Super bitter beer

[sasabs]

My last batch of very hoppy beer, after several weeks of maturing,
is so bitter that it overwhelms all other tastes and is almost impossible to swallow? Is ther a remedy for this or do I just cross my fingers that another month of rest (at 70degrees F ) will mellow the batch?

 

[FensterBos]

What's the style? Recipes? What type of hops and how much?

 

[sasabs]

What's the style? Recipes? What type of hops and how much?

The beer is IPA Pliney Clone. I don,t have the Hop bill handy but this consists of simcoe,cascade and centennial hops in large quantity a goodly percent added at the start of boil. Some were included dry.

 

[TTB-J]

It will probably mellow a bit - not much else you can do at this point but wait it out. Maybe find some crazy hop head and see if he'll swap you a few bottles of something a little less intense!

 

[Garlic_Mash]

Pliny is supposed to be exceeding bitter. It's sort of like Ruination, only without so much malt trying to compensate. IIRC, there's something like 11 ounces of hops in the kit.

Maybe find some crazy hop head and see if he'll swap you a few bottles of something a little less intense!

*raises hand* I'll try almost anything twice if it doesn't kill me the first time. I heard it said that many new homebrewers go through phases, one of which is becoming a hophead, to one degree or another. Some of them progress beyond it, I suppose.

... it could happen.

 

[Pommy]

In future using a good amount of crystal can help balance the beer if you find it too bitter, say up to 1lb. As for this batch theres not really too much you can do, if you are really struggling then mixing with a touch of lemonade might help. Try a few though, you might get the taste for it

 

[mrk305]

Put it in a closet and forget about. When you find it in a couple years it will be amazing.

 

[chapa]

Ya I'm sure Pliny takes a while to mellow a little. However you might want to double check your hop addition times, because although there are quite a few early additions, there are definitely several late additions too from what I remember. Like the previous poster said, put it away and forget about it for a while.

In the meantime, go hit up some local homebrew clubs and start expanding your palette. Its amazing how your taste develops after trying certain styles a few times. I'm finally starting to get a taste for belgians, sours and even oaked beers.

 

[Garlic_Mash]

I found the notes from my Pliny brew. I misunderestimated. Out of the box(bag) there were more than 15 ounces of pellet hops in my kit, just under 1/2 of which was for secondary. To that, one adds 1.5 ounces of whole Chinook, in for a full 90 minutes.