but I am new to all this so i am really excited about brewing thus far. Thanks again for all the replies a few months ago, have a good one.