esb not hoppy at all. questions...

[chainsawbrewing]

i just bottled my esb. it was an all grain recipe. i will have to look up the actual recipe, (it's at home, i'm at work) but i believe i had 1.5oz of williamette for 60minutes, 1 oz for 30minutes, and 1oz of i think it was tettnanger that i dry hopped in the secondary and left them in there for about 10 days.

in the primary for 7 days, secondary on the 8th day, dry hopped on the 8th day, and bottled on the 17th day.

problem is, i tried a small glass of it while bottling, and it's not bitter at all. i mean, not even a little bit. from what i read, i thought it would be super bitter at first, and mellow out after time. will it somehow get more bitter in the bottle?

the only thing i did differently with this brew was i had the hops inside of one of those nylon re-usable hop/grain bags in the boil, instead of just pouring the pellets into the kettle like i usually do to try to keep "gunk" out of the primary.

thanks for any help/advice.

brian

 

[BierMuncher]

I plugged 10lbs of grain along with your hops schedule into beersmith and it puts out an IBU of 43.9. Kinda the mid range for an ESB (30-55IBU's).

The Tett in the dry hop would not increase your bitternes, just the hop aroma.

What was your actual grain bill.

 

[krispy d]

I think lots of people expect an ESB to taste like an IPA or APA. generaly an ESB is not an overly bitter beer. BJCP gives the IBUs at 20-45 (see below) That is hardly what most americans would concider a bitter beer. your beer is probably right on the money for competition. mild maltyness with balanced bittering.

BJCP Bitter/Pale:
OG: 1.030-1.038
IBUs: 20-40 FG: 1.008-1.013
SRM: 6-14 ABV: 3-3.8%

BJCP ESB:
OG: 1.039-1.045
IBUs: 20-45 FG: 1.009-1.014
SRM: 6-14 ABV: 3.7-4.8%

BJCP Strong bitter:
OG: 1.046-1.065
IBUs: 30-65 FG: 1.011-1.020
SRM: 6-14 ABV: 4.4-6.2%

 

[chainsawbrewing]

yeah. i used beer tools for the recipe, and it was 100% compliance across the board, in every category. i understand how bitter it "should" be. i love red hook esb, and what i'm saying is it's not bitter at all. i'm not being silly about it or anything, i'm seriously saying it's NOT bitter at ALL. like budweiser is more hoppy than this. i sense NO bitterness at all. zero. it tastes watered down, and almost sweet.

the color is great, the OG AND FG were great. fermentation went great, my mash efficiency was great. it's just watered down tasting, and not even a hint of being bitter.

i will post the entire recipe when i get home.

 

[krispy d]

hmm, bummer. I'm no expert but most of my beers MELLOW with age. I can't think of a single one that developed more bitterness.

 

[WOP31]

I have found that you need to increase your hops when using a bag, just from my experience with it. I did a brown ale that lost all hop bitterness because I didn't acount for the bag. but even so using an ounce and ahalf you should have been alright. Are you sure that the hops were fresh? Just a thought.

 

[gruntingfrog]

I just made an American Pale Ale that, when I tasted during bottling, had NO bitterness or hop flavor that I could detect. I left it alone for a month and it's AMAZING. Sometimes the green/flat beer flavor can over power other flavors. It now has strong hop bitterness and aroma. It's amazing how the other flavors affect your perception of the beer.

Leave it in the bottles for a month and try it.

 

[clayof2day]

Hop utilization in the boil decreases when you bag your hops. You need to compensate for this by upping your bittering hops, but I don't know by how many off the top of my head. Does BTP have a option for bagging your hops? Most of the programs have an option for this and you can see your IBUs will drop a couple when you do this.

Hope you get it figured out!

 

[CBBaron]

I just tasted my first hoppy brew after a week in the bottle. At bottling it was bitter with some sweetness, but little hop aroma or flavor. After a week in the bottle carbonating the bitterness is more pronounced and the hop flavor and aroma is outstanding. Wait till you get a taste of the beer carbonated and then decide how it works.
Craig

 

[CBBaron]

yeah. i used beer tools for the recipe, and it was 100% compliance across the board, in every category. i understand how bitter it "should" be. i love red hook esb, and what i'm saying is it's not bitter at all. i'm not being silly about it or anything, i'm seriously saying it's NOT bitter at ALL. like budweiser is more hoppy than this. i sense NO bitterness at all. zero. it tastes watered down, and almost sweet.

the color is great, the OG AND FG were great. fermentation went great, my mash efficiency was great. it's just watered down tasting, and not even a hint of being bitter.

i will post the entire recipe when i get home.

An ESB will probably have alot more residue sweetness than a BMC. Maybe this is why it appears to be sweet. Once you get some carbonation the taste will likely completely change.
Craig

 

[newguy]

yeah. i used beer tools for the recipe, and it was 100% compliance across the board, in every category. i understand how bitter it "should" be. i love red hook esb

If you really like the red hook ESB I have a fantastic clone extract recipe that I did a few months back that tastes exactly like Red hook. If you would like it just let me know.

cheers,

 

[chainsawbrewing]

If you really like the red hook ESB I have a fantastic clone extract recipe that I did a few months back that tastes exactly like Red hook. If you would like it just let me know.

cheers,

yes. i would like that.

and an update, i had my wife try an uncarbonated, but cold one last night, and she said "uggh!! this is really bitter, tastes like tree bark!" so i tried it, and it was noticably more bitter than it was only one day before. i guess my pallette has adapted some, since i've been downing only red hook esb, and some various ipa's as of late, so i didn't notice the bitterness like my non hop loving wife did. so it looks like i'm actually just fine, and was freaking out about nothing, and needed to RDWHAHB which i did, and am fine now.

i'm sure using the hop bag under utilized my hops somewhat, but not enough to worry/care about.

thanks!

brian.

 

[newguy]

cool Brian I'll type it up and PM it to you on the weekend.

 

[Yooper]

cool Brian I'll type it up and PM it to you on the weekend.

You could post it in the recipe database! That would be great.

 

[newguy]

ahh yes I could Lorena and thats what I will do.

I forget about all the cool things like database's and whatnot

I'll let you know when I have posted it Brian.

Cheers,

 

[newguy]

ok posted it in the american Ale section here is the link:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28546

Hope you enjoy it Brian!

cheers,