Hops - Lesson needed

[Freezestat]

I am fairly new to homebrewing. About 30 gals brewed so far. Can anyone give me a lesson in hops? Acid levels? etc....

The last few batches have had a wicked after bite. Strong hop flavor. I am not a hop head and would like a smoother finish.

I realize this is a very vast question that I am asking, but any help would be appreciated.

Last batch was 5 gal batch
1 lb Briess Murich Grain
2lbs 2 Row - Rahr
5lbs DME - Northwestern
2 oz. Columbus Hop pellets - 1 oz. boil 60 min, 1 oz. boil 15 min.
11.5 Gram Salate Yeast

This brew packed a hell of a punch (alchol) and was to my taste liking, but the bite afterward was a bit to be desired.

HELP!! Suggestions????

 

[Edcculus]

This is a really good place to start: BJCP study guide - hops

Columbus is in the family of high AA% hops commonly referred to as "CTZ" (Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus). These high AA% hops are well liked a lot of professional breweries who are only after the alpha acids. A lot of these breweries are turning them (or buying) hop extracts. A lot of hop growers have taken the high AA% CTZ type hops as a chance to grow alpha acids, since they can get more alpha acids out of an acre of CTZ than Hallertauer.

The CTZ hops are high in another substance called Cohumulone which can lend a harsh bitterness if used in quantity. Most homebrewers will use a very small amount of high AA% hops at the 60 min mark for bittering. I'm guessing you are getting the harsh bittering from the 15 minute Columbus addition. For smoother hop bitterness, only use the extremely high AA% hops for bittering at 60 min.

 

[Brew-boy]

I guess you are not a hop head, that would be hardly noticeable to us Hoppy heads. That's ok too some people do not like hoppy beers. You will learn as you brew more what you like and do not like, but Keep Brewing!

 

[breez7]

Just take that first oz and instead of adding them at 60 min. put them in at 50 or 45 min, this will lower the IBU's for the beer and there wont be as much "bite" for you.

 

[Freezestat]

Thank you for the tips, can anyone recommend a low AA% pellet hop? Also if I do a 60 min boil, and I add the first oz. of hop pellets at say 30min and the other oz. at 5 min, this will help?

 

[Edcculus]

It really depends on what you are trying to brew...I'd highly suggest trying out some tried and true recipes from the recipe database here. If you don't like harsh bitterness, stay away from IPAs, or at least ones with 70IBUs or more.

 

[samc]

This is a great read on hops and an excellent beer as well.

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

 

[Germelli1]

I had the same problem with a few of my batches, but the 'bite" aged out, so set a few bottles aside, forget about them and pop them open in a few months

 

[drummerguysteve]

While I love my highly-hopped IPAs and CDAs, I also love the flavor of hops without the bite. I don't want to suggest anything that would discourage you this early in the game, but I suggest using low AA hops, in larger quantities towards the end of your boil (or maybe dry-hop).

My favorites are Saaz for lighter beers (Perfect for Pilsners), and Willamette for brown ales or maybe even porters/stouts.

Here's my brown ale hop schedule (I do this for several of my brown ale recipes)

.5 oz Fuggles (or recipe bittering hops) @ 60 min
1 oz Willamette @ 15 min
1 oz Willamette @ 5 min
1 oz Willametter dry hopped

The aroma from this is wonderful, but you don't get the tremendous bitterness from the longer boils. While it may put you out of style sometimes to add so much more aroma hops than bittering hops, the beauty of homebrewing is that you can make it how you like it.

I'd suggest trying several recipes without much hop quantities in the 45-60 min range; maybe even try some 2.5 gallon batches while you're still sampling.