Did i over estimate the hops?

[oldschool]

Someone i know gave a "can" of munton's hopped IPA kit for next to nothing so i thought i might as well get it going. I added a little over two pounds light DME instead of the corn sugar and picked up wyeast's northwestern, and some extra hops. The label said that it would have ~35-45 IBU. I wanted more. I plugged in some numbers in a brew tool and it said that 1oz of cascade boiled for 1 hour would put me around 70 IBU. So I did then steeped some centennial for a few minutes post boil. The hydrometer said 1.059 then i tasted it....and wow it was REALLY bitter! It reminded me of stone ruination(which is 100+) This is my first IPA. Will it mellow out, or be masked by other flavors? Or is it doomed to an incredibly bitter, not so good IPA forever? happy brewing

Primary: cheapo mystery IPA
Secondary: Fat tire clone
Bottled: Robust porter

 

[oldschool]

with all of us opinionated brewers, none of you have a comment?

 

[bbrim]

Before fermentation the beer always tastes WAY more bitter than it will be. All those little particles and such floating around. That said, 70 IBU will be intense in a beer with OG 1.059, more than I personally enjoy. SN Torpedo is 70 IBU at OG ~1.070 and that is my personal threshold, if it is too bitter you can always let it sit longer and mellow.

 

[ThickHead]

In my opinion it's difficult to overestimate hops, particularly in an IPA. But then again, I love hops and I love IPA!

It will definately mellow out over time. Tasting the wort after cooling is not necesarrily a quality indicator of how the end product will turn out. Though I have yet to NOT tase a single batch of mine at that point. :cross:

With an OG of 1.059 it sounds like you have plenty of heft to the sweet (grains and malts) flavors of the base ale to be able to balance alot of hop bitterness. My first few IPA batches started out around 1.044 (which is light according to style) and I boiled 1 oz for 60min, 1oz at 20min (until flame-out) and 1 oz at flame-out. Additionally, I dry-hopped 1oz in a secondary for 1 week prior to bottling. I never calculated the IBU for any of them but they all held a bitterness and aroma level similar to your standard IPA (I have had ALOT of sampling in this area ) which is typically between 40 and 70 IBU.

I think you're good.

 

[JoMarky]

From my personal experience, the biterness comes through strong with any beer that is even mildly hoppy before fermentation. you should be fine.

 

[frostyone]

Oldschool, cross your fingers for mellowing, lol. We can only hop that it turns out well. I guess if it doesn't, we can give some to the people that we don't like as much that want to try our beer....this way, maybe they'll stop asking, lol.

 

[bhatchable]

There is no such thing as too hoppy, i don't understand this thread... ha ha ha

 

[BarleyWater]

The hop acids will coat yeast cells, and when the yeast drops out, it will drop out a lot of the bitterness. If it's too hoppy after it's done, let it age and it will mellow as the hops slowly precipitate out over time.

It has more to do with the ratio than the overall IBU level. For instance a barley wine with 100 IBUs can be fairly sweet, while a Pale Ale can seem pretty bitter at only 50 IBUs. You should be aware of you bitterness to gravity ratio, or BU:GU (bitterness units:gravity units). Take you IBUs, 70, and your OG, 1.059, and turni it into a ratio, 70:59. .5:1 will be balanced, .8:1 pretty hoppy, .2:1 pretty malty sweet. Yours is 1.2:1, so it will be super hoppy.

 

[oldschool]

This is good news! I agree with what you are saying. I reciently had stone 13th aniv. ale that is over 80 IBU and it didn't seem as intense as some lighter IPAs that i've had. thanks for the good info.

 

[oldschool]

There is no such thing as too hoppy, i don't understand this thread... ha ha ha

So what can you tell me about this "rustwater ale?"

 

[annasdadhockey]

I agree you should be just fine.

with all of us opinionated brewers, none of you have a comment?

Your OP was before 5 A.M., your followup was at 8:00 A.M. Gotta relax a little. That's kinda early for most of us.

 

[frostyone]

Oldschool's typically up when nobody else is....and sleeping when we are, lol.

 

[oldschool]

yes..sleep by day, brew by night!

 

[frostyone]

yes..sleep by day, brew by night!

and post at work, lol. What do you supervise again? j/k