Any tricks to bitter an under hopped irish red thats way too sweet

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Wrathchild

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I seriously under hopped my red and its almost undrinkable. I was wondering if there is an additive maybe like bitters they use in mixed drinks to add to the glass after the beer is poured from the bottle
 
Put some numbers on that for us; OG, FG, hop schedule, grain bill or extract, volumes, and most important to me, ferment time. You say too sweet, I wonder "not done yet".
I got you mister!
10lbs marris otter
2lbs breiss bondland Munich
1lb breiss crystal 60L
Biab mash at 150 for an hour and ended up at 143 after that hour and I stirred every 15 minutes.
I used 8.5 gallons full volume
Pre boil was 1.054 and post boil of 75 minutes was 1.074
1 oz of East kent goldings at start of boil and 1 oz east kent 10 minutes after flame out
Pitched with lallemand Nottingham dry ale yeast
Fermented at 59-63 degrees
FG was 1.008
 
I got you mister!
10lbs marris otter
2lbs breiss bondland Munich
1lb breiss crystal 60L
Biab mash at 150 for an hour and ended up at 143 after that hour and I stirred every 15 minutes.
I used 8.5 gallons full volume
Pre boil was 1.054 and post boil of 75 minutes was 1.074
1 oz of East kent goldings at start of boil and 1 oz east kent 10 minutes after flame out
Pitched with lallemand Nottingham dry ale yeast
Fermented at 59-63 degrees
FG was 1.008
Fermented for 3 weeks at that temp range. I think I under carbed also. Only used about 3 oz of priming sugar when I bottled. I under hopped it cause I didn't understand the bu gu ratio. Thought I'd have a less hoppy red beer and I was damn right about that! Just too right. I know where I messed up
 
Oh , I see your OG now . Thats a big beer. I see what your getting at . You could have made a hop tea , but since you've already bottled your stuck with what you got im afraid of .

Just serve a massive IBU IPA to your buddies first then follow with the red 😀
 
What was the AA% of your EKG? Most of the EKG hops I’ve gotten lately are only around the 4% range and 1 oz in a beer with that much malt isn’t going to have much bittering power.
As far as adding more bitterness now that it’s packaged, I don’t have any clue.
 
I got you mister!
10lbs marris otter
2lbs breiss bondland Munich
1lb breiss crystal 60L
Biab mash at 150 for an hour and ended up at 143 after that hour and I stirred every 15 minutes.
I used 8.5 gallons full volume
Pre boil was 1.054 and post boil of 75 minutes was 1.074
1 oz of East kent goldings at start of boil and 1 oz east kent 10 minutes after flame out
Pitched with lallemand Nottingham dry ale yeast
Fermented at 59-63 degrees
FG was 1.008
FG of 1.008. Are you sure sweet is the proper discription?
 
Maybe instead of peanuts, you could offer little dishes of hop pellets to nibble on while drinking. :bigmug:
hehe..
While brewing with a kid of mine, I opened up the bag of pelletized hops, measured out the amount...

She was ~22...

She picks up a pellet, I watch the thoughts..

I start "Don't..."

Pellet goes in the mouth..

"put that in your mouth...."

Lessons were learned.

Go ahead, pop the pellet.. They smell good..

I think it was a week before she spoke to me.

I think it was a year before she brewed with me..
 
I just made a pale ale that has multiple reasons why it tastes a bit too sweet to me...probably the biggest being my hop spider being a bit too clogged up and I think too much dark malts and too much dry hops...
I'm not gonna sweat it...plan to let it condition for at least another week...
sometimes even after packaging AND chilling things still improve.
Since you're bottled you even have an advantage over me...put it in the warmest room in your house for a week.
 
I seriously under hopped my red and its almost undrinkable. I was wondering if there is an additive maybe like bitters they use in mixed drinks to add to the glass after the beer is poured from the bottle
I have used Hopscotch - which is an isomerised hop extract to correct this sort of thing in the past. It is pure hop bitterness so will not enhance hoppiness but will solve the low bitterness. Hopscotch was produced by JRM Products, Haddington, Scotland.
 
1.008 is very likely done, as @Steveruch says.

My only thoughts are not helpful, but I used to do an altbier recipe with 1lb C-60 and eventually eliminated that one ingredient as the flavor was too malty/thick for my taste.
 
1.008 is very likely done, as @Steveruch says.

My only thoughts are not helpful, but I used to do an altbier recipe with 1lb C-60 and eventually eliminated that one ingredient as the flavor was too malty/thick for my taste.
Its definitely a beer you can almost chew. It almost reminds me of beer flavored caramel wine. Im gonna give dark malts a go again but im gonna back off the amount a bit. I honestly didn't know Munich was a caramel malt. I might start just doing smash beers and add 1 dark malt to get to know the flavors. Ive heard alot about crystal malts tasting too sweet and alot of people hate them. I'd have to make that flavor decision on my own
 
I have used Hopscotch - which is an isomerised hop extract to correct this sort of thing in the past. It is pure hop bitterness so will not enhance hoppiness but will solve the low bitterness. Hopscotch was produced by JRM Products, Haddington, Scotland.
Cool man im gonna look into that product right now
 
What was the AA% of your EKG? Most of the EKG hops I’ve gotten lately are only around the 4% range and 1 oz in a beer with that much malt isn’t going to have much bittering power.
As far as adding more bitterness now that it’s packaged, I don’t have any clue.
Pretty sure It was about 4.3%AA. My ibu calculator came out at about 9 IBUs if I did it correctly. 0.12 bu gu ratio also if I did it right and thats very low. I didnt know how to do this till I messed this beer up but now I'm corrected in my hopping process!
 
hehe..
While brewing with a kid of mine, I opened up the bag of pelletized hops, measured out the amount...

She was ~22...

She picks up a pellet, I watch the thoughts..

I start "Don't..."

Pellet goes in the mouth..

"put that in your mouth...."

Lessons were learned.

Go ahead, pop the pellet.. They smell good..

I think it was a week before she spoke to me.

I think it was a year before she brewed with me..
Yeah if you aint ready for blast of a full pellet, you will learn fast! I try all of mine but its the smallest of a nip off the end. I ate a whole pellet......once!
 
Blend it back in the glass with a variety of store bought beers until you find something you like. Then keep a case of those on hand when you are drinking.

If it were still in a keg, you could brew a counter batch using a clone recipe of the store bought beer that works best, then blend the two into two kegs.

Since you are already bottled, you are just going to have to keep a mixer beer on hand until that batch is gone.
 
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Its definitely a beer you can almost chew. It almost reminds me of beer flavored caramel wine. Im gonna give dark malts a go again but im gonna back off the amount a bit. I honestly didn't know Munich was a caramel malt. I might start just doing smash beers and add 1 dark malt to get to know the flavors. Ive heard alot about crystal malts tasting too sweet and alot of people hate them. I'd have to make that flavor decision on my own

I don't think I have used that Briess Munich (which says it is a 10L version). It should not be a caramel malt, but it will add some malty character that can give an impression of sweetness. The combo of Maris Otter + Munich + Crystal was probably a bit overloaded on the malty malts. I like an Irish Red with about 5% Crystal 60, 2-3% Roasted Barley plus Pale Ale Malt.

Your pre to post gravity drop is quite a bit for a 75 min boil (1.054 to 1.074). You might be boiling too aggressively. That can also contribute to malty and sweet characters.

This article seemed to have a good explanation of BU:GU ratios (Bitterness Units to Gravity Units): BU:GU Ratios If the 25.8 IBUs is correct, then your 0.34 ratio would push this beer a bit out of balance.
 
I don't think I have used that Briess Munich (which says it is a 10L version). It should not be a caramel malt, but it will add some malty character that can give an impression of sweetness. The combo of Maris Otter + Munich + Crystal was probably a bit overloaded on the malty malts. I like an Irish Red with about 5% Crystal 60, 2-3% Roasted Barley plus Pale Ale Malt.

Your pre to post gravity drop is quite a bit for a 75 min boil (1.054 to 1.074). You might be boiling too aggressively. That can also contribute to malty and sweet characters.

This article seemed to have a good explanation of BU:GU ratios (Bitterness Units to Gravity Units): BU:GU Ratios If the 25.8 IBUs is correct, then your 0.34 ratio would push this beer a bit out of balance.
I wanted to go big but what I got was bigger then I thought big would be. Im having a problem with my beers being too high abv then what I want. Ive gone down to 9lbs of fresh milled base malt in a 8 gallon full volume biab. The mash I get must be great cause they are never under about 6.5-7% abv. If I want 5% abv should I try 8lbs and keep lowering till I find that gravity?
 
If I want 5% abv should I try 8lbs and keep lowering till I find that gravity?

That is one way. The way I would recommend is to use brewing software to help you out. Generally, software will start off with defaults that you can tweak for your system and process (like efficiency, boil off rate, wort loss in the kettle, etc.). Then it will help you with calculating the amount of grain and water needed to hit your target numbers. The more effort you put into measuring your actual values and updating the software's values, the more accurate the predictions will be.

I am sure there are a few threads around with software recommendations. I use BeerSmith, but it can be a bit complex.

If you have an accurate measure of the volume into the fermenter, you can plug in your recipe and numbers from your batch to get your calculated efficiency. Plugging your recipe and 5.0 gals of 1.074 wort into the fermenter, I get an Overall/Brewhouse Efficiency of 76.5%. ABV of 8.8%! I am getting only 19.4 IBUs using 5% alpha acid hops. That is with entering your "1 oz east kent 10 minutes after flame out" as a flameout addition with a 5 minute steep.
 
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My answer to most beer issues is to brew another batch. Don't dwell on the beer you're not liking.
In this case, brew a red ipa and blend them when serving.
I had a red ipa from New Belgium this weekend and it was good.
 
I may have missed it so if my question has already been answered, I apologize. Are you using brewing software? If so, use your actual statistics to determine things like efficiency and attenuation to build future batches.
If you’re not using software, start doing so. I use brewers friend for stuff on the fly and @VikeMan ’s excel product when I’m finalizing a recipe. BeerSmith is good but I let my subscription elapse and just haven’t gone back.
 
I see a couple of options: 1. Mix with another beer, 2 make hop tea and add by the glass, or 3, make a hop or other bittering herb ticture with high proof vodka. I recently made a bitters with wormwood, star anis, and juniper that turned out great, but beware of the wormwood, it is super bitter. :oops:
 
I see a couple of options: 1. Mix with another beer, 2 make hop tea and add by the glass, or 3, make a hop or other bittering herb ticture with high proof vodka. I recently made a bitters with wormwood, star anis, and juniper that turned out great, but beware of the wormwood, it is super bitter. :oops:
Interesting as hell! Dont know nothing about wormwood. Aint that what they make absinthe out of?
 
Interesting as hell! Dont know nothing about wormwood. Aint that what they make absinthe out of?
That's the stuff that got it banned everywhere for years. Its one of the primary gruit herbs. So I made the tincture to put in some beer to see if I want to make some more gruit with wormwood. :mug:
 
One type of wormwood, yes. Apparently there are several.

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Make a hop tea, reduce it as much as you can so you don't dilute it that much, add it and done.

I have wormwood at home, but I would recommend you the hop tea rather than the wormwood, as it's more natural to a beer and will introduce flavours that will fit better
 
Make a hop tea, reduce it as much as you can so you don't dilute it that much, add it and done.

I have wormwood at home, but I would recommend you the hop tea rather than the wormwood, as it's more natural to a beer and will introduce flavours that will fit better
Is wormwood a bud or flower or something or is it actually wood? I should probably Google it
 
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