Help with a NB Double IPA

[HomerT]

Ok, I posted this on the forums at Northern Brewer, but I have always had great luck here with good answers, so...

Well, I brewed NB's Double IPA last night and it went smooth until the end. Upon cleaning up i noticed that there was a supplemental instruction sheet that said my bittering hops were all supposed to be made into a 3qt "hop tea" and then added at the end. Doh! I added all three ounces at the correct times but to my main boil. I also missed my OG. Kit calls for 1.090. I was doing a full boil and started with 6-gallons. In the end, i had just over 5-gallons left....maybe 5.2~5.3 gallons. I read 1.079 at 74F which would be around 1.081 corrected. So, now the questions:

1) How screwed am I?
2) Since the directions called for a 2-gallon boil and I did a full boil, my hop utilization should be higher. Would this and the lower OG compensate for my lack of a proper "Hop-Tea"?
3) Any ideas why my OG was so low? Figuring the 6-gallon start and the 5.2 gallon finish, I figured I would be right at 1.089 or so. What gives?

-Todd

 

[CBBaron]

The hop tea was probably to get better extraction since the high gravity wort would normally limit extraction. Try entering your recipe into a calculator like tastybrew.com, beertools.com or software download to see how your IBUs. You will probably end up fine.
If this is an extract brew I don't see how you could miss your target OG that much unless you left considerable sugar in the can or brew pot. That is about a 10% miss, so if you left a half gallon in the brew pot or 6oz of extract in each can, or half of each then it might account for the loss.
Craig

 

[Blender]

Guessing here that the hop tea and the 2 gallon boil go hand and hand with utilization from the smaller volume. I think you will be OK with bitterness because of the 6 gallon boil.

 

[HomerT]

I ran it through Beersmith and it shows 81.9 IBU's. SHould be ok i think.

As for the gravity, I may have underestimated how much was left. There was alot of hop sludge (3ozs of pellets will do that) and a little liquid after I hit my 5-gallon mark in the femrenter.

Would such a large amount of exract (12lbs of LME) affect the boil-off rate? Last week I did a NB Phat Tyre kit with only 6lbs of malt (1dme and 5 LME). I started with 6 gallons, finished with exactly 5 and nailed the OG. Would the amount of fermentalbes change the boil-off evap rate that much? (if it matters, I am using a tall 34Qt turkey fryer)

-Todd

 

[Brewpastor]

DWRHAHB. I would rather boil my hops then add a hop tea.

 

[CBBaron]

I ran it through Beersmith and it shows 81.9 IBU's. SHould be ok i think.

As for the gravity, I may have underestimated how much was left. There was alot of hop sludge (3ozs of pellets will do that) and a little liquid after I hit my 5-gallon mark in the femrenter.

Would such a large amount of exract (12lbs of LME) affect the boil-off rate? Last week I did a NB Phat Tyre kit with only 6lbs of malt (1dme and 5 LME). I started with 6 gallons, finished with exactly 5 and nailed the OG. Would the amount of fermentalbes change the boil-off evap rate that much? (if it matters, I am using a tall 34Qt turkey fryer)

-Todd

I'm not sure about gravity affecting boil off rate but I would expect air pressure and humidity to have some effect. Also this is a 10% difference. For your 6# beer that less than 5 points vs the 10points for your 1.090 beer. In addition I'm sure your IIPA used alot more hops which means more trudge. I'm not saying this should fully account for your loses but it something to look at. Maybe what you really ended up with is something closer to 6 gal of beer instead of the 5 gal targeted. 12# of LME is going to be around a gallon of liquid by itself, so if you started with 6gal of water then added 12# of LME you actually had 7gal of wort to start the boil. This is just me thinking out loud.
Craig

 

[rfidd]

I think it will be just fine. One thing I recommend but don't do enough of, is to keep notes. Document what you did and next batch you will probalby do it like the recipe says, and see if you can tell a difference.

Good luck. Oh and BTW that sounds like an awsome brew, I might give it a shot someday.

Rick

 

[HomerT]

Thanks for the help guys. That is why i love this place. I posted the same question on Northern Brewer's Forums before here......not one single responce. God bless HB-Talk!

CHeers!

 

[Gabe]

Something is not right here. I used 8# LME for my IIPA and I came out at 1.085 My hops IBU were 130. Amarillo, Simcoe , Centennial. KILLER combo. With your OG and your IBUs I say you're actually at the top end of a IPA instead of a IIPA. Should be just fine though.

Cheers and good luck

 

[HomerT]

Well, it has been a week of airlock blow-outs. Five in all. Tonight I noticed bubbling had slowed significantly. I pooped the lid to take a reading. There was still a thick foam on the top, but it had receded slightly since the biggest blowout the other day.

Gravity was down to 1.024. I was really surprised though, because the aroma and tast was not of hops, but very breadlike. I am assuming this is do to the gravity still being fairly high....I gave it a good stir, and will give it a few more days before I rack it.

Does this sound normal to anyone? FWIW, I am having a homebrew, but I am not so relaxed.

-Todd

 

[Rook]

becareful about stirring too much after fermentation has started. gentle stirring is all you want to do, anything vigorous will introduce oxygen into the wort/beer and can oxidize it.

other thn that, 7 days down to 1.024 is pretty good, but high gravity beers take a long time to ferment down, you don't have any thing to worry about man!

 

[HomerT]

becareful about stirring too much after fermentation has started. gentle stirring is all you want to do, anything vigorous will introduce oxygen into the wort/beer and can oxidize it.

other thn that, 7 days down to 1.024 is pretty good, but high gravity beers take a long time to ferment down, you don't have any thing to worry about man!

Well, yesterday the bubbling was done...nothing. So I popped the lid and there was still alot of foam on top. Smelled much better, like a nice ipa. Gravity was 1.020 so I racked it over to the secondary. I dry hopped with an ounce of cascade. Popped an airlock on it and bubble, bubble, bubble. Even if it doesn't drop much further, it should be a pretty decent brew. I am going to let it secondary until the hops settle out, then bottle and let it age a few months in the bottle.

-Todd

 

[brewinfool]

Well, yesterday the bubbling was done...nothing. So I popped the lid and there was still alot of foam on top. Smelled much better, like a nice ipa. Gravity was 1.020 so I racked it over to the secondary. I dry hopped with an ounce of cascade. Popped an airlock on it and bubble, bubble, bubble. Even if it doesn't drop much further, it should be a pretty decent brew. I am going to let it secondary until the hops settle out, then bottle and let it age a few months in the bottle.

-Todd

i did this brew w/ an extra 2 lbs of light DME and 3 grams of some special hops

i passed around a 1/2 gallon while waiting in line for a concert on tuesday
it went QUICK and i got a ton of compliments

this is a great beer and i'll definitely do it again

i went 2 weeks primary
6 weeks secondary and a month in the keg
10% alcohol and very hoppy...2 pints and yer WELL on yer way

 

[bull]

youstirred it while it was still ferminting? can you do that and it not hurt your brew?

 

[HomerT]

To be clear, I swirled the primary with the lid and airlock on. The goal was to rouse the yeast a bit. I figured the airlock and lid combined with the CO2 in the primary was enough to keep it from being oxidized.

-Todd

 

[SW Brewer]

Just curious, how is your brew coming along? I am seriously considering this kit as my next brew (if I can slide it past my wife).

Greg

 

[HomerT]

Sorry, I missed this post. Anyway, the brew smells/tastes fantastic. It is still in the secondary, and i plan on bottling in a few weeks.

-Todd

 

[Willy Boner]

See REAL men don't need no stinking instructions!

 

[mandoman]

i did the ag version of nb double ipa and also missed the hop tea sheet - wtf? The beer was still awesome though I got nowhere near the 1.090, maybe 1.075. ABV was lower, I guess, but flavor, feel, etc. was KILLER. I would recommend the extract over AG unless you have a huge mash tun and kettle.

MM

 

[HomerT]

See REAL men don't need no stinking instructions!

Correct! And in honor of this brew, I made this label: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36422
:rockin:

 

[BrewDey]

Not sure about the hop-tea...but I find it very hard to get an accurate OG reading with the extracts I've done. Unless you thoroughly mix the boiled wort with the water that you topped it off with-the OG reading will be low because the more concentrated wort is at the bottom. That's just been my experience so far.

 

[SW Brewer]

Mine is in the secondary now and it does taste great. I am going to let it go for a looooooong time before I get it into bottles. My OG was near 1.090 (I think 1.086) so it should be good. I need to remember to dry hop though.

Greg

 

[davarm]

I have a couple of questions about this one. I started an extract batch a few weeks ago. I hit my initial target gravity of 1.09, and racked a couple of weeks later at around 1.02.

I've had it in the secondary for about 7 weeks. The gravity is close to the 1.01 region. I want dry hop and bottle in a couple of weeks, but I notice small bubbles still rising along the sides of my better bottle. They are not extreme enough to displace the ferment lock, but they are there. Is it possible I am still fermenting, or are these more likely little gas bubbles escaping the sludge on the bottom and sides of the bottle? I don't want to put the hops in prematurely (1 to 2 weeks before bottling recommended), so should I wait it out a while longer?

My other question....NB suggests that another pack of yeast be added along with the prime sugar at bottling time since the initial yeast has been sitting in the secondary so long and may not be healthy enough to help with carbonation. Has anybody else done this or felt it was necessary?

 

[SW Brewer]

I doubt your still fermenting. Probably just stuff on the bottom settling out. I had almost the exact same experience with the gravity as you. I think we just put the wyeast smack pack (without a starter) into the bottling bucket with the corn sugar and bottle as normal. I am going to bottle mine in a couple more weeks too.

Greg

 

[davarm]

I doubt your still fermenting. Probably just stuff on the bottom settling out. I had almost the exact same experience with the gravity as you. I think we just put the wyeast smack pack (without a starter) into the bottling bucket with the corn sugar and bottle as normal. I am going to bottle mine in a couple more weeks too.

Greg

Appreciate the feedback Greg. I think I'll add the hops this weekend and plan on bottling in a couple of weeks.

Keep me posted on your progress, and I'll do the same.