Do you lose IBUs if left in primary fermenter too long

[KW9375]

I brewed a double IPA with about 100IBU on 9/26/15. For many reasons (but not a good one), I still haven't racked to a carboy for dry hopping. I plan on doing that tonight or tomorrow night though. I know the flavor and aroma from the hops at boil time have most likely been reduced to possibly nothing, but I think the dry hopping should help in that area. However, I have no idea what to expect in terms of the IBUs - do you think I'll still have the bittering or does that break down too? It's been in a sealed bucket with blow off tube into a 1 gallon carboy with starsan, in my temp controlled chest freezer at about 64-65 degrees F. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I brewed a double IPA with about 100IBU on 9/26/15. For many reasons (but not a good one), I still haven't racked to a carboy for dry hopping. I plan on doing that tonight or tomorrow night though. I know the flavor and aroma from the hops at boil time have most likely been reduced to possibly nothing, but I think the dry hopping should help in that area. However, I have no idea what to expect in terms of the IBUs - do you think I'll still have the bittering or does that break down too? It's been in a sealed bucket with blow off tube into a 1 gallon carboy with starsan, in my temp controlled chest freezer at about 64-65 degrees F. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

No, IBUs won't disappear. In fact the beer may seem more bitter because the flavor and aroma hops have faded.

If it's been in a bucket with that much headspace all these time, and it tastes great, that would be a great find.

 

[KW9375]

Awesome! Thanks! I'll post my findings...crossing my fingers!

 

[KW9375]

Hmmm....I'm about to rack to a carboy to dry hop. I just took a specific gravity reading and it is 1.020. I brewed on 9/26/15...4 months ago. That seems awfully high. Should I pitch some more yeast?

 

[KW9375]

I measured again and got a FG of 1.018. I looked at BeerSmith, and the estimated FG was actually 1.019. So, I guess it's fully attenuated. I sampled it and it tastes good, with some decent bitterness, so that's great! I think I'll go ahead and throw in some hops for a few days...

 

[Magnus314]

The only time I ever had an infection while dry hopping was after a looooong primary - like two months.

You are way past that.

I'd recommend you watch the carboy, and if you get white rafts or anything remotely weird, crash and keg immediately.

 

[KW9375]

Uh oh! So if it develops anything weird...does that mean it's infected? If so, do you really just crash it and keg it? And then drink it, infected? Sorry...still a newbie. It looks ok right now.

 

[Calder]

Don't worry yourself over one persons experience, who has put infection down to 2 months in the fermenter. He may have had a contaminated racking tube or other un-related issue.

I've had many brews in fermenters for 2+ months with zero issues. Hops also have an anti-bacterial effect so should not be an issue.

The main rule I go by, is, if it tastes good, drink it. There are no known pathogens that can survive in beer.

 

[KW9375]

OK, so I dry hopped it for 4 days last week, and then kegged it on Friday night ...put it in my kegerator and turned up the CO2 to almost 30psi. After 3 full days, I tried it last night. Smelled delicious (mosaic & citra hops) and tastes great up front. It had plenty of head, but the texture was a little flat. No big deal, I turned the CO2 back down to 12psi and will try it again in a couple days (ok, tonight Lol!). However....the finish was very neutral and bland...definitely some bitterness (107 IBU), but I'm wondering what would make it so bland in the finish. What do you think?

 

[GJOCONNELL]

how are you measuring the IBU @ 107?

 

[slym2none]

Infections won't hurt you, just might make the beer taste bad - or, make it taste better!

If you don't want to find out either way, then yes, package up now & consume quickly. I had a batch of apfelwein that got infected, I drank them until the last 6-8 bottles, as they started tasting funky, and not in a good way.

 

[filthyastronaut]

For the original question, I've heard people repeat that high flocculation can reduce the perception of bitterness, and you did have a long primary. I use finings on all my beers and never had a beer with disappointing hop flavor or bitterness, so I don't put too much stock in that idea.

As for the finish being bland, it's likely that the boil and whirlpool flavors faded with such a long primary. Your fresh dry hops will certainly liven up the aroma (and flavor too depending on how much hop haze is in your glass), but the original hop additions likely aren't contributing much character. Ideally, as it conditions longer in your keg, you will get some development of the malt flavors so you at least get a strong hop aroma with a malty finish.

 

[KW9375]

how are you measuring the IBU @ 107?

It's what the BeerSmith software says.

 

[KW9375]

Update - after leaving it in the keg another 2 weeks or so, I sampled it last night and it was perfect!! The carbonation was just right, and the flavor was great all the way through. I just love the mosaic and citra hops! Not sure how/why this ended up tasting so great, but I guess sometimes you just have to trust the process and be patient. And maybe a little luck helps too! Thanks guys for all of your feedback!