Can you add bittering hops in a secondary?

[Nate R]

Hello all.
Have a batch that is a touch on the sweet side. (American wheat style). I don't think i boiled enough bittering hops to balance it. I would like to save this batch if possible. My goal was for a hoppy wheat- so it could stand some more aroma hop flavor too.

Is it possible to add some bittering through hops in a secondary? Would aroma hops add some bittering? Do you adjust time of hops in secondary for this?

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Hello all.
Have a batch that is a touch on the sweet side. (American wheat style). I don't think i boiled enough bittering hops to balance it. I would like to save this batch if possible. My goal was for a hoppy wheat- so it could stand some more aroma hop flavor too.

Is it possible to add some bittering through hops in a secondary? Would aroma hops add some bittering? Do you adjust time of hops in secondary for this?

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

You can add bittering hops in your primary or secondary, but they WON'T give you bitterness. The bitterness comes in during the boil. All you'd be doing by adding hops in the fermenter is doing a dry hop which will add flavor and aroma. You could add them and see if the stronger hop presence helps... but it won't give you more bitterness.

Is this all grain or extract?

What was your recipe (include temps)?

What is the OG and FG?

How long has it been fermenting?

Need a bit more information to really help you out.

 

[mongoose33]

You're not going to get bitterness from hops added after the boil. Boiling isomerizes alpha acids into bittering compounds (actually, IIRC, above 170 degrees).

What you could do is create a hop tea and add that to the beer; that would add some bitterness. There's an ongoing thread here right now dealing with that.

 

[Nate R]

You're not going to get bitterness from hops added after the boil. Boiling isomerizes alpha acids into bittering compounds (actually, IIRC, above 170 degrees).

What you could do is create a hop tea and add that to the beer; that would add some bitterness. There's an ongoing thread here right now dealing with that.

What is the thread? I searched and only found older threads. Thanks!

 

[mongoose33]

What is the thread? I searched and only found older threads. Thanks!

Here's a great way to use Google to search rather than the native search function here on HBT. On google, type in

site:homebrewtalk.com hop tea

and hit enter. You'll get a ton. But if you want to narrow it to a recent thread, click the "tools" drop-down menu, click the "time" drop-down, and pick the time frame you want. I picked "Last Week" and this is what popped up, and is the only one that popped up:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/adding-ibus-to-cloying-beer.656612/#post-8411153

 

[okiedog]

I have added bittering to the fermentor, when under bittering a brew (or 2) in the boil kettle. I just boil some high AA% bittering hops in a small quantity of water for about 30 minutes. Then strain it through a hops filter and add it to the fermentor. Probably the easiest way to add bitterness, is to add hops extract like these: https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/hop_extract_s/1939.htm

 

[filthyastronaut]

You could definitely boil hops and chill, then add to your fermenter. Not sure the best way to estimate IBUs though.

 

[okiedog]

It is difficult to add much bittering with a small amount of water. If you want to add more than a few IBUs, those IBU injector syringes are so much easier.