Hoppy brown ale issues

[Stecco]

i keep smelling warrior hops from my airlock, and im wondering... is that a sign of the final product? im trying to make a somewhat balanced hoppy brown ale and im concerned that it may end up being too hop forward.

also... if im worried about too much carbonation, should i cut the priming sugars by half whenever i go ahead and bottle or skip them altogether? i already added 8 oz of turbinado sugar at the end of the boil. thanks for any help you can give me with these issues.

-an excited first time brewer!

 

[Shooter]

Well, if a lot of the smell is blowing off through the airlock that may actually mean less hoppiness in the beer, just wait it out and see what you get.

The sugar you added post boil is going to be used up by the yeast. Unless you are going to bottle prior to the end of fermentation, a tricky and possibly dangerous option, you need to add priming sugar. I would add the normal amount called for by the recipe.

 

[onipar]

i keep smelling warrior hops from my airlock, and im wondering... is that a sign of the final product? im trying to make a somewhat balanced hoppy brown ale and im concerned that it may end up being too hop forward.

also... if im worried about too much carbonation, should i cut the priming sugars by half whenever i go ahead and bottle or skip them altogether? i already added 8 oz of turbinado sugar at the end of the boil. thanks for any help you can give me with these issues.

-an excited first time brewer!

Welcome to the hobby!

Okay, so I made a Nut Brown Ale a couple months ago that had 1 oz bittering hops and 1 oz finishing hops (at 2 mins!) The beer smelled *incredibly* hoppy throughout the entire fermenting period, and hydrometer samples tasted extremely bitter.

Fast forward 4 weeks into bottle conditioning, and the final product has lost most of the hop smell, and is perfectly balanced between malty/sweet and bitter. Don't sweat it; I'll bet yours balances out nicely.

The sugar you added to the boil will *not* contribute to carbonation, because it will be eaten up by the yeast during fermentation.

You can calculate how much priming sugar to use by volumes of CO2 and/or style by using a brewing calculator:

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Good luck!

EDIT: PLease note, if you use that calculator, the "beer temperature" section refers to the temperature you will bottle condition at, *not* the temperature at which you fermented your primary.

 

[Stecco]

first off... thanks for the quick replies, i definitely feel better about my hop issues lol

secondly, i knew that the sugar added during the boil would be fermented. im just worried about over carbonation because ive noticed that the home brews ive tried tend to be too carbonated for my taste (never had a smooth home brewed stout or brown ale). im trying my best to mimic dogfish's indian brown ale and terrapin's hop karma brown ale.

think i should stick to the bottling sugar in the recipe? i was considering dropping it by about 20%. what do you think?

 

[onipar]

first off... thanks for the quick replies, i definitely feel better about my hop issues lol

secondly, i knew that the sugar added during the boil would be fermented. im just worried about over carbonation because ive noticed that the home brews ive tried tend to be too carbonated for my taste (never had a smooth home brewed stout or brown ale). im trying my best to mimic dogfish's indian brown ale and terrapin's hop karma brown ale.

think i should stick to the bottling sugar in the recipe? i was considering dropping it by about 20%. what do you think?

Sorry, I must have misread about the sugar during the boil question.

As for the priming sugar, 5 oz (the usual amount given in kits) will definitely produce a lot of carbonation. If you want to be sure about how much, try that calculator. If you can find how much volumes of CO2 the DFH uses, that's even better, because you can then mimic it exactly. Otherwise, use the dropdown menu and choose your style. Generally the amount of sugar will be less than 5 oz. Most recently (for a mild ale) I used something like 3.2 ounces.

 

[Stecco]

awesome, ill go with the site's recommendation. my directions call for 5 oz, but the calculator calls for 3 oz. That sounds eerily close to the figure i had in mind.

thanks for the help.

 

[Shooter]

Yes 5 oz will provide a fair amount of carbonation. I rarely use that much for most beers, but it's all style dependent.

 

[onipar]

awesome, ill go with the site's recommendation. my directions call for 5 oz, but the calculator calls for 3 oz. That sounds eerily close to the figure i had in mind.

thanks for the help.

Right on, that sounds about right. I was originally worried about putting less than 5 ounces, but after a couple brews I found out 5 ounces can provide *a lot* of carbonation.

Good luck!

 

[Stecco]

ok, i just racked down to secondary and i want some wisdom from experienced brewers...

the brew wasnt overly hoppy, BUT there wasnt enough sweetness to make it a solid brown ale. Is there anything i should do or will it change after bottling? Im planning on letting it sit in secondary for about 2 weeks before i bottle.

I'm really aiming for a balanced beer. Maybe hops up front with a sweet finish.