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

[Wrathchild]

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

 

[D.B.Moody]

Maybe instead of peanuts, you could offer little dishes of hop pellets to nibble on while drinking.

 

[Wrathchild]

Maybe instead of peanuts, you could offer little dishes of hop pellets to nibble on while drinking.

Haha yeah man I was thinking about breaking a pellet up or just chewing one while drinking that sweet mess!

 

[balrog]

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".

 

[Wrathchild]

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

 

[Wrathchild]

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

 

[Jag75]

That all looks good to me . 5 gallon batch?

That's about 25.8 ibu

 

[Jag75]

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

 

[camonick]

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.

 

[Steveruch]

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?

 

[Steveruch]

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".

With a FG of 1.008 I'm betting done.

 

[khannon]

Maybe instead of peanuts, you could offer little dishes of hop pellets to nibble on while drinking.

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..

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I was wondering if there is an ...

• blend it with with another beer (either from the store or something you made).

• experiment with dry hopping - "dry hop [American light lager]"

 

[madscientist451]

Brew a dry, hoppy pale ale and blend it "in the glass" to taste or maybe do the same with a highly hopped beer like SN Torpedo

 

[passedpawn]

Isomerized hop extract.

 

[bkboiler]

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.

 

[Brewdoddy]

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.

 

[balrog]

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.

 

[JJinMD]

Brew a hoppy stout and then serve as black and tans.

 

[Wrathchild]

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

 

[Wrathchild]

Brew a hoppy stout and then serve as black and tans.

I've thought of mixing everything with it except a hoppy beer! Great idea!

 

[Wrathchild]

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

 

[Wrathchild]

That all looks good to me . 5 gallon batch?

That's about 25.8 ibu

Yes 5 gallon

 

[Wrathchild]

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!

 

[Wrathchild]

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!

 

[TheBluePhantom]

HopTech Homebrewing Supplies — Hop Oils (Bitter and Aroma)
Iso hop oil. bitter in a bottle.

 

[MaxStout]

Make some hop tea. Boil some hops in water, cool, put in a sanitized squeeze bottle. Squirt a bit in each beer you serve.

 

[balrog]

Make some hop tea. Boil some hops in water, cool, put in a sanitized squeeze bottle. Squirt a bit in each beer you serve. Continue boiling until it becomes a thick syrup. Server over ice cream.

FTFY

 

[Beermeister32]

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.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

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.