Drinking first batch, not bitter/hoppy enough for me...

[damdaman]

So my first batch, an amber, has been in the bottles for about a month now and I've been drinking it. Generally speaking it's pretty good, but it's overly malty and there's not really any detectable hoppiness to balance it out, at least to my tongue, and I do tend to be a hop-head.

In hindsight I realize that I did not do enough to properly utilize the hops in the boil, and given how much I like hops I probably would have used 3-4 oz instead of only 1oz bittering and 1oz aroma.

I already have two more batches bottled and conditioning and a really hoppy ipa which is scheduled to be bottled this weekend, but I want to be able to drink and enjoy this amber, and it's just not doing it for me.

My question is I've seen talk of hop oil, hop extract, and hop teas being used to add bitterness to brews. Can I still use these even after the brew is done? For instance, could I add a couple drops of hop oil to my glass and then pour the beer over it? Or do I just need to develop a taste for maltiness to drink these?

TIA!

 

[PinkyOFloyd]

Open 2 bottles at a time (Amber & IPA) & mix??

 

[mojotele]

As far as I know, you can only add bitterness from hops via boiling. You can dry hop and such to add hop aroma and flavor, but the malty character would still be present as you haven't truly bittered your beer.

Again, that's just my limited experience. Perhaps someone more experienced can teach us both something

 

[MikeG]

To get more hop utilization for bitterness increase your boil volume. A typical 5 gal batch, even for an IPA I've never used over 2 oz. At the 60 min mark I'm closer to 6 gal at that time though.

 

[maida7]

As far as I know, you can only add bitterness from hops via boiling. You can dry hop and such to add hop aroma and flavor, but the malty character would still be present as you haven't truly bittered your beer.

Again, that's just my limited experience. Perhaps someone more experienced can teach us both something

You can buy pure hop extract. I've never used it but I think it would be very hard to measure and add to single bottles.

 

[DavidSteel]

To get more hop utilization for bitterness increase your boil volume. A typical 5 gal batch, even for an IPA I've never used over 2 oz. At the 60 min mark I'm closer to 6 gal at that time though.

+1, you need to add more hops if you want to get better utilization if you are topping off with water/not doing full-boils. Invest in a 30qt. turkey fryer for the cheapest brew-pot or get stainless steel if you want to spend the extra cash. Aluminum works fine.

 

[damdaman]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm aware of what I did wrong to not utilize the hops well, but I can't do anything about that now. Now I just want to "fix" this batch so I can drink it while my improved batches are fermenting and conditioning.

I like the idea of mixing it with a super-hoppy IPA, might try to find a brutal bitter at the beer store to mix it with.

 

[DavidSteel]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm aware of what I did wrong to not utilize the hops well, but I can't do anything about that now. Now I just want to "fix" this batch so I can drink it while my improved batches are fermenting and conditioning.

I like the idea of mixing it with a super-hoppy IPA, might try to find a brutal bitter at the beer store to mix it with.

Better yet, buy an oz of a good leaf hop that you like and pop one in your beer before you go to drink it and let it sit for a little while. Then you can have the left-overs to use for whatever you like (or if you end up not liking it). lol

 

[mojotele]

You can buy pure hop extract. I've never used it but I think it would be very hard to measure and add to single bottles.

But does it contain iso-alpha acids or alpha acids that haven't been isomerized? The latter aren't very water soluble so they wouldn't bitter your beer, just add flavor and aroma. Or so I've been told.

EDIT: Perhaps I'm just being too technical. What he really wants is some flavor to distract him from the maltiness, not necessarily true bitterness.

 

[craven_morhead]

Also, this is an *amber.* Those hop amounts, depending on hop variety, are in the wheelhouse for the style if you're doing a partial boil. I would guess that your hop utilization is fine; it just wasn't a very good recipe for you considering your tastes.

 

[damdaman]

Also, this is an *amber.* Those hop amounts, depending on hop variety, are in the wheelhouse for the style if you're doing a partial boil. I would guess that your hop utilization is fine; it just wasn't a very good recipe for you considering your tastes.

Yes, that could be, although I've had ambers that were hoppier than this turned out, I do agree that hoppier styles are more to my liking.

 

[damdaman]

Better yet, buy an oz of a good leaf hop that you like and pop one in your beer before you go to drink it and let it sit for a little while. Then you can have the left-overs to use for whatever you like (or if you end up not liking it). lol

I will give this a try. I have a lot of hops in the fridge left over from previous batches and for future batches. Thanks!

 

[maida7]

check out some product info on hop extract

I think your to boil it with the wort just like regular hops. I've heard that this stuff is used in some comercial beers like Hop Stupid from Lagunitas.

 

[damdaman]

But does it contain iso-alpha acids or alpha acids that haven't been isomerized? The latter aren't very water soluble so they wouldn't bitter your beer, just add flavor and aroma. Or so I've been told.

EDIT: Perhaps I'm just being too technical. What he really wants is some flavor to distract him from the maltiness, not necessarily true bitterness.

so would you say that it might work to pick up some hop extract from the LHBS and add it to the glass before I pour the beer in? Worth a shot at least? What about cooking some hop tea and adding a little bit to the glass before pouring the beer in? (although this sounds a little more labor intensive to do before every beer)

 

[damdaman]

FYI, I tried adding hop tea to the beer last night. This was not very tasty, don't recommend it.

I was successful mixing it with a west coast style 95 IBU IPA, worked quite well.

I have not tried letting a hop flower sit in it for a little while before drinking yet.

...just in case anyone else finds themself in the same boat.

 

[Minky]

I have not tried letting a hop flower sit in it for a little while before drinking yet.

...just in case anyone else finds themself in the same boat.

This will not add any bitterness. The most I would expect from this is hop fragments in your beer.