Changing a recipe "on the fly"

[Yesfan]

I brewed yesterday, but didn't realized I shorted myself an ounce of hops. It was an old discontinued recipe kit I found on Northern Brewer, so I had to buy the ingredients individually. Somehow I made a mistake and ordered 1 oz of Northdown instead of the 2 oz needed. Here's the recipe, followed by what I changed:

8lbs Marris Otter
0.5lbs Bairds Carastan
.75 Northdown (60 min)
1 oz Northdown (30 min)
2oz Fuggle (dry hop)

I was short 1 oz of Northdown and didn't realize this until I was bringing my wort up to boil. I always double check my ingredients when I receive my orders, but I didn't look good enough this time. So, I decided to go this route for the brew:

.75 oz Northdown (60 min)
1 oz Fuggle (20min)
1oz Fuggle, .25oz of Northdown (dry hop)

The Fuggle was 1% lower than the Northdown in AA, so I thought (in my haste) moving it down 10 minutes would keep my brew closer to the recipe I don't know if that was a good decision, or if it would have even mattered. At the time, I thought less boil time is less bitterness, so that's why I moved that addition down to 20 minutes. Since I didn't use the full ounce of Northdown at 60 min (and I was short 1 oz of Fuggle for the dryhop addition), I thought about using the .25 oz remainder as part of the dry hop addition.


What would you guys have done different?

 

[Pappers_]

The Fuggle was 1% lower than the Northdown in AA, so I thought (in my haste) moving it down 10 minutes would keep my brew closer to the recipe

I think this is backwards, if I'm reading it correctly. If the alpha acid in the Fuggles was less than in the Northdown, you would need to boil it longer, not shorter, in order to get the same bitterness.

On the other hand, 1% difference in alpha acid is well within the range of error for my brewing processes, so if it had been me, I would have probably just subbed them out directly, with no change in amount or time, just the Fuggles instead of Northdown.

Using the dry hops for the boil wouldn't be a problem, because I could always get more of the dry hops in time for the dry hopping.

All of which doesn't really matter, because you made beer and I bet it will be good!

 

[kpr121]

Im kind of confused by your post but I’ll answer the question.

I would have kept the .25 oz of northdown at 30 minute addition and added enough of the fuggles to the same 30 minute addition in order to get the same IBUs as the recipe originally calls for. If fuggles has a lower AA then Northdown that would mean you would need more than 1 oz total at the 30 minute addition to get the same IBUs. So you might end up with something like this:

.75 oz Northdown (60 min)
.25 oz Northdown (30 min)
0.8 oz Fuggle (30 min) (this quantity varies based on AA%/IBU calc)
1.2 oz Fuggle, (dry hop)

What you did is fine and you’ll end up with a good beer I’m sure! My suggestion above is based on trying to keep the recipe as close to the original recipe as possible with 1/3 of the original hops available.

 

[m00ps]

For a 5gal recipe, I don;t think 1/4oz of any hop at nearly any time int eh brewing process will make a noticable difference

 

[Yesfan]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I was worried more about my process than the outcome of this batch. Hop additions and determining IBU amounts is my main weakness right now. That's something I need to work on understanding more.


If I brewed this again, and got the ingredients and brew process right, do you think I would notice a difference between my version and the correct one? The reason why I ask is, if it turns out to be a good brew I'll likely repeat. I also made sure I kept notes in case my "screw up" tastes better than the original.

 

[Yesfan]

Well, an update on this beer.

Hey gang,

I brewed an ale back on the 20th and the beer seems to have a pretty thick krausen on it still. I don't see any bubbling from the top of the beer either. I gave it a small gentle shake and see bits of krausen falling down towards the bottom of the fermenter. Is this beer done, and by done I mean in a bad way?

Suggestions?

I'll try to get a pic later if that helps.

 

[Yesfan]

I didn't screw this beer up did I?

 

[Jonkl]

Which yeast did you use? There are some that just don't drop (I'm looking at you, WLP008). When I ran into that issue, I just siphoned it off from underneath the krausen into secondary, without too much trouble.

As for your hops, it looks okay to me. If you had any spare hops in the freezer, you could have bittered at 60m with those, but what you did should be okay.

If you decide to repeat this one, maybe you repeat it right away, as designed, and compare the two.

 

[Yesfan]

Which yeast did you use? There are some that just don't drop (I'm looking at you, WLP008). When I ran into that issue, I just siphoned it off from underneath the krausen into secondary, without too much trouble.

As for your hops, it looks okay to me. If you had any spare hops in the freezer, you could have bittered at 60m with those, but what you did should be okay.

If you decide to repeat this one, maybe you repeat it right away, as designed, and compare the two.

Sorry. It was Wyeast 1469

 

[Pappers_]

Relax, have some patience. You brewed on the 20th and are worried that you still have krausen 10 days later. Let it sit until the krausen falls or a couple more weeks. Everything is fine.

 

[Yesfan]

Relax, have some patience. You brewed on the 20th and are worried that you still have krausen 10 days later. Let it sit until the krausen falls or a couple more weeks. Everything is fine.

Sorry. The krausen dropped two days after your post. I've never had a brew that had a krausen last more than 5 days so around the 10 day mark, I got panicky, but this is the first time I've used 1469 too.

I dry hopped it three days ago and kegged it earlier this evening. The FG was around 1.004 (OG was 1.048). It didn't taste half bad either.

I usually burst carb at 30 psi for 2-3 days, then drop it down to 12. Hoping this beer is ready by Saturday.

 

[kh54s10]

Did you add more hops for the dry hop? If it were me I would have used the hops available to get the same AA at each stage as suggested previously. I would then have gotten more hops, 2 ounces as originally planned, for the dry hop. I also like to go a little longer, about 5-7 days.

 

[Yesfan]

Did you add more hops for the dry hop? If it were me I would have used the hops available to get the same AA at each stage as suggested previously. I would then have gotten more hops, 2 ounces as originally planned, for the dry hop. I also like to go a little longer, about 5-7 days.

I added an ounce of Fuggles, that was about it. If this beer tastes good, I'll brew it again and make sure I order the ingredients in their correct amount. I usually bottle a few from my kegs to put back, so doing a comparison in the future with the correct beer should be no problem.