Basically, Bobby brewed a black ipa but his beer became too bitter. How does Bobby make this batch of black ipa a better beer before bottling?
I brewed two, 5 gallon bathes of almost the same recipe a month apart. The first batch is great, but too bitter for most people. If I had had that feedback before brewing the second batch, I would have reduced the bittering hops from 2oz of Chinook down to 1.5oz or lower. But, it's too late so how do I save the batch in secondary?
I've read posts with suggestions but I haven't found definitive answers based on science or experience. Common suggestions are to let it age or blend with a sweeter beer. Aging hasn't helped the first batch, and if I brewed another batch I'd just brew it correctly instead of hoping that the blend would work.
I'm leaning toward a month on oak cubes and a week of dry hopping. Arrogant Bastard beer comes to mind... I much prefer the oaked version as I find it smoother and more balanced, but this is against what I thought oak did (add tanins and bitterness). Stone balances their black IPA with over-the-top dry hopping. That makes more sense in that the aroma pulls more flavor perception from the too bitter beer.
Does anyone have direct experience with these methods, or any other methods? Please help me save what is otherwise a great beer from being relegated to the category of "bottle opened after the good beers are gone."
If it helps, this is a black IPA, ~ 8.5% alcohol with theoretical IBU's of 125.
I brewed two, 5 gallon bathes of almost the same recipe a month apart. The first batch is great, but too bitter for most people. If I had had that feedback before brewing the second batch, I would have reduced the bittering hops from 2oz of Chinook down to 1.5oz or lower. But, it's too late so how do I save the batch in secondary?
I've read posts with suggestions but I haven't found definitive answers based on science or experience. Common suggestions are to let it age or blend with a sweeter beer. Aging hasn't helped the first batch, and if I brewed another batch I'd just brew it correctly instead of hoping that the blend would work.
I'm leaning toward a month on oak cubes and a week of dry hopping. Arrogant Bastard beer comes to mind... I much prefer the oaked version as I find it smoother and more balanced, but this is against what I thought oak did (add tanins and bitterness). Stone balances their black IPA with over-the-top dry hopping. That makes more sense in that the aroma pulls more flavor perception from the too bitter beer.
Does anyone have direct experience with these methods, or any other methods? Please help me save what is otherwise a great beer from being relegated to the category of "bottle opened after the good beers are gone."
If it helps, this is a black IPA, ~ 8.5% alcohol with theoretical IBU's of 125.