Hop bitterness question?

[jmartie13]

I just tried an IPA i brewed a couple months ago and I'm getting a little more bitterness than I expected. The recipe is around 78 IBUs, 6.8%, and 7 SRM. I had a 60 and a 30 minute 1 oz chinook additon, and another 3 oz of aroma hops <20 minutes, with a 2 oz dry hop for 7 days. It's been bottled for 3-weeks and I'm trying the first one as I'm writing this. I think it taste great with a touch of harsh bitterness......and I'm brewing again soon and I'm wondering if I should adjust the early additions on my beer?, or maybe the bitterness is due to a young beer? I know I'll find out with time, just curious....I'm thinking a 60 and 30 minute addition is pretty standard for an IPA. I'm also not impressed with the crush I've been getting, so maybe that could be it.....any insight would be great! cheers

 

[jtratcliff]

First Wort Hopping (FWH) where you add your hops to the kettle as you are draining from your MLT supposedly gives "smoother" bitterness for the same (or slightly more) IBUs

Plenty of FWH threads on HBT

 

[badlee]

Yup,what he said about FWH. Add your 60 minute addition as you are draining your wort into the kettle,it mellows out the bitterness for sure.

 

[tandom590]

Try adding all the hops at flameout. Whirlpool for about 30 minutes. The hops get around 10-20% utilization, so do your math and add the amount of hops to get your ibu # and you will keep more of the aroma in the beer. Then add your dry hops as scheduled. This is how i do most of my IPAs flavor is amazing.

 

[jmartie13]

I think i'll have to try the FWH addition, I've heard of it, just never looked into it seriously. I wonder if there are any commericial beers that openly use FWH additions? I haven't heard of any.

 

[dcp27]

I think i'll have to try the FWH addition, I've heard of it, just never looked into it seriously. I wonder if there are any commericial beers that openly use FWH additions? I haven't heard of any.

stone has moved to it in most of their IPAs, at least they made it sound that way @NHC

 

[Yooper]

78 IBUs in a 1.070 beer is quite a bit, especially since you used so many bittering hops (an ounce at 60 and 30). I'd probably just leave out that 30 minute bittering addition for the next go.

 

[afr0byte]

Also, if your boil pH was higher than optimal that could lead to a rougher bitterness.

 

[BanginBanjo]

Not sure if you're treating your water or not, but adding too many sulfates (gypsum,epsom salt) to your water can cause more of a rougher/harsher bitterness. First wort hopping, as was mentioned several times already, will definitely provide a smoother bitterness, but I would also think about using a different hop for your 60min addition. Some hops have a smoother bitterness than others and there is no flavor or aroma contribution from a 60min addition. There is however quite a bit of a flavor addition from FWH, so you will want to keep that in mind. One of my favorite hops for an early boil addition of FWH is Northern Brewer, it has great flavor and provides a smooth bitterness.

 

[jmartie13]

The only treatment I do to the water is campden tablets for the chloramine. The only thing I know about the water is it's surface sourced, and it's relatively soft. (I've heard from another home brewer that it's great for lagers) So, I'm not sure about the pH or exact water chemistry. Definitely going to try FWH on my next IPA. I've brewed 5 IPA's in a row, I think it's time for break....maybe focus on some seasonal fall beers. Maybe I'll try FWH on an American Brown...

 

[Wynne-R]

Yooper is right, as usual. 78 IBU is a ton. The BJCP for American IPA shows 40-70 for a range of 5.5-7.5 % ABV.

For 6.8%, I’d shoot for 60 IBU. Adjust the recipe. FWH won’t change the IBU.

 

[jmartie13]

Stone IPA is one of my favorite beers and it's 6.9% WITH 77 IBUs. I've also had an IPA that I've enjoyed that was in the 6.6-7.2% range with 100 IBUs. In my opinion you can have a well balanced IPA well above the 70. So, I'm not buying into the fact that 78 IBU is a ton. I'm going to play around with this recipe though, try FWH, try lower IBUs....we'll see what happens.

 

[Yooper]

Stone IPA is one of my favorite beers and it's 6.9% WITH 77 IBUs. I've also had an IPA that I've enjoyed that was in the 6.6-7.2% range with 100 IBUs. In my opinion you can have a well balanced IPA well above the 70. So, I'm not buying into the fact that 78 IBU is a ton. I'm going to play around with this recipe though, try FWH, try lower IBUs....we'll see what happens.

78 IBUs is NOT a ton, not really! But it's a lot when it's not balanced well, because chinook can be strongly harsh and 3 ounces of late hops isn't enough for late additions. You have too many bittering hops, not enough flavor and aroma hops, and depending on the grainbill it may not have a firm enough back bone to support all that chinook bittering.

Try getting more of your IBUs from late hops, and skip that 30 minute addition. Use a more neutral hop like magnum for bittering, so that you don't get the harsh bitterness from chinook.

 

[jmartie13]

I agree Yooper. I've realized since posting this that it's likely due to the ammount of IBUs coming from the bittering additions. When I take those chinook additions out of the recipe there's not much of the 78 left... Trust me, this beer is far away from being dumped down the drain, just trying to pick these things apart. I'll have my first crop of magnum, cascade, and centennial in a couple weeks...good excuse to give it another go. Thanks for the input.

 

[rklinck]

One other issue is that Chinook hops tend to have a high co-humulone composition. As I understand it, hops with higher co-humulone will tend to lend a harsher bitterness to a beer. You may want to find a bittering hop that has a lower co-humulone content to see if you can get a smoother bitterness.