Question about very bitter IPA

[IPA.VA]

I just brewed a very hoppy NE IPA with 9.1% ABV. It spent a total of 22 days to hit target gravity. I just kegged it directly from fermenter. Set the C02 to about 10PSI to keg condition at room temp. Tried the beer from the keg just to see what I was working with and it has a very overly bitter taste to it probably the most bitter yet. I’m hoping this will fade over time. I know it’s ideal to drink IPA asap to retain the hop aroma. Is this something that time will heal? Should I dry hop in the keg again to add lost aroma? I was really looking forward to this beer and I hope it’s just a green beer at this point! Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[bradleypariah]

What was your hop schedule? If you only added a small amount at 60 minutes, and all the rest of your hops were at the end of the boil and post-boil, you should be fine. Did you taste the beer before it was kegged? If so, was the bitterness you're experiencing present then? If not, the bitterness is almost certainly CO2. Co2 adds a temporary mineral salt flavor while it's still soaking in. Not to worry. I personally went through this. That flavor will fade in 96 hours, and your hop aroma will still be intact.

 

[IPA.VA]

What was your hop schedule? If you only added a small amount at 60 minutes, and all the rest of your hops were at the end of the boil and post-boil, you should be fine. Did you taste the beer before it was kegged? If so, was the bitterness you're experiencing present then? If not, the bitterness is almost certainly CO2. Co2 adds a temporary mineral salt flavor while it's still soaking in. Not to worry. I personally went through this. That flavor will fade in 96 hours, and your hop aroma will still be intact.

I only added .5 oz of hops at 60 min and everything else was at the end of the boil, whirlpool and dry hopping. I didn’t taste it before kegging and I’m kicking myself for that. It’s definitely not a hop bitter flavor it’s almost like a chemical bitterness and my first thought was that it was from the C02. I tasted it today it’s been about 24hrs and it was not as bad but was definitely still present.

I’m keeping the keg at room temperature right now. I wonder if chilling would be beneficial I just don’t want to disrupt any conditioning.

 

[bradleypariah]

I hope everything turns out okay. Wait two more days and re-test. In the future, taste your gravity readings and transfers. That way if something happens, you know which step in the process the flavor was acquired.

 

[Upthewazzu]

My general rule-of-thumb is that beers hit their peak about 2 weeks after kegging, regardless of style. This has mostly held true throughout my 5 years of homebrewing. Can you post your recipe? That may give us clues.

 

[Sbe2]

Could be hop particles being picked up. I know with my NEIPAs my first half pint is hops, and then if I move the keg same issue. Let it mellow out, your process is the same as mine.

 

[IPA.VA]

Yes it was:
10lbs of ultralight malt extract
1lb Flaked oats
1lb Flaked wheat
1lb white wheat malt

Hope schedule was
60- .25 oz of Columbus
10- .5 oz cascade
Whirlpool:
.5 Amarillo
.5 mosaic
.5 simcoe

Dry hop in primary:
1oz Amarillo
1oz simcoe
1oz Columbus
1oz mosaic

Drop hop secondary
1oz Amarillo
1oz simcoe
2oz citra
2oz mosaic

Dry hop in keg
1oz centennial
1oz cascade

IBU 34

*****update******

Just came home and gave it another try and the bitterness has drastically improved from yesterday! Can actually taste the beer now. It’s only been 48hrs so I’m hoping it will be even better over the next few days!

Pic of the beer above. Definitely nice and hazy!

 

[Upthewazzu]

It looks a little darker than what I would expect from that ingredient list, but that could be because of the lighting in the picture or the use of extract instead of all-grain. The hop schedule looks very tasty, and I'm willing to bet @Sbe2 is correct in that you were picking up quite a bit of hop material in those first couple pours.

 

[Nebraskan]

Did you use water from a water softener? I found out the hard way that excess sodium in my mash water/wort made for a very bitter beer. Bitter like you just had a Tylenol, and let it dissolve in your mouth.

 

[superdave12]

I would do three separate dry hops for a beer with that ABV. That’s what Russian River does for Pliny the Younger.

 

[505-Brewer]

keg conditioning a warm beer - is your intent to do this for an additional dry hop? Your beer is green. All sorts of hop oils in there. Cold crash it after your dry hop period, carb and push out any trub hop debris then drink. It will be tasty i bet. Are your keg hops in a sack or ss screen?

 

[gypsyhead]

2nd on giving it time or giving it a rough filter to pull out hop particulates. You could also try adding a touch of calcium chloride to soften the palate. You could go up to 2g/gal, but start low and taste.

 

[505-Brewer]

If its still yeasty you might be tasty yeast bite. Very bitter.

 

[gometz]

If I got this right, you have 12 Oz of dry hop in 5 gallons of beer. That's going to be pretty bitter, since it's basically just a hop extraction at low temperature.
The IBU calculators always say 0 for dry hop, but you get a garage bitterness from that amount of dry hopping vs hop stand (put a pellet in your mouth to compare).
But like others said, let it rest for a few days. Hop oils take time to be integrated correctly. I had a mosaic IPA that was harsh at a week, beautiful at 3. In fact I try to dry hop at room temperature and then rest the beer for a week or two before tapping the keg.

Also to get correct carbonation you'll need a lot more pressure at room temperature.

 

[Bamsdealer]

It will turn out great. Give it a couple weeks. In my experience, lots of dry hopping w pellets creates some "dust" that need to settle out. Geletain may help, but who wants that in a hazy ipa. Give it some time and you'll be left with nothing but hazy goodness

 

[IPA.VA]

It looks a little darker than what I would expect from that ingredient list, but that could be because of the lighting in the picture or the use of extract instead of all-grain. The hop schedule looks very tasty, and I'm willing to bet @Sbe2 is correct in that you were picking up quite a bit of hop material in those first couple pours.

Yea it’s definitely a littl darker than I anticipated. That’s one of the downfalls of using extracts!

 

[IPA.VA]

2nd on giving it time or giving it a rough filter to pull out hop particulates. You could also try adding a touch of calcium chloride to soften the palate. You could go up to 2g/gal, but start low and taste.

I haven’t used calcium chloride before. I’m interested. How do I incorporate it into the beer? Will it dissolve easily?

 

[IPA.VA]

Did you use water from a water softener? I found out the hard way that excess sodium in my mash water/wort made for a very bitter beer. Bitter like you just had a Tylenol, and let it dissolve in your mouth.

No just water from my tap. I’ve always used that and never run into any issues

 

[IPA.VA]

keg conditioning a warm beer - is your intent to do this for an additional dry hop? Your beer is green. All sorts of hop oils in there. Cold crash it after your dry hop period, carb and push out any trub hop debris then drink. It will be tasty i bet. Are your keg hops in a sack or ss screen?

Yea I added 2more oz in a screen when I kegged the beer.

 

[gypsyhead]

I haven’t used calcium chloride before. I’m interested. How do I incorporate it into the beer? Will it dissolve easily?

It will. It will also cause an exothermic reaction, so just be careful when adding it to hot water as it may cause it to boil instantaneously