How to avoid that back-of-the-throat hop bitterness?

[jordanelwell]

I just tasted my first all-grain SMaSH with 2-row and Chinook. I found it to be really tasty with a beautiful golden hue and a marvelously grapefruity aroma. My only complaint was that there was a harsh back-of-the-throat aftertaste. Any ideas on how I might avoid this in the future?

Recipe (2 gallons):

6lb pale 2-row

60min .5 oz Chinook pellet
10min .25 oz Chinook pellet
1min 1.25 oz Chinook pellet

Safbrew s-33 (hydrated), pitched at 76F

 

[acidrain]

Hmm... two gallon batch with 1.25 at 1 minute seems high.
If it's un-drinkable, you could mix it with a milder beer.
At least you got a good taste of chinook.

 

[beergolf]

I just tasted my first all-grain SMaSH with 2-row and Chinook. I found it to be really tasty with a beautiful golden hue and a marvelously grapefruity aroma. My only complaint was that there was a harsh back-of-the-throat aftertaste. Any ideas on how I might avoid this in the future?

Recipe (2 gallons):

6lb pale 2-row

60min .5 oz Chinook pellet
10min .25 oz Chinook pellet
1min 1.25 oz Chinook pellet

Safbrew s-33 (hydrated), pitched at 76F

A couple of things. Chinook is a pretty high AA hop so you might want to cut the 60 minute addition down some if what you are tasting is hop bitterness.

The other thing. What temp was it fermented at? You said you pitched at 76. If the fermentation was that hot, that could be the problem. You could be tasting a hot alcohol bite of fusels.

 

[Yooper]

A couple of things. Chinook is a pretty high AA hop so you might want to cut the 60 minute addition down some if what you are tasting is hop bitterness.

I totally agree. I love Chinook hops, but they have that harsh intense bitterness to them that puts some people off.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Agreed with backing off the 60 minute addition. I don't like a ton of hop bitterness and would use half that for a batch twice that size.

 

[Bobby_M]

You've just got to avoid high alpha hops for the 60 minute addition on batches that small. Think of it this way... unless you use a high accuracy scale, maybe you actually used .6 oz instead of .5. It's better to use a hop with an AA that requires using at least a full ounce for the 60 minute addition. It takes away the requirement of measuring precision.