did a half ounce create a hop bomb?

[Amateurbrewmaster]

My recipe called for 2.5 ounces of one kind of hops, and I had 3 1 ounce bags of those hops, but I added all three ounces. I did an early test and all I tasted was bitterness that was so over powering. Did .5 ounces make a difference?

 

[ong]

Depends what it was and when you added it! And how big the batch was. Half an ounce of Simcoe at 60 minutes is different from half an ounce of Fuggles at flameout.

 

[2drunk2]

What Ong said.

 

[Talgrath]

As ong said above, it depends on when you added the hops, but half an ounce extra is unlikely to make a massive contribution that isn't supposed to happen for the recipe. First, keep in mind that hop flavor fades over time, if you tested the beer while it was halfway fremented in the primary, the beer is probably going to mellow out significantly. Even bottling or kegging can tone down hop flavor (particularly bottling).

 

[MrSnacks]

Maybe but probably not.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Yeah basically did it ask for 2.5 oz at the beginning of the boil (that sounds like a lot regardless of level of alpha acids), or did it ask for portions of the 2.5 oz at various times (60 min, 30 min, 10 min, 1 min, etc)? More details on hop variety, OG, and hopping schedule would be helpful.

 

[bhanson]

Not sure from your post if the 2.5 oz of hops was just a bittering addition, or the whole batch. If you are using one of the popular, super high alpha hops that also can be an aroma hop, and if most of the additions were toward the end of the boil, whereas the bittering addition was in fact about a half ounce, then you would have doubled the bittering addition if in fact you added it at the start... But if the 2.5 was a bittering addition, an extra half ounce is forgiveable, particularly after the beer ages a bit.

Need more info to really know what's going on.

 

[passedpawn]

My recipe called for 2.5 ounces of one kind of hops, and I had 3 1 ounce bags of those hops, but I added all three ounces. I did an early test and all I tasted was bitterness that was so over powering. Did .5 ounces make a difference?

Did you check the final gravity of the wort? Did you end up with the batch size (gallons) that you expected?

If you were low on these, then the balance between bitterness and sugars would be off. Also, bitterness will fade with time. I think it fades quickly. It might be that a lot of the hop protiens settle out of the beer, and/or some other chemical change. But I'll bet the beer will end up where you want it if you give it some time.